I typically don't use shortcuts, my commute is a workout (Z2 endurance ride) so I need the mileage.


Regarding commuting by kayak. When I was stationed in Portland we had a MSgt who kayak'd down the Willamette from near his house to work. Found a dead body one time on his kayak commute.

Had a shortcut through a farm and along some train tracks but was told last year to stay off the farm. It wasn't a route I took often because it meant dealing with trains and or gates. It was scenic and quite unless a train happened by. My shortest and flattest route is along a 4 lane highway which I dislike. I enjoy the back roads once I get out of town but it can take me close to 2 hours to cover the 15-18 mile distance. I usually compromise with some highway and secondary roads. I wish my commute was shorter. I can't always afford a 1.5 - 2 hour commute.

My safest route is 9.5 miles. The shortest is 6 miles. Right past a high school with ~2500 students. 1/3 of the cars are late parents dropping off kids and 1/3 of the cars are kids that have been driving around a year. The rest are kids with another year or so of driving experience. They crash into each other in the parking lot all the time.


I'm waiting for a new development to go in around the school. Hopefully they'll tie the trail system into the backside of that and I'll be able to avoid the school. That could cut 2 miles off if I wanted.

This is a good example where collisions (or fatalities) per mile of road is not a constant but the important factor is the number of cars encountered choosing the route.

When my employer moved me to a different site a few months back I spent a couple of Sundays before the move riding routes to the new site, and planning a route based on what traffic at peak hours would be like.

The resultant route I normally ride is about 15 miles, takes me along a mixture of gravel paths, main roads, and country lanes, and takes about 50 minutes to an hour.

A straight route on main roads is 12 miles, taking about 40 minutes - I've ridden this route occasionally when the lanes have been icy, and there's no pleasure in it at all. I'm much happier doing the extra miles on quieter roads with the scenery that goes with them.

I do have my shortest (safe) route, and then others. If I have time I'll use the one I enjoy the most. Maybe it's because I have done that route in a while, or another reason. My absolute shortest and quickest route isn't safe in my opinion so I don't use it.

I think that while my route is ideal most days, I ought to start finding routes I can take that avoid the headwinds. This morning's ride was brutal. It's on the river's edge, and the island has cliffs or buildings that the wind hits. I'm pretty sure that it's not as bad inland.

How Often Do You Find Shortcuts?

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Originally Posted by cyccommute (Post 20196401)

I don't look for short cuts...been riding my route for 26 years...I look for long cuts. Many people have asked me how many routes I have to home and I tell them that I have 599 different routes and that I've ridden most of them.

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Originally Posted by aplcr0331 (Post 20223369)

I typically don't use shortcuts, my commute is a workout (Z2 endurance ride) so I need the mileage.

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I have four basic one-way routes each 14 miles, with minor variations. In the nice weather I lengthen the routes for varying distances up to about 30 miles.

One minor variation, I consider a shortcut for my benefit, was only about two hundred yards long. The Jamaica Pond Bikepath follows a major well-lit, well-traveled highway, except for about 200 yards where it is out of sight of the highway through a dark, forested segment. I never ride isolated darkened paths.

A few years ago, I found a peaceful, lit side street that eliminates the forested segment, with easy access to the remaining approximately two miles of Path. The main dangers on the Path otherwise in the pre-dawn early AM are from oncoming brightly lit cyclists, or ninjas, especially on an uphill segment for me.