My commute starts at 10:30 am - it's usually fairly pleasant in the summer, before the heat of the afternoon has set in. I have to ride around dodging parking lot traffic since my apartment complex shares an address and driveway with a police station, and several businesses. Then I have to wait and try to cross the 5 lane highway (the closest crosswalk is 1 mile away) so I can start off to work.

The first 3 miles are traveling south on US highway 101, speed limit 45 mph. It goes down to 30 mph when you get closer to the center of town. Even with the high speeds, it's not too bad since the bike lanes are wide, and there's no parking, but the people who rent huge Winnebagos for the weekend do make me nervous. 3 signaled intersections where I go straight, 4 pedestrian crosswalks, 2 of which are signaled. Heading south there is always a tailwind, and the elevation drops by about 100 feet over the 3 miles, but it feels flat. No shade or shelter. I have a PMB in town and pick up my mail about 2 miles into my commute.

However, often there are old people in motorized scooters driving the wrong way up the bike lane. (There is a sidewalk. Don't ask me why they do this.)

Then I turn to the west and go down a much quieter street for about 3/4ths of a mile. There is a steep but very short hill, then down hill and I make a left hand turn into my work's parking lot. Must dodge around old people wandering all over. I generally enter the ambulance bay the wrong way, and park my bike in the alcove where we keep the spare gurney.

To go home, reverse that only add battling a cold and foggy headwind. Commutes home suck, therefore I usually do them much faster, ha ha.