Realtors call the area inside the Raleigh beltline the ‘Magic Kingdom.’ Ride this route, which generally traces the beltline perimeter on the greenways, and judge for yourself. The longest road segment of this route is the link between the Crabtree Creek Trail, and the Rocky Branch Trail near Dix Park. Raleigh Blvd has a nice bike lane, and the indicated streets through downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods are generally light with traffic. The route uses the boardwalk on the Crabtree Creek trail near Capitol Blvd, but that has been closed for some time due to a failure caused by flooding from a hurricane. Hodges St. makes a good detour, but works best when the route is done counter clockwise, eliminating the need to cross Capitol Blvd. The stretch near Country Club Hills uses streets to avoid the large storm water project. A greenway underpass at Lassiter Mill is planned, so it will be some time before the corridor is back to normal.
The Link
This link from Dix Park to the Crabtree Park/ Crabtree Creek Trail presents a route across town that mostly uses neighborhood streets. Streets in Boylan Heights and Oakwood are used in combination with Hargett St. to get through downtown. Once across town, Raleigh Blvd, with a designated bike lane completes the link.