I don't know how else to decide this so I'm asking the experts (if you're not too sick of me by now!) I go back and forth on this and need the input of experienced commuters.

I've been doing a partial commute of 6.5 miles and I'd like to make it full commute eventually. The part from where I park to my campus begins on a hilly (3% to 4%) rural, two-lane road with no shoulders but fairly light traffic, speed limit of 45 mph, ending in a low-traffic neighborhood, and culminating in a 10.7% hill. I have two choices for the part from my house to the church where I currently park.

You can view the two routes at this link: https://www.netlag.com/amy/ACAMaps/Fitzhugh_Flog.PDF This is an Austin Cycling Association (ACA) map -- notice, they rated the stress levels of the roads!

I currently ride from U.S. 290 on Circle Drive to just about where the words "Oak Hill" are on the map. Route 1 below would be on 290 from Trautwein to Circle Drive. Route 2 would be going through a neighborhood parallel to Trautwein, then on Trautwein to Fitzhugh and then back to 290. There may be a cut that will allow me to get over to Circle Drive without getting onto 290. Otherwise, I will probably walk my bike against traffic for that 0.1 mile stretch rather than pull out on 290 at the light and then make a left on Circle Drive.

1. Four-lane highway, narrow shoulders in parts, no shoulders in some sections, speed limit of 65 mph dropping to 60 mph. About once a month, I'll see another cyclist on this road, though generally on a weekend.

Advantages:

• 11.8 miles compared to 17.06 miles
• Less hilly -- long, lower-grade hills versus short, steep hills
• More businesses where I can park as I build up to the full commute. Also, where I can get help, air up a tire, buy some Gatorade, etc.
• Traffic should be light enough at the times I would be traveling that cars can easily move to the left lane to pass me and as a U.S. highway, the lanes are fairly wide.

Disadvantages:

• Speed differential. My average is only about 12 mph and cars typically exceed the speed limit.
• There is one left turn in each direction of the commute, each with a turning lane but no light.
• Drivers are not likely to be expecting to see a cyclist.

2. 17-mile route through a rural subdivision, then on a two-lane, winding, hilly road (35 mph), then on a slightly wider two-lane, winding, hilly road (45 mph.) Two low water crossings which I will not be able to cross if there's been much rain (maybe for a week, once or twice a year.)

Advantages:

• Scenic ride and very little traffic.
• Much of the route is part of an ACA route so cyclists are more common.
• I only have to cross 290 once -- no light but good visibility in both directions and not a lot of traffic.

Disadvantages:

• Longer, harder route.
• Only one place I can park (near Trautwein and Fitzhugh) as I "grow" my partial commute.
• More isolated -- and since I'm a female, that concerns me, especially if I can't get home before dark, though violence out here isn't common.

Thanks for your advice! Here's my hill at the end of my commute!

Hi Longhorn

I live way on the other side of Austin and I'm not familiar with your area but I took a good long look at your routes anyway.

I noticed is that (on Google at least) the satellite maps show a lot of new roads springing up around 290W in places where the road maps show big blank spaces. Maybe there are some pleasant surprises that aren't yet on all the maps. One thing I'd consider about riding on an east-west highway is whether overtaking drivers would have the sun in their eyes.

Michael Bluejay's site recommends the Fitzhugh/Circle route as the safest and most pleasant. Although good bike route information goes out of date pretty fast in Austin.

Bicycle Austin - Routes.

I often recommend going for the longer commute if you think it is safer, but 11 miles vs 17 miles can make a big difference in your daily schedule. So, if you are comfortable riding in traffic, do route 1. If not, do route 2. With time, you might become more comfortable dealing with cars.

And they are usually running about 70 mph. Humm, how heavy is traffic? Would you feel comfortable walking on the side of the road with no shoulders?

For me the risks would be too high, I'ld take the longer route and carry a cell phone for help or cab if need arises. I have one 1 mile stretch of traffic at 45 and me at 15 and that is the most I will tolerate in speed differences.

If you ride a route everyday they will get used to seeing a cyclist. I ride the same route at roughly the same time every morning and it's amazing how many of the same cars and people I see daily.

Interesting situation you have. I'm the type of guy that would take the long route especially once I worked up to it. I would say that until you can work up to doing the 11.8 miles without having to park your car some where stay with that route; then when you can do the entire route without difficulty then switch to the 17 mile route.

I noted you are a female, do you have a cell phone and does it work along those routes? The other thing to realize too that if you don't dress too revealing must cars buzzing past you (especially when it gets dark) will think your a male because they don't expect females to be out riding at that time.

If you end up riding when it's dark do yourself a big favor and light yourself up like a Christmas tree! If you don't have an adequate lighting system for the whole bike and money is an issue, you can get a decent lighting system (front and rear) for $100 to $140 depending on front lighting power. My 13watt headlight cost $48; combine that front light with a flasher to attract attention from Vistalite for about $12; Cateye TLLD600 taillight with 5LEDS mounted vertically will provide a huge amount of side and rear light for about $20; barend lights about $15; reflective leg bands about $5 and your at $100.

