I never do. While riding my bike is fun, I'm going to work not on a joy ride. :shrug:

Fastest way to work...Route with the most watering holes on the way home....

Echoing other responses here...

The most direct route includes a 55mph speed limit road that gets heavy traffic, especially when the interstate it parallels clogs up. I have only biked that on a Sunday when I was not going to work and traffic was non-existent. That route is about 10 miles from home to work.

My normal route is 12 miles. But if I leave early enough I will add an extra mile or three, depending on the time. Adding means hitting a MUP or taking the long way through a neighborhood. I do it for variety and to see different things.

I rarely do ride outside of commuting, so I figure since I'm on the bike, I might as well get a little extra time or mileage in.

Most direct going to work ... I'll meander on my way home every now and then.

Overall, my daily commute is 24 miles round trip, so I only extend a ride home once a week or so. Haven't done it in awhile.

I take the direct route to work as it's 30 minutes shorter, and there's a long shade covered portion that a welcom in hot days. To go home, I always take the longer route. It's late night, so there are few cars (if any, sometimes) and rarely ever any pedestrians. The shorter route also goes through a sketchy neighborhood that I don't want to be in at night.

Direct route in the morning. But that route is un-doable in pm rushhour traffic, so longer, surreptitious route home.
Always the route thats the least traveled.

Me too. Direct 7mi route morning commute, 23mi evening commute on average.

Most of the time I take the direct route. It is along a minor artery with a bike path that works well for me. Occasionally, when the lighting is right, I will take a detour closer to downtown. Traffic is horrible. But here is the result of one of my side trips.

[IMG]Sunset downtown by res1due, on Flickr[/IMG]

I took the direct route there and back when they had the bridge down. It's nice in the AM...
But rough in many senses in the afternoon.
Including one hill off doom... Long, no shoulder, and 30 or so foot drop off on other side of guard rail. Pods of profoundly impatient and unfriendly traffic fly by at 10-25 over speed limit except for occasionally afraid person who slows to my speed then stands on it when they can't wait any longer thoroughly pissing off people behind them who are then even less friendly...

Now I take the Green way both ways. went from 43-ish to 50... and another 310ft climb...

Though winter time, I think I'll take "short" way in and "safer" way back...

wow!

The most direct route by car is about 12.5 miles, using either the interstate, or a parallel 55 MPH state highway (both get TONS of traffic). No way, no how.

Of the other 2 available routes, the shortest (14.5 miles), mostly to the east of the interstate, includes some rather large hills on a couple of roads with moderate traffic including big trucks. I went this way when starting out, but then discovered traffic to be a beast when school started back, so I rarely take that route anymore.

My route of choice is a mile longer than the first route at 15.5 miles, and is mostly west