Commuting - nathank's commute in Munich

OK, well i finally remebered to take the digital camera with on the commute... didn't get as many photos as i wanted and then the battery ran out... but it turns out i have a ton of photos even though i felt like i missed so much. i guess there is just so much to see her.

anyway, my commute is about 11.5km from near the center of munich (i live 2.5km SE of the center) first northeast along the river and then east along bike paths and then on the street to my suburban office park...

this first photo is taken on my street. my apartment is the grey building on the far right on the 2nd floor (can't really see it). across the street is the park and the river is just beyond.

this is the park right by my house that i ride through to get to the river where there is a bike path:

a little further through the park. the Isar is straight ahead:

this is the walking/running path along the Isar. the bike path is barely visible to the left:

from the path, looking across the Isar is an old church:

the bike path along the Isar. the footpath is now to the left next to the river. there were actually fewer bikers out today as it was cooler and threatenting to rain:

underpass so you don't have to stop at traffic lights. notice the Blue signs for the bike path and the pedestrian path:

the other side of the overpass:

i stopped off to the side to take a photo of the German Museum (Deutsches Museum) across the river:

again along the bike path. a recumbant!

the bike path. notice the divided bike path with the RED bike sign meaning wrong way:

short pause next to the famous hot baths (building on the right). this area is a little tight with pedestrians and the 90 degree right curve at the end i always have to ride extra slow:

Is that the park with The English Gardens? I remember hanging out there (or rather the beer garden) while at a week-long IETF conference held at the Hilton back in 1997.

another Church along the way - across the river:

a footbridge over the river with the same church in the background:

bike path going uphill as i leave the river and head east:

small path through the meadow:

on to a bike path along a major street - b/c of the blue sign the path is here MANDATORY:

crossing street on the bike path. the woman with the yellow bands is wearing high heels!!

Great commute. Thanks for sharing it with us.

the bike path is gone, so to the street... notice the trolley tracks - i just missed the streetcar a few times:

the bike path goes next to the Autobahn. this is where the Autobahn starts - as opposed to the US where the freeways cut through the cities, in Europe the highways end when they reach the city:

crossing under the autobahn. the hatched lines are b/c of the bus stop and after that is a bike lane:

more suburban streets, so back to sharing with the cars:

Wow! Thanks for the pics... great commute!

there are horse stables along the way and i stopped to say "hi":

then i ride through a small villiage. it's pretty calm and quiet:

the office park where i work:

beginning pf the ride home - first through the small villiage again:

oops. i posted this one twice - now deleted.

again by the stables (on the left this time):

and again next to the Autobahn - it ends right here (often police controlling for speeders):

cruising along the bike path as the cars sit in traffic :):

a traffic circle - the famous "freedom Angel" can be seen in the middle:

cruising by traffic in the bike lane. i took this one while riding which is why it's a little blury:

and hauling downhill passing all the cars stuck in traffic. i sometimes wave at all the motorists just to make them feel stupid for driving when they could be riding. not sure if they get it, but whatever. the bike is definitely the best way to get around munich!

and heading back down to the Isar!

so anyway, the last week i kept riding thinking "ah, i should take a photo of that!" and it seems like i barely got a photo of anything...

man, i didn't even get a single shot of any of the bridges!

but i guess there are actually a lot of photos here. hopefully you guys can kind of get an idea of what my commute is like and a little taste of what the riding is like in European cities.

-Nathan

originally posted by KhuonIs that the park with The English Gardens? I remember hanging out there (or rather the beer garden) while at a week-long IETF conference held at the Hilton back in 1997.

no, the English Garden is just a little to the north (about 1km). I used to live in Schwabing and was 10m away from one of the main entrances to the park and about 700m away from the "Chinese Tower" which is one of the most well known beer gardens. i used to ride through the park to work which was a really cool commute too - absolutely no cars and in winter time it was really desserted especially in the early morning.

but Munich has more parks than virtually any city in the world and almost nowhere are you out of walking distance to a park!

Originally posted by nathank

but Munich has more parks than virtually any city in the world and almost nowhere are you out of walking distance to a park!

I miss Munich... I'd like to go back and see more of it. A week was not enough... especially with meetings and such. So far, my two favourite European big cities have been Stockholm and Munich.

Wow, that is a really beautiful commute! I've been off from work all week for exams, so this gives me a bit of a vicarious thrill. The woman in heels really made it for me. Why don't I see people like that riding around here?

wow nice pics :) I should be so lucky to visit Germany some day

That was wonderful! thank you for the pix; kind of like a free trip to Germany without leaving my house!

I'll be visiting my step-dad in Fulda this winter; where is that in relation to Munich? I imagine it will be just as beautiful.

I love trees. Like where I live.

Beautiful route! It must be so much fun to pedal past all of the folks stuck in their cars! One thing I did notice though is it seems all of the other riders were riding without a helmet or wearing an ordinary hat.

These are great posts - let's see more!!

Zack

nathank, thanks for sharing the sites with us, you have a nice commute route.

What a beautiful commute, thanks for sharing!

Once again, these pictures prove that my commute route ... STINKS !!!

nathank, I'd imagine your average speed has to be a little slow because of all the pedestrian and other bike traffic on the trails -- along with 90 degree turns. If this is the case, that's a lot different from my commute which is all roads and the only thing stopping me is red lights. But the scenery along your route is great, which is a lot different from mine!!!

Thanks for pix.

Originally posted by Andy Dreisch
nathank, I'd imagine your average speed has to be a little slow because of all the pedestrian and other bike traffic on the trails [/B]

Yeah, at first I was thinking that it would be nice to see all those bikes around here. I don't think I've seen more than 5 other bikers in the two years I've been commuting (really!) and it looks like nathank sees dozens every day. But then I realized, "damn, they'd all be in my way!" Of course even if they were empty those trails don't look like the kind of things you'd want to be tearing around on at 20mph....perhaps it wouldn't be too hard to convince me to trade speed for scenery.

Nathank,

You are making me miss Germany. I spent all of last summer there. I was near Bochum but got down to Munchen (sorry no umlats on this keyboard) several times. It really is a great city. Just before I came home I got to go to Oktoberfest. I hope to get back to Germany again in the not to distant future.

Most places I saw in Europe really make it easy to go car free if you really want too. The most bikes I have ever seen in my life were in Munster and Amsterdam. Thousands of bikes parked at a market place on a Saturday morning. Pretty impressive. I wish I had taken a picture of all those bikes.

Steve