Bike routes near Jordan lake or vicinity?

Hey. I don't mean to sound silly but if you are really uncomfortable with riding/gears/shifting,  could you spend 30 mins or so riding around a large, empty parking lot, shifting a lot, braking, stopping, unclipping, clipping back in and getting back up to speed, etc to get the hang of it? Any weekend at an office park would work. Alternatively, if you live near RTP, the park is pretty dead on the weekends so riding is good. Around Jordan Lake (I ride there a lot) there are a lot of quiet roads but also some roads with occassional cars (and sometimes lots of cars, depending on the road). The occassional cars sometimes go fast...I wouldn't really want to ride them if I didn't know how to hold a straight line.

^^^This is good advice.  That stretch on the map is 55mph, and can be somewhat high traffic, with folks using Pea Ridge Road as a shortcut to US1 South.  It can also be a bit windy which can unsettle any rider (winds coming across the lake).  Usually a fair amount of debris on the shoulder through there.  Add in the occasional log or brick truck that likes to buzz cyclists, and it can be just a little hairy out there. 

I definitely second louiskie's RTP suggestion, or Jen's Shearon Harris Road (although that's 55mph with really sorry roads as well).  Hmmm, now that I think about it, our roads are kinda tough to ride on...

Yes, I've done the parking lot thing

RTP is a good suggestion, if I can ride on the weekend I will do that.  However, I usually have Tuesday and Thursday to ride since I work an erratic schedule and my kids are in school those days so that's when I'll have time.  Any thoughts for light traffic areas on weekdays? I will drive to ride