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What kind of roads do you commute on?

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Old 07-12-10 | 01:19 PM
  #1  
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From: UK
What kind of roads do you commute on?

I made a thread a while back asking everyone to show their worst potholes! Now I am back with a new thread asking people to show us the kind of roads they commute on.

Here is a selection of mine:

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...,60.12,,0,8.99

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...12,4.76,,0,3.3

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...49.09,,0,17.15

All fairly busy with quite a few lorries - my excuse to purchase a Dinotte! It is a nice enough ride though, can be quiet at times

So lets see your roads.

Daven
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Old 07-12-10 | 01:58 PM
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From: Silver Spring, MD

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I have no idea how you got a URL for a Google Map to work, at any rate, long & lat for mine: 39.045024,-76.877671
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Old 07-12-10 | 02:07 PM
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From: UK
I used google street view and in the top right there is a link called "link", which gives you the link to where you are

Yours is: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...,36.15,,0,3.73

and I'm already jealous of your commuting road!
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Old 07-14-10 | 05:55 AM
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Work from my shop at home and there are no potholes on the sidewalk or take the highway out to the frame shop... have 10km of urban riding on newly paved streets and the highway section (45km) is pretty nice save for all the gravel and debris on the shoulders.

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Old 07-14-10 | 06:39 AM
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From: Silver Spring, MD

Bikes: Surly Cross Check

Not all of my commute is quite that picturesque, this is what it looks as I get closer to work.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&so...,0.009645&z=17
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Old 07-14-10 | 07:54 AM
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My old commute used to look like this...









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Old 07-14-10 | 08:25 AM
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From: Chicago

Bikes: 2012 Surly Troll, 1999 Hardtail MTB

I ride about 2 miles of my commute on this street in Chicago, which even got a little article in New York Times

Keep in mind that when I ride this road, I am by far the fastest vehicle on the street
Attached Images
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Little India in C&.jpg (91.6 KB, 21 views)
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Old 07-14-10 | 08:56 AM
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From: Edgewater, CO

Bikes: Tons

Mostly just one way streets:

Single lane:


Two lane one way, this does actually now have sharrows painted in the right lane. These are by far, my favorite road configuration to ride a bicycle on:


A rather fun intersection to navigate by bicycle. Have to have a very aggressive lane position, otherwise cars will try and squeeze you out through the S-Curveish thing:


Only bike lane on my commute. I actually kinda preferred it before the bike lane...

Last edited by mikeybikes; 07-14-10 at 09:01 AM.
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Old 07-14-10 | 09:52 AM
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From: Monson, MA

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Here's some of the roads on my commute. These pics were taken back in March with my cell phone camera.













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Old 07-14-10 | 10:31 AM
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From: Bay Area

Bikes: 2012 Stumpjumper FSR Comp...2010 Scott CR1 CF...2007 Novara FS Float2.0...2009 Specialized Hardrock Disc...2009 Schwinn Le Tour GSr

Typical boring city road until the person is honking at me to cross the intersection for emergency vehicle when I am stuck (car on my right and pedastrian in front blocking). See my video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3ucF...=youtube_gdata
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Old 07-14-10 | 10:58 AM
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From: Edgewater, CO

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Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver
My old commute used to look like this...
A commute through all that beautiful wilderness would be fun!
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Old 07-14-10 | 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by mikeshoup
A commute through all that beautiful wilderness would be fun!
All found within the city limits... our park system is massive and can make you forget you are surrounded by a million people.
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Old 07-14-10 | 11:16 AM
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From: St Petersburg, FL

Bikes: Specialized Roubaix, Bianchi Volpe

My roads are all paved, but within that general category I have all kinds, because it is 30 miles one way:

1) two lanes narrow, residential, and bounded with curbs
2) four lanes undivided bounded with curbs
3) four lanes divided with a 3 foot shoulder
4) 3.5 mile long bridge with a 10 foot wide emergency lane to ride in where the wind is unbelievable in the afternoon.
5) two lanes, rural, nice grass shoulder
6) MUP - but only a half mile
7) Beach Drive in Downtown St Pete - speed limit is 15, I bike it at 18, and cars still try to pass me. Why? Because I'm on a bike. Most time they start to pass me then realize how fast they're going and they abort the pass. It's hilarious.
9) Then there's the drawbridge with the metal grate. There's always that irrational fear of getting a flat just as you're humming across that nasty looking metal grate.
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Old 07-14-10 | 12:00 PM
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From: New Westminster, BC

Bikes: 2013 Surly Big Dummy, 2008 Giant Rincon, 1980's Raleigh Century, 1970's Apollo Deelite

near home is nice quiet side roads.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...224.58,,0,6.47

Eventually passing between a Filming studio and their storage properties.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...314.64,,0,3.76

Eventually I get off the main bike route and get on a busier road to make up time and avoid some annoying hills. Lucky the parking lane is just full enough to keep moving vehicles out.
https://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...280.58,,0,6.92
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Old 07-14-10 | 01:33 PM
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From: Gaseous Cloud around Uranus
I live in L.A.,so nothing special.Typical concrete jungle with lots of cars.
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Old 07-15-10 | 12:27 AM
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From: Burbank, CA

Bikes: Allez, SuperSix Evo

Here's a part of my commute that i like.

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Old 07-15-10 | 01:21 PM
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Here are some pics to show you what my commute can look like. I tend to vary my route a bit, and to run errands on the way home. Right now, though, the sun rises around 5 am and sets a little after 9 pm, so my ride in and home don't actually look like this right now. In December, though, the sun rises around 8 or 9 am, and sets around 3:30 pm, so for much of the year, my commute does in fact mean "night" riding.

Quiet residential neighborhoods are generally better than main arterials:



The roads are bad in some of the hillier areas. Also, there are almost always clouds:



Sometimes I go downtown before returning home:



And I often "stop to smell the roses," except that sometimes this means stopping to enjoy a view of the water:

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Old 07-17-10 | 04:19 AM
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From: UK
awesome pictures
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Old 07-17-10 | 10:30 AM
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Bikes: late 80's bianchi campion d'italia, early 90's trek 2100, early 90's shogun selectra, mid 90's aluminum marin xcMTB, dept. store grade but upgraded columbia double eagle tandem

Multi lane urban arterials with/without bike lanes, Highways, rural roads with shoulders/bike lanes, rural roads without shoulders, paved/unpaved Bike paths....Yeah depending on my route just about all the major "types" of roads, excluding, off the top of my head, residential suburban streets.
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Old 07-17-10 | 05:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Chalupa102
Here's some of the roads on my commute. These pics were taken back in March with my cell phone camera.

Are those shoulders wide enough?
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