The roads, paved trails and bike lanes in Duessen and Eissenhower parks are very good and safe to ride on. Traffic is low and I always see a ranger sweeping through both parks. I do a lot of training solo and this is my go to place. I see lots of other cyclists, runners and walkers. Ther worst thing I've come across is the occasional loose dog on Aqueduct Rd and spooked deer.

I bought my first road bike off of Craigslist. Didn't want to go new right off, in the event I didn't stick with it. I was coming from a few years of running ultras (in Washington state), and a particularly hard year that saw an ITB flareup. So I decided to move to more cycling to let the ITB calm a bit and mix things up. Anyhow, I bought a Trek 1000; pretty much an entry level road bike that was about three years old. Somebody bought it to do a few century rides and a couple of STPs (Seattle-to-Portlands - double century), then got rid of it. It was a great opportunity to get on a road bike. Upgraded the wheels just a bit and got a better saddle. Riding in Washington is a great experience; lots of open roads, opportunities to get up into the mountains if you want, great riding clubs. I did a couple of century rides, one RAMROD (Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day), and a few randonneruing rides as well. This bike also gave me a chance to learn and perform my own bike maintenance, which should also be considered.Springboarding from this a couple of years later, I then jumped up to a mid-level Trek roadie once I was more into things. I rode this for a few more years but eventually got back into trail running again and sold the bike and all of my gear. It was a hard thing to do but I could no longer justify keeping everything around. Long story short, don't overlook the used route if you are unsure about sticking with it. Some bike shops even carry used bikes as well, and it's always a good idea to get to know the folks at your LBS (local bike shop).

@redneck roy: I bought a fixie road bike from Sproket in porter for $150 bucks and have since traveled hundreds of miles with no problems on it. Just walk out back and selected one of the ones on the racks that look rusted and usually have no tires. Matt will fix it up in a couple days and have something that will surprise you.