Checked out a potential commuting route today.

[Longhorn]

In some ways, it was a lot of fun. It involves going off road for about a mile, something my electric MOUNTAIN bike seemed to love. But it also involves riding along a four-lane U.S. highway with tiny shoulders and a 65 MPH speed limit for about half a mile. Traffic was heavy and that was, frankly, very uncomfortable, especially since I'll have to make an unprotected left turn both ways. We also had to squeeze past a giant fence (made easier by my husband unwrapping a barbed wire fence (we didn't want to cut it -- there was a time that was a hanging offense in Texas! ;)) But even then, we were scraped by brush -- that cedar brush burns, too! Cutting through private property made me very uncomfortable.

So even though that route cuts out about 2.5 miles, I think I'll have to stick to the longer route on public roads. The shorter route has a couple of major hills -- I think a lot of the longer route is flats, which I can handle.

So Tuesday, my evening class doesn't meet so I can leave work a little after 5:00. So I thought I'd try to do the full commute home that evening (leaving my car at work) and ride back the next morning. This will be the first test of the range of my electric bike but I only use it about ten percent of the trip so I should be okay. I'll let y'all know how it goes! :)

[BiggJawn]

1. You still trying out that route?

For me, anyhting that involves going through a fence would make me un-easy. Might stumble across somebody's Pot farm.

The 4-lane highway would scare me, too. The danger ain't worth the 2.5 miles saved.

[Longhorn]

3. I'm still considering it.

The fence is between two cul-de-sacs. Apparently, one neighborhood decided it didn't want traffic from another neighborhood cutting through, so they put up a monster fence. But there's a gap to one side of it.

I have to cross the four-lane highway one way or another. My campus is on the other side and there's no way to get to a traffic light to cross from my neighborhood. So it's a matter of, do I go directly across or head down the highway half a mile and then cross?

I guess I could go back to parking at the church but it seems so half-assed. :shrug:

[mike_c]

2. I agree with BiggJawn....

Cycling is supposed to be fun, not scary. Truthfully, we do need to cultivate coexistence-with-automobiles skills, which more often than not means being a bit assertive, but a left turn across a 65 mph highway? That would sketch me out, and I'm a pretty aggressive rider-- my commute includes a route alternative that I'm very accustomed to that is mostly a highway with a 65 mph speed limit, but with wide shoulders and normal on-off ramps on the right.

I don't start school for another week, but Tuesdays and Thursdays are my long days this semester-- an 8:00 AM class in the morning, and a class and lab from 1:00-5:00. I'll be out the door shortly after 6:00 AM and won't head home until about the same time in the evening, and I'll be TIRED before I even get on the bike. Luckily, I can take the bus from the university to within a block of my house, so if I run out of gas I can just leave the bike in my office until the following day.

[Longhorn]

4. I live out in the boonies so no bus for me.

The furthest west that the bus goes is my campus, and I'm further west! :(

I think I can get used to the half-mile on the highway. I have to cross it someplace and the shoulder isn't too bad on that stretch. I wish I could take the highway even further but the shoulder pretty much disappears in places and traffic is heavier closer to town.

I'll have two days of early classes this fall (7:45 a.m.) and the other two days working late in the tutoring lab (8 p.m.) So I'm planning on doing a one-way commute -- drive in and ride home, ride in and drive home; repeat. :)