Commuting - 6 miles down a 6 lane road.

It's 11 miles to my work, and the last 6 miles have me worried. There is about 8 inches including the white line to stay in, and no body slows down on Dorchester road.

Guess i pay my insurance and give it a ride.

best advice I can give: fire up Google Maps or Google Earth and look for sidestreets. a less direct route might be safer and more pleasant.

^ ^

Exactly. The trick is to think like a biker, not like a driver. You need to investigate all possible routes, even if it takes you a little out of your way. By car, my commute is about 4.5 miles. By bike, it's 6.5, but much less congested. I use my city's recommended bike routes, and stay off the busy four lane roads.

I've had good results with riding with a rack and panniers. Well, one pannier, on the left hand side.

Part of the deal is to ride to the left of the white line. Enough that people certainly have to move over for you, but not so much that they have to change lanes. The goal I have is to move out enough that they pass me with their left wheels on the centerline or slightly over - usually no problem.

The main question though is what the average speed is on that road and what kind of sight lines and turnin-turnouts there are. I regularly ride on a 50mph posted 60-65mph actual 6 lane road, but there's an 8 foot shoulder for most of it. The only hairy part is an interchange where I have people passing me on both sides sometimes (turning either way) but it works pretty well.

Ooh, when I lived in Ann Arbor, I commuted from Washtenaw & Golfside (near Ypsi-Arbor Bowl) to East hall on Central Campus.

I sometimes just went on the street right up Packard to East U, but in the last year I was there I took to going past WCC past the Huron Dam, through the park and up past the Medical Center campus. Longer, but more pleasant.

-i have a friend who was living in the Charleston, SC area. he is a seasoned (33yr) self-contained bicycle tourist. he described s/e s carolina as a nightmare to bike in. according to him, there were racial and automobile/truck "rules" so well established that changes could be deemed futile.

-i, by no means, am trying to discourage you from your commute, but am reflecting what i was informed of. i applaude your drive to establish alternative means of transit to/from work, lead bu example!
contact local bike clubs, state advocacy groups, local police, etc and promote your means of transit.

-the 12 vs 11 mile detour may also be a feasable alternative to the 6 lanes in to/from.

be safe and hold your lane!

Ooh, when I lived in Ann Arbor, I commuted from Washtenaw & Golfside (near Ypsi-Arbor Bowl) to East hall on Central Campus.

I sometimes just went on the street right up Packard to East U, but in the last year I was there I took to going past WCC past the Huron Dam, through the park and up past the Medical Center campus. Longer, but more pleasant.Wow, I'd never want to bike around the Washtenaw/Golfside area; nasty traffic. I'm on the southwest side of the city, near Saline. Traffic is much calmer and the roads are much better than the east side of town.

I've never been to Summerville, but out of curiosity, I pulled up a map. The Ashley River Road appears to be about 1-1/2 miles South. Is this an option, or is it equally unfriendly? I guess you'd also have to cross some bridges. It might be a longer commute, but maybe you could do it that way for a few days a week to start?

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=10260+Dorchester+Rd&city=Summerville&state=SC&zipcode=
Be careful.

I never really rode on Washtenaw. Golfside and Packard are fine though. The Packard 'sidewalk bike route' is a death trap tho, like all of the 'sidewalk bike routes' in A^2....

Good suggestion, but It won't work. There is no roads from Ashley river over to the area I need to get tt.

I looked at the map and there doesnt appear to be much in the way of alternative routes. I find that big roads like this are often easy for biking because they have wide outside lanes. Sight lines are OK on Dorchester so cars will have plenty of time to pull over to the next lane. It may help if you make your bike look wider than it actually is by mounting a reflective triangle on the back left of centre, and also a horizontal safety flag sticking out 18" to the left.