Thanks for taking the time to consider my situation and offer advice!


Good point! I've checked out the area extensively using Google maps and Google Earth and will continue to do so. My husband and I checked out a possibility yesterday that could have cut four miles from the Fitzhugh route but what looked like a road turned out to be someone's driveway and another shortcut turned out to be a pipeline easement, fenced at the roads. But I did find a shortcut on the eastern end of my route that cuts about half a mile but also, more importantly, eliminates a good-sized hill!

I know the Google maps aren't completely up-to-date as the church where I currently park was built in the last six months and it's not on there so I may need to do more exploring in person! Thanks!


I've been comfortable so far but it's kind of like being comfortable swimming in the shallow end of the pool -- I won't know how comfortable I am in the deep end until I jump in! I think my husband and I are going to try the highway route in a couple of Sundays and see how it goes.


At the time of day I will be commuting (before or after morning and before evening rush hours) I'd say there are probably five to six cars per minute? When I drive it in my car, I can generally always see a car ahead of me and another behind me; sometimes I'm passing or being passed. Traffic gets heavier the closer to Austin but my route turns off just before it really starts to get heavy.

When Mr. Longhorn and I checked it out yesterday, I saw that there's a three to four foot shoulder about 80% of the way. The other 20% has about a foot of pavement on the other side of the white line, then some gravel and grass. No sharp drop-offs so I actually would feel safe walking it. I could switch to my mountain bike instead of the hybrid if it seems safer to ride this rougher area. Thanks for your input!


I was thinking that, too. I have a Flash Flag, a flourescent flag that sticks out horizontally from my rack and I plan to wear my Alert Shirts so that I am highly visible. I think I'll turn out my LED blinkies, too. Thanks!


Excellent points, all! I do carry a cell phone and it works the entire route. Right now, I have a Cate Eye EL500 headlight, a front LED blinkie, a rear LED blinkie, and another rear LED blinkie attached to my Camelbak. And as noted above, I have a Flash Flag and wear Alert Shirts. I'll check into some of the lights you've recommended as well. Thanks!

Interesting, a few comments:

1. 1 foot shoulder is different than no shoulder, I'ld try the shorter route on Sunday with hubby and see how you like it. If you watch commute times, it might be doable.

2. Mtb would not be safer. If worried about flats get amaradillo or marathon tires.

3. Lighting: what color is front LED blinkie? yellow? You don't want a red or white blinkie here as it will confuse drivers. Alert shirts are what? will they do anything at twilight? I'd add a cateye cd1000 so people see you in enough time to react. They are at speed and you want the best rear visibility. The camelbak blinkie is a great idea.

4. flash flag: I would remount so it's vertical instead of horizontal. For 20% of the ride you have limited side clearance and think it is too inviting to texas bulls to have such a nice target.

5. You also should consider side visibility, either side marker lights or reflective tires, or reflective tape.

The Armadillos sound like a good idea. My front LED blinkie is white -- I never thought about another color but yellow sounds like a good idea. I don't plan to do much riding on the highway at night right now but this is all good to know!

This is an Alert Shirt:



I have two orange and two yellow from www.alertshirt.com. Most effective in daylight and at night, I would think. They are VERY bright -- I get comments from people every time I wear one!

I'm confused about the horizontal versus vertical mounting of the Flash Flag. The reason I got this one instead of a tall vertical flag is because of what I read here (https://nordicgroup.us/s78/flag/flag.htm): "Called the "Stingpinnen" in Sweden where it was invented, the Flash Flag was credited with reducing accidents by 70%. Tests by the British Dept. of Transport in 1979, by Bicycling magazine in 1980 and by the Insurance Bureau of Canada in 1983 verified the Flash Flag's success. Tests clearly showed the Flash Flag's superiority over vests and other safety devices and proved that, as soon as a Flash Flag is attached to a bicycle, drivers give the rider an extra body-width or more of safe-riding room."



Maybe I should get a second one and mount it vertically? I got it from here, by the way: https://www.flashback.ca/products/accessories.html

I *always* appreciate your advice, HiYoSilver! Thanks for caring enough to comment!

I always recommend starting with the longer commute. I've been known then to work on Saturday to explore other poosible routes. Here is a link to my route using a Google map that was posted on another message here.

https://tinyurl.com/859h5

I've begun to use this mapping program and a paper map put out by local bicycle clubs that identify roads by suitability for cycling. I'm trying to become as car free as I can. Yesterday I delivered four heavy grocery bags of clothing to Goodwill and returned with four bags of groceries using my new Burley Nomad. I used the mapping program to figure out the safest round trip.

Back to your issues. I prefer stop signs (and yes I stop at them all, cars or not) than a direct route with traffic. My last and worse accident was on near a busy intersection with 40 MPH traffic and no shoulder. I was riding legally and was hit at near full speed by an in-attentive driver. Almost three years later I'm finally back to cycling at the same mileage I did before the accident. I recommend routing away from heavy traffic and speed where possible.