I am lucky since I have a nice path to ride only adding 1 mile to my 6 mile route.

I add anywhere from 3-5 miles on each leg of my commute depending on that whole traffic situation. The shortest route distance and timewise would be 19 miles but that would take 7 miles of 8 lane 50mph no shoulder crazy commuter free for all road which I took all of once for 2 miles.

My route in this morning is my quickest safe route which is 22 miles and if I leave early enough it is pretty empty traffic wise. It is a little longer then it was due to some highway construction on 121 diverting the traffic onto the service road so I backtrack a little bit.
On the way home I will sometimes take a turn to go one block over the wrong way to avoid a really bad section of 2 lane road if there is alot of traffic. I even started taking a left and a u-turn rather then a right at this busy stop light in front of hte nissan building. I don't know what changed but it seems everyone gets out at the same time now so they just pack that right turn lane solid and are really aggressive for that block before the highway entrance.

None those add as much time as my police escort did today on my 3 miles safety short cut through a development I ride through for my commute. 8 stop signs at least and on the section I can get my speed up I had to keep it slow because of the speed limit. I think he only stopped following me when I hopped on the sidewalk to go a block and trigger the crosswalk on 2499. Once it is past 6am (I was running late) there is no easy way across that road since the waves of commuters are in full force doing 60mph+

I do this on a daily basis, usually because of construction that's got a street ripped up. It's just not that big a deal in terms of distance, although I will confess I'm more than a bit pissed off at the current state of Comm Ave in Boston. There's no real warning until you're in it; at that point there's really no bailout (because of one-ways, the river and the river roads), and that stuff will trash tires and wheels.

I forgot construction. One of the streets I ride on down south of Denver is being chipsealed. Time to find an alternate. meh!

This one road that I almost can't avoid without changing my entire route got chewed up last week and I guess they are going to leave it.

I think I'm going to call the city and bless them out.
Just for fun.

That's a more fun distance anyway.

I often add as much as 3 miles taking scenic MUP home when I'm not in a hurry.

I've modified mine as I've gotten more comfortable in traffic. I changed mine a little bit this morning. I usually cut through neighborhoods with stop signs every couple of streets, you can imagine how annoying that is. Today I said F it and took a larger street with 0 stop signs. I covered that part of my trip alot faster and was not as tired. The other thing is a had been worried about traffic and didn't take that street, I'm kicking myself because I took it today and I was the only one on the road. I could have been taking it all along.

I've modified mine for safety as well as recreation. My morning ride isn't much longer for the commuter, I just choose different streets to ride down to avoid having to cut over four lanes of insane morning motorists doing 40-45 My ride home is about twice as long but that's because I hit the trail in the for the ride home - I can go fast, avoid pot holes, not fear for my life being ended by a semi or crazed motorist, ditch all of the construction (which just adds to the irritability of the motorists) and have fun riding along side a very scenic river route* (for most of the way) I'm slowly working on getting my butt out of bed earlier to hit the trail for the ride in to work.

* I never realized that there could be this nice of a route where I live (Lansing, MI). It was kind of exciting finding the River Trail because it shows a completely different side to Lansing than I am used to.

Oh yeah. I also modify my route going in based on whether I want a bagel or a cha siu bao, and my route going home based on whether I want sushi or Indian food.

Life is frequently good and tasty.

Life's too short to ride routes you don't enjoy. That is all.

Trailering my kids to daycare I found a big loop that avoided downtown and had the added benefit of going past the train station. Probably doubled my distance and time. Totally worth it.

I'll sometimes take the less pleasant/more trafficky route in the AM when I need to save time. Saves about 2 miles/10 min, plus puts the climbing in the middle instead of at the very end.

But it doesn't put me in love with the universe the way the longer route on the MUP does. So I take the longer route 95% of the time.

I add a mile to my route (4 miles instead of 3) to avoid a section of road I don't particularly like riding on. I'm pretty certain the city will redo that section of road in the next 2-3 years to add a bike lane (they've already done another section of the same road, and it'll connect nicely with the existing trail/bike lane network if they do one more section), but for the time being I prefer not to ride on it.

I don't ride a safety route. I ride what is pretty much the shortest distance between the A of my house and the B of my office. That being said I don't think that there is a safe route from my house to my work.

I added 3.5 miles to my route, and only 2 mins...it is a lot flatter, and on streets with little to no traffic. The hill climbing was the main reason though...it basically takes the same time and I am not nearly as dead when I get to school/work.

Shundaroni ...

I grew up in that area of lexington. All of those roads are fine to ride on. I started riding on harrodsburg when i was twelve. grit your teeth and do it for a week, and you'll never think twice after that.

In any case, why wouldn't you just live next to the school? tons of cheap, good, apartments all over that area.

by the way, i wholeheartedly recommend schellers (spelling?) bike shop on woodland. it's close to UK, and you can get the best cheeseburger in town across the street at Ramsey's. good luck in school

Define "safety".

Actually, both when I use a car or a bike, distance, time, "enjoyability" and safety all come into play.

When I drive the car, my preferred route is 3 km longer than the shortest one simply because it's faster and less hazardous.

When I cycle, the route I use most of the time is almost the shortest one, but:
– I don't really mind heavy traffic
– I do mind too frequent stop signs: a pain in the rear end...
– I stay away from supposedly safe roads which are actually safe... until I reach intersections where I have to stop and fight my way across busy roads. I think that the little gain I get from travelling on a lightly-used street is more than offset by the cost of fighting my way through heavily-trafficked cross streets.
– For the same reason – and because our provincial and municipal governments like to build "safe" bi-directional bikeways (nicknamed "piste tuable" or "kill way"), and because we are in a backward-thinking jurisdiction that makes their use mandatory, I stay away from routes where I am confronted with such poorly designed bike ways.
(P.S. I like bikeways that are designed according to the U.S. MUTDC. But out of some 800 km of "bikeways" in Montréal, less than 10 km are designed according to those standards.)
– Especially when the weather is fine, I like to detour.

I added one mile to avoid heavy traffic and since the way home is mostly downhill, it only adds a minute or two to the overall time.

First, let me first say congrats on getting in to UK's law school. I currently live in Lexington and commute to work. I'm trying to get into law school myself. I just signed up to take the LSAT in December so I've been studying like crazy!

As for your commute, I know Harrodsburg rd gets pretty hectic in the morning. Depending on what time you leave it can get pretty bad. You may want to go down Harrodsburg Rd a little ways and then take a right on Pasadena and then a left on Clays Mill. Although traffic is REALLY bad when school is in session because there is Lexington Catholic High and an elementary school right across from it. But the speed limit is only 35-40 I believe. This will take you back to Harrodsburg rd but keeps you off of it. But if you are comfortable with riding on the rd then riding along on Harrodsburg shouldn't be a problem because it is fairly wide.

Depending on your your return trip you should try coming back on Clays Mill RD and taking it all the way down and take a right on Wellington Way and then another right on Arrowhead Dr. This will take you back to Harrodsburg rd through residential neighborhoods with some nice houses . I'm not exactly sure where you will be staying and what time you will be coming home but this keeps you from riding back on harrodsburg rd during rush hour. Cars merge off of new circle and go right and it could be difficult to manage at peak hours.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I'd definitely like to ask you a few things about the LSAT and get any helpful tips on getting a good score.

Well unfortunately this topic impacted me enough over the last two days that I changed my route today. Over the last two days I've dealt with what looks like gang members as I would make my way from W Bellfort Park and Ride to the Braes Bayou Trail, about a 4 mile stretch. On Monday it was some verbal threats but on way back yesterday I had some good size rocks hurled at me. They missed and I just dug deep to get out of the situation. I'm not dealing with that sh*t anymore. Last thing I want is to become some gangs initiation punching bag. I have to make it home to the wife and kid.

It's depressing because my bicycle commute has now gone down from 18 miles one way to 10 and the amount I drive to a new Park and Ride has gone up from 7 miles to 12. However, the new Park and Ride (Westwood Park) is right off the trail at the 610 loop. I'm going to play around on google maps and add a few miles for a longer ride.

Ayup. My direct route to work is 3.5(ish) miles, but that's either on busy arterial/side streets or on sidewalks. I don't like either option so I take either of two 7 mile routes that are MUCH better. 90% of the 7 mile route #2 is MUP, the other 7 mile route is lightly traveled - before 7am - streets. If I leave after 7am I take the MUP route.

I also have a 5 mile route that I only take if I'm running late, as it's on some really rough side streets. In a pinch it works, but I prefer the other routes.

I added about 3 miles and about 400 ft of climbing in order to avoid a section that used to force me onto the sidewalk due to the heavy truck traffic over a 1 mile section.

Your life is worth more than those 8 miles one way. Good call but I expect you will find a way to make up those miles.

The morning after I posted this I started I tried a different route which takes 5.5 miles on residential streets and then puts me on a MUP for the remaining 7.5 miles. It adds about 5 miles to my commute but riding by the Wissahickon and then the Skuylkill without having to worry about getting squished is worth it.

I add about 2 miles to a 19-mile route.