Originally Posted by recumelectric

I've been bike commuting on and off for years, but, in the past, I always had access to a really good trail. When on the short pieces that exit between the trail and home or the trail and work (which have always been about 1/4 mile), I've ridden the sidewalks. I also happen to live in an area where more people ride the sidewalks than streets, and car people know to check for clearance. Nonetheless, I'm extremely cautious, and I've never had an accident. (Occasionally, I have ridden the streets, but not much.)

Right, now, I'm doing a mini-commute to my temp job that's about 1/2 mile. This commute consists of (this will curl the toes of the VC's) riding sidewalks across both the on- and off- ramps to the freeway. It is truly the best solution for that situation, as there is no space for bikes on the road, which is actually an inner-city portion of a major state highway that crosses with the interstate. Basically, every car is flying up and down as well as over on that street.

And it gets worse. On the way home, I ride against traffic flow on the sidewalk. I am able to cross the street if I want to go with the flow of traffic, but that creates 2 additional crossings, one of which is not marked.

I will continue this crazy pattern as long as I'm riding to that particular job. However, it has occured to me that, compared to what I've been doing each day for the past 4 months, it might not be so scary to ride the bike lanes in the minor side streets when I'm commuting to my "real job" in the fall. Not to mention the fact that I will be going above my typical 10 mph. When I get this new bike fully equipped, my speed may be more appropriate for the road.

...In the past few days, I got bold, and just rode down the side street that connects directly to where I live. No problems. I'll probably always take a good trail when it's there, but I'm getting more comfortable with the street option.