Total Distance 14.9 miles, about one-hour ride.
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So this second route that I have taken a couple of times gets me off of Erwin Road sooner than my usual ride. It is a bit longer due to the shunt over to Martin luther King Boulevard on Whitfield Road. Honestly this route doesn't really make me feel any safer while I'm out there.
Whitfield Road: Whitfield Road has more traffic than I expected it would. I'm not sure where everybody is coming from or going to, but there tends to be a fair number of vehicles driving this road. On top of the traffic, there is not much of a shoulder for the entire length of Whitfield.
Martin Luther King Boulevard: The one thing I learned from taking this route is that MLK Boulevard in Chapel Hill is very well equipped to handle cycling traffic. There are dedicated bike lanes on both sides of the road for almost the length of this ride. The grade is sloped mostly down toward the UNC campus, but gently so your not flying down a steep hill. This does make for a very quick ride end to end. The slowest part is the last half mile or so, which is a bit of a hill. If you're lucky you'll catch the green light at the bottom of the hill and momentum will be your friend for the first part of the climb. I travel this route faster than the heavily used busses, i.e. if I see an NS bus at Eubanks Road headed toward UNC, I will get to work before the bus gets to Manning Drive.
From the intersection with Franklin Street my ride through campus is the same as my usual route.
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