i recently started commuting to work. i used to commute to my old job but general laziness kept me from doing it once I started at my current job. It is 6 miles 1 way and almost completely flat.
The only part about it that is even remotely interesting is the roundabout, and that is only interesting because i seem to get hit almost 1 out of every 4 times I go through it. In fact today might have been my last afternoon going this way - i really almost bought the farm.
I approach from the right in the mornings (headed westbound) and from the left (eastbound) in the afternoons. For eastbound/westbound traffic the road splits into two lanes as it approaches the roundabout - a right turn only lane and a single lane that can go 'stright" through the intersection or go 3/4 of the way around to make what amounts to a left turn. North and southbound traffic have two lanes than can go "straight" through the roundabout with the outer lane able to also turn right and the inner lane able to also turn left.
You can see the bikepaths in the photo that head in all directions, but i generally avoid them. They are peppered with driveways about every 100 yards or so and i just don't feel safe using them. I'm generally going 16-19 mph and I'd just rather stay on the road. i'm used to it and I like taking the lane and blah blah blah. Besides that, there's no way i could get across this particular north/south road on the sidewalks without the aid of a stoplight- it is just too busy.
My strategy to go through this roundabout is to take the appropriate lane to go "stright" and ride right down the middle of it. i slow down a lot more than I'd really need to and make an active effort to get eye contact with the people that are oncoming traffic and make sure they see me.
The traffic northbound/southbound on this particular road is EXTREMELY heavy and probably about once every other day somebody pulls right out in front of me and i have to stop in the middle of the roundabout to let them through. Today's contestant was a lady that was at least in her 70s that i don't think ever saw me even though i took a hard turn to the left and almost went into the center curb to avoid her.
I'm thinking I'll start avoiding this intersection in the afternoon, but keep going through it in the mornings. This will be my excuse to start taking an even longer 'scenic route" home!
