Sullalto

Another thread got me thinking. How many people here commute on roads/streets only? How many have a leg that includes an offroad trail or a MUP/bike path type trail?

So in the interests of curiosity: A poll! A multiple choice poll, at that.

As for me: I go through downtown to get to a MUP(couple miles), do 8 miles on or parallel to a MUP, and then another couple miles to the gym. At which I point I shower and it's another half mile to work. Work is on an abandoned Air Force Base, and traffic is so sparse I generally see more golf cart type vehicles on the MUP doing grounds maintenance than I do cars, barring the downtown leg.

caloso

If I take the most direct route between house and office, it's purely street, some of which have bike lanes. But I have other routes that include city streets, MUP, gravel rail-trail, country roads.

Giant Doofus

Right now I use all streets, but in a few months I might have a partly-MUP option. The city is building a cyclepath connector between a big city park near where I work and a MUP not too far from my home. The ride would be a little longer, but it would make a nice alternate route.

wolfchild

I use roads, MUPS, off road dirt/gravel trails, sidewalks and I also ride through large parking lots almost everyday.

old's'cool

I voted based on my current 11 mile commute, strictly vehicular. That was also true of my previous much shorter, 5 mile commute in Kitchener, Ontario. Previous to that, my 11 mile commute in Michigan (the bicycle part of a bi-modal commute, that is) was nearly 100% MUP. Previous to that, my 12 mile commute from Ft. Collins to Loveland CO was nearly half MUP.
Therefore, I feel qualified to comment that I do prefer MUPs for bike commuting, at least when they are lightly travelled, and therefore don't limit my speed. If faced with a choice between a speed limiting MUP and a vehicular route, I would choose the vehicular option, if the time saving were a significant percentage of my trip.

Gresp15C

Mine's 50% neighborhood streets and 50% MUP. I'd prefer to stay off high traffic / speed roads and nasty intersections, even if I have to ride a bit further.

Saving Hawaii

My quickest route to work is mostly on a MUP. It cuts the hypotenuse of all other possible routes and saves about a mile of riding compared to my next shortest option. I ride that quite a bit if I'm in a hurry but if I'm in no rush I usually take a route that is mostly residential streets (plus a pedestrian bridge). It's a little longer, features almost no stops, and is more enjoyable than the MUP (which has 3 stop signs per mile).

treadtread

I voted strictly street, but that isn't entirely correct. There is a bike bridge over the freeway .. for which I am thankful. Crossing bridges with freeway ramps is not fun at all!

mcmoose

I ride a mile on a busy street (has a bike lane that some drivers acknowledge), then through neighborhoods for a couple of miles, then pick up a MUP (which doesn't have many pedestrians during commute time). Parts of the MUP run parallel to the highway, where it's not unusual for me to outpace the cars (and, no, it's not that I'm fast).

PaulRivers

I use bike trails and the MUP as much as possible, but I mean whether that's better than streets or not varies - wildly. Like we have separate bike and pedestrian trails around the lakes, and the mup is very very wide where it's used the most. I've seen some pics of mups that were sidewalk-width where I'd rather take the street - but mine is very rideable, so I take that.

TenSpeedV2

I use both, the majority being public roads. The MUP is right outside my apartment complex so it is convenient.

TransitBiker

There is one MUP, and it parallels a 45 mph road. I use it purely when i don't have the steam to get up the hill at a decent pace (towards town center), or at night if i'm carrying something on the rack as there is little to no shoulder. (both directions). I prefer roads personally, especially if there is plowable snow, the path is usually not attended and fairly useless those days. If for some reason i need to get down that way & its piles of snow, i simply use the main park road.

- Andy

devianb

Roads because I don't have the option of MUP or trails for my route to work.

Leebo

All three.

rpecot

I just added a couple miles to my route, but eliminated a large chunk of surface roads. Right now my commute is about 3 miles on road, 20 miles on MUP.

bikemig 

I usually go on roads to work but take in a MUP when I want to add some extra miles. When the weather gets warmer I like doing some extra miles on the way home.

modernjess

In reality It's a combo platter depending on my mood and the conditions. With that said I live a mile from the country's first "bike commuter highway" MUP, the Cedar Lake trail in Minneapolis and my office is 2 blocks off it on the other end.

There is no excuse for me and I live and work where I do by design to make bike commuting easy. It is an absolute breeze. So much so that I've done the entire thing (7.5 miles) no handed just to do it.

TenSpeedV2

You purposely added 17 miles to avoid riding on the road? Are the roads too busy or is the speed too high? I couldn't imagine increasing my commute that much to avoid the road.

1nterceptor

Mup and street, not too much places to go off road in NYC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-rQ...IoDLA&index=15

ret3

I'd be happy to use a MUP to commute on, but none of the trails in my area happen to lie between work and home, so it's bike lanes, neighborhood and tertiary streets for me.

spivonious

I'm all road. I'd use paths if we had them, but the only one near me is a simple loop through a park.

rpecot

No, I only added about 3 miles. I just re-routed my commute. Instead of the shortest route, I just optimized to a less exposed route. I catch the trail much closer to my house now, I just have to ride a little further.

Honestly, the morning traffic exposure is not bad. Evenings, that's a different story.

TenSpeedV2

I accidentally did not read your post correctly, I understand now. Sorry, not much sleep last night and this Monster has not kicked in yet.

tsl

Depends on the route I choose that day. I have routes that are all road, and some that are mixed road and MUP.

I tried the MUP last night, but there's too much snow (they don't plow it), so I jumped off at the next exit and took roads the rest of the way. Today in the single-digits and snow, it's the direct route, all road. My winter loop to work is 10 or 12 miles all road, depending on the variation.

In the three-seasons, my long loop is six miles road, nine miles MUP, two miles road. My hills, parks, and cemetery route can include at the end, either two miles of MUP and two miles of road, or a shortcut of one mile of road.

mgw4jc

Road.

If I have some extra minutes I can take a scenic detour or two that include MUPs. But primarily I'm on either a rural road or cutting through a developed neighborhood for my 12 mile commute.