Commuting route help
 

My commute to school last semester was 18.9 miles one-way. One a good day it took 1 hr and 15 mins on the way there. I was wondering if I should keep the same route this semester or change it up. These are my options:

Stay with what I was doing. From Berkshire Ave, take Bay St to other roads to college. Bay Street and the rest of the roads to the college are one lane roads (one lane each direction, some parts are narrow and there were often quite a few buses on Bay St). There are 5 stop lights and one of the lights I regularly saw 2 rotations of the green without getting thru the intersection due to heavy traffic. Total mileage from home: 18.9 miles. This is what Bay St looks like: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...bp=11,295,,0,5.

Take a different route. From Berkshire Ave, take State St to the college. State Street is a 2 lane road (2 lanes each directions) with 11 stop lights along the way. I have never used this particular road before. Total mileage from home: 18.5 miles. This is what State St looks like: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...11,241.31,,0,5.

What route would you guys take?

The one with fewer stop lights. That many stops is going to really kill your average speed.

+1 ^^^

I can ride a route that is 2 miles longer in about the same time based on the lights, and I'm nowhere near your average pace. You'll almost certainly lose more time at lights than the extra .4 mile at your average speed. Figure an average of 1 min standing still per light or so.

Ride both a few times and see which works best for you. If they end up being fairly equal, keep switching off occasionally to keep it interesting.

Are you filtering up to the stoplights?

No, I line up with the cars at the intersections.