Commuting - Love to hate

Is there a part of your route you love to hate? Maybe a high-speed zone, pothole-ridden street, heavy construction, freeway bridges, rumble strips, huge intersections, lights that are too short, bike lanes that are always one inch deep in sand or have permanent bumps or are glass-strewn, that busy street that always seems to grow a new pothole every month, dense
shopping area with high-volume of traffic entering/exiting the street, goofy pedestrian traffic, traffic 20 mph. over posted limit, etc.

I don't want to encourage complaining, so what is the part of your route you love to ride the most?

Or maybe it's all good!

:beer:

well, there are many small things, but the only one that really aggravates me:

there is a really open section of my commute by a bunch of fields and on my homeward commute there is VERY often a strong headwind, so i often hate this section as my speed drops from 25-30km/h to 20-15km/h and one time i was down to 8km/h!!

there was an intersection on the way to work i used to hate, but now i take a different route.#

since i moved last fall and now have a slightly different route, i miss the 3km through the forested park i used to have - it was so nice and quiet and beautiful but now since it's not on my direct route i only ride there maybe twice a month...

on certain mornings when the sun is just right i love coming up this one hill as it on the edge of the developed area so there are fields and the Alps are behind that and they are often beautifully lit up by the sun in the morning... that is nice and i often stop and take a 30 second break to look...

Worst - Depending on my route, there is a section where I have to get on a 6 lane road that goes under an Interstate Overpass. I usually have to ride this section on my way home, and I hit it at about 5:30. I'm always relieved once I pass this area and hit some more back roads.

Best - On the way into the office, I pass some old celery fields that the county purchase and turned into "stormwater abatement", basically a series of large shallow ponds. It's actually pretty, and an ecological haven. Back to point, in the morning ride in, I usually hit this section right at sunrise. The view is spectacular and it is a great way to start the day.

L8R

I recently got a new job and my beloved 10 mile commute at my old job is history. My new route that I'm still planning is a difficult one. Most of it is manageable, but there is one very busy traffic loop that scares me a bit. I've ridden it in the past on a Sunday afternoon club ride and it wasn't a bit scary with low traffic volume. With early morning commuter traffic there is mass confusion with drivers pulling into the circle and then shooting out to the 3 exit streets. One other road further down the road backs up pretty badly with a long light and a left turn lane that stacks up with cars. That will be a challenge too. All parallel roads in the general direction of work are even worse with lots of traffic off the freeways. I'll be doing a test ride soon and always ride defensively. The new commute will be 30+ miles so that will be different and challenging too.

The part I hate: I guess it would be the section with two sets of railroad tracks a block apart. I can go weeks without being held up by a train, and then I'll go through periods when I'll be held up for maybe 10 minutes for one train and then as the crossing gates lift, a train will hit the next crossing!

But this doesn't create a dangerous situation for me. Just slows me down.

The part I love: It's not that great a route - mostly dull neighborhoods and then a short semi-industrial area. The last quarter-mile or so is in Forest Park (big park in St. Louis, MO) and that's OK. Sometimes I'll do a lap around the park before heading in to work.

There is one hill where I'm never in the right gear. I think it's almost a habit now.

it's all good

Originally posted by gonesh9
it's all good

I see you're in Portland. . . what's your route? I live in Tigard and work in NW, so I go Barbur/99W to Front/Naito Pkwy.

The only part I don't like is on the commute home when I hit the Tigard suburb. The streets are packed with cars waiting at lights and I ride in the bike lane. The stopped cars often leave room for oncoming traffic turning left, which of course, 99% of the time, fail to see me. Since this part of the trip is mostly downhill, I'm forced to ride the brakes and scan for cars aiming at me. I hate that, as do my rims, as do my brake pads, as do my nerves.

My favorite part is cruising through waterfront park, located downtown Portland on the river. It's a wide strip right next to the water, away from the city streets, with only occasional bike/pedestrian traffic. Very nice and serene during the morning.

Hey hey! Another Portlander here. I start by SE 39th and Powell and go over the Hawthorne Bridge, then up Terwilliger to hwy 10 out to Beaverton ending at Millikan and Murray.

The turn from hwy 10 to Scholls Ferry is the only worrisome intersection, but I think the buses downtown are the worst part of my commute.

I absolutely love the climb up Terwilliger past the hospital. Fabulous views of East Portland, the river, and Mt. Hood. Can't beat it.

Surfers Paradise - idiot capital of the universe. It's not that the road itself is particularly dangerous, it's just that you never know what these dropkicks are going to do. I mean, I could ask them I suppose, but to be honest I can't really expect much of an answer from them if I don't know the answer, can I?

The best - Sundale Bridge in the morning. I love the view toward the Broadwater at that time of day, and plus it's the end of Surfers Paradise.

I will now add something else I despise. There are at least two traffic lights with totally non-responsive signals.

:crash:

I love to hate the last mile before work. I have a choice of a 1/2 mile uphill on a busy NARROW, CURVY, 2 lane country road, OR cutting through, i.e. traspassing, on a golf course cart trail. Now that the weather is better, and the golfers are out early, I am forced to ride on the sketchy road section.

Originally posted by OsoGuevara
Hey hey! Another Portlander here. I start by SE 39th and Powell and go over the Hawthorne Bridge, then up Terwilliger to hwy 10 out to Beaverton ending at Millikan and Murray.

The turn from hwy 10 to Scholls Ferry is the only worrisome intersection, but I think the buses downtown are the worst part of my commute.

I absolutely love the climb up Terwilliger past the hospital. Fabulous views of East Portland, the river, and Mt. Hood. Can't beat it.

I'm quite familiar with the climb over Terwilliger - I used to live in Hillsdale, which you obviously pass through on your way down Hwy 10. If I didn't want to be a wimp in the morning, I'd do the smaller climb from the south side and descend into the city.

But I do imagine the intersection at Scholls is not very pleasant with heavy traffic - that "thing" is a mess.

The good, part 1: the first 3 miles or so, and the final mile or so
The not-so-good: the intervening 16 miles and the blizzard of stoplights

(The good, part 2: the CA weather and the generally flat areas in the valley that make a long commute possible and the tailwinds on the summertime ride home.)

But it's all good, or else I wouldn't be doing it.

Riverside Boulevard in Sacramento, heading south between Broadway and Sutterville Road. This is a route I often take in the evening when heading home. There are three stoplights on this road and between 5-6pm, the car traffic can back up substantially. It's even worse when it rains. (I guess the Elk Grovers who normally take I-5 figure they can get home faster by clogging the surface streets).

I can usually count on at least one impatient motorist to decide that he or she is too imporant to have to wait in line so better to pass all those cars in the bike lane. Not like any cyclists rely on it for their safety or anything....

One house on a up hill section of my commute to work, has parties every w/end , wich is ok , no probs with people having fun ! but the road is always kerb to kerb with broken glass , not good :mad: :mad:

One more Portlander here. I live near Hwy 224 and my job is situated near OMSI. My route is primarily Milwaukie Ave./S.E. 17th, a pretty straight shot.

There are only two parts of the route that give me pause. The first is the steep hill just outside our section of the apartment complex. I used to hate the climb coming home, but now that I've conquered it I don't mind it near as much as I do the descent. To save my rims and my brake pads I usually opt to walk down.

The second trouble spot is when I turn left from Milwaukie onto Division. The road narrows from two lanes to one as it simultaneously curves to the right, and I have to take a left turn onto S.E. 8th immediately thereafter. Impatient rush-hour motorists make this spot harrowing indeed, and I've had a couple of really stupid close calls there. I've taken to using the right-hand sidewalk, and often must pause on the curb to wait for traffic before crossing to the turn lane. I hate doing this, but caution really is the better part of valor in such an instance.

The rest of the route is pure gold, especially the residential section of S.E. 17th.

I love Portland! :D

-Rob

I feel left out that I don't live in Portland. I have to say my favorite part to hate of my commute all depends on mood, and weather. I'll add miles depending on how I feel after work, I'll do a 25-30 miles extra to the commute, and with the warmer weather, and a new headset this will more than likely be the case. But usually I find I hate riding into the wind, and it doesn't matter where I am on the route.

There are two secitons that head uphill to the east, one is out of the University, it is a coridor for buses and emergency vehicles, which makes it a nice wide route, but up hill and if the wind is out of the east northeast, southeast, I usually find myself cussing out the wind.

The second part of the commute is another hill on Summit Ave., it runs east to west, and if the wind is from the east, southeast, northeast I'll cuss out the wind there too.

I love the morning ride though, with or without the wind. There is something about the way the morning sun reflects off the buildings, and crossing the slow moving Mississippi, or riding high on its banks, well there's nothing like it.

The junction of Bel-Red Road and 8th St, come summertime the stench from the sewer cover right where I wait for the lights will be grim :cry:

I've found one. Kimberly Road. Going to work I fly down it - 30+ mph coasting. Going home I struggle up it at 7 mph :(

Zack

Originally posted by ZackJones
I've found one. Kimberly Road. Going to work I fly down it - 30+ mph coasting. Going home I struggle up it at 7 mph :(

Zack

I've got one of those on my route too. Only it's at the beggining on the way to work (@#$ cold), and at the end on the way home (2#$# anoying.)

The good: In the SF Bay Area we have these salt water ponds some call salt flats. There'll be a levee that's used to hold the water in til it evaporates so the salt can be collected. I guess it becomes road salt for the colder parts of the state/region. The last mile towards work is on a Class I cycling facility (separate bike path) that runs along a couple salt flats. When there's water in them and it's a calm morning/evening, the reflection is mirror-like. In the morning I can see the mountains from across the Bay - twice. When I ride home late, I'll look over my shoulder to see the reflected lights and buildings of the green glass office park.

The bad: traffic lights, but only 4.

The dreaded: Class III (no service) section, about a half mile long, that crosses a freeway overpass and involves on/off-ramp auto traffic of a partial cloverleaf.

By not thinking like a driver, I may have found an alternate route on the map. It by-passes the overpass in favor of a bike/ped bridge, with probably 2 less lights. The possible catch is that it takes me "across the tracks" into East Palo Alto while adding 3 miles round trip. The distance is, of course, neglible. Hopefully, the route will be O.K. neighborhood-wise... during daylight hours should be fine.

We'll see,
Ben