JOHN J

hello everyone, I hope all is well.

my commute as mentioned before is 14 miles if I take the short route its 1/3 bike trail the rest is road or I can opt to do 16.5 miles 75% bike trail mostly flat.

the issue is hills on the way home . going to work isnt too bad as I have one nasty 2 mile climb in the middle of the ride into work then its all small hills or down hill and some flat . my average time yesterday going to work was 17.3 mile per hour (a few big down hills ,start of ride and end of ride).

the problem is the ride back is mucho uphill 55 % I figured out this morning . the first climb is right out my front door of the office and its 1.3 mile and very very steep almost have to walk it (its great in the morning) then I have some small rolling hills for a few miles but at the end of the ride I have 2.5 miles of nasty climb again . all this hill stuff on the way home brought my average speed down to 11 miles per hour making the trip home slow motion but more importantly tiring.

Ive done the ride home the 3 times I commuted thus far (lousy weather Its pouring right now again) but its been cool , if true summer weather arrives again it will be a hard one if I have to climb all the way home.

some options to ponder

1) I was thinking of perhaps taking the long route on the way home via the bike trail but stay on the trail another 4-5 miles as it would be pretty flat with a few rolling sections .

I would have only one very serious hill at the beginning of the ride which is less troubling than the one outside the office which is a killer!! I make it but whoa!!!! I will also have a 2 mile very slight grade almost flat when I get off the trail but I will have a 19 mile ride home vs 14 or 16 (but mostly flat)

2) install a triple on my cross check (double right now 52/39 - 12/34 )

3) be brave and take on the nasty homeward bound hills with my double and hopefully it gets easier,



many thanks

"John"

bostontrevor

This seems like a question of preference. If you just want to open up and fly one day, take the long route. If you feel like really punishing yourself and doing some interval work, hit the hills. You should be having fun, so do whatever's fun.

Hill work will make you stronger, though.

capejohn

My vote is for flats. I have no desire to work hard biking. I just want to enjoy it. Going around the hills you mentioned just seems so much worth the extra miles.

After commiserating on your falling yesterday I thought it only fair that I did the same. See it here

PaulH

I'd use whichever one you feel like on a given day. I normally use the route that is fastest. However, during the summer, I'll incurr extra time and distance to avoid steep hills.

Paul

JOHN J

HMMM,

Im liking the sounds of flats and the vision of spinning at a good clip!

at first I thought the extra miles on the bike trail would take too much time but with all the climbing on the return trip it may be a bit faster .

the longer ride may be much nicer. I was only looking at miles when I planned the route initially but I never figured in all the hills on the way home.

thanks for the input

"John"

Longhorn

I'd take the flats any day! My route is one hill after another -- it's hard for me to enjoy the downhills knowing that around here, "what goes down must go back up!"

pakole

I usually take the shortest way via distance. If that include hills, I feel that I accomplish a lot. If I go the grocery store before I go back home, I get this hugh hill, but each time I do I get faster and better. I like the challenges.

eblaska

Hills!!!! Push it out!!! It will keep you in shape/get you in shape.

va_cyclist

If you're able to do the hill today in your double, then I wouldn't change to the triple. Keep doing it, you'll get better. Since it's on the trip home, you can shower when you get there. If it were the trip into the office, I'd say skip the hill and take the easier route.

oboeguy

Sound advice, along with the post suggesting mixing it up from day to day. What I don't get is if there is a flat option for going home, there's no net elevation change between home and work, right? How then do you not have hills on the way out but you do on the way back?

JOHN J

I work in a section right by the hudson river thus the many down hills on the way to work .
the ride in is not up a hill down a hill as Im decending into a river valley (2 rivers actually)

I start out higher in the city that I live in then end up in a valley for the most part My ride from home starts flat ,then down ,then real flat , then up, then flat, then down a ,then rolling, then flat, then down again, then rolling ,then down again , then flat and finish up way down (big hill) into the valley.

so im descending in the am for most of the commute climbing in the PM.



The Bike trail (the flat option I speak of) is a roundabout way and it runs right along the mohawk river which is pretty flat but has one uphill at the end where the trail ends(breaks away from river) but for the most part the 19 miles of the bike trail that I would ride home is flat compared to cutting across the geography and getting all the hills as I descend or climb back into or from the hudson river area

To get on the trail from work yes I would have a pretty good size hill but not near as big (its shorter) as outside my office, the bike trail itself has a few small rolling sections but nothing to even blink at and one or two very steep but very short embankment ramps.

again since the trail follows the river most of its 35 miles(it breaks off in some areas through a few cities its pretty flat but again its a way round about way. the normal route is a point A - point B thing the bike trail circles way out and around. I use about only 4 miles of the trail normaly as it runs along part of my A-B route.

the key is I would have flat for a long ways with a big but short hill to start home and when off tyhe trail on the way home I would come up from the mohawk river but its not as much of a grade on the backside of the city from the river up to my house tha aproaching from the way I go in the AM (its backtracking).

I guess ya have to know the Topography .

It would be out of the way to start my commute

when I get off the trail near where I live I have a 2.5 mile climb but a pretty easy grade vs the 2 .5 mile climb from the normal direction wich is pretty harsh.

the bike trail from work would be 19 miles +- and would be a short steep climb then a short steep down hill then flat and rolling for many miles with a few ramps then a easy grade 2.5 mile climb when I get off the trail and ride through the city to my house.

thanks for the input


have a great weekend

"John"

RT

Both! I really have no choice. My commute begins with about two miles downhill, and no matter how one approaches it, there's a two mile hill on the commute home. No, I do not live atop a volcano, but that's Colorado for ya. :shrug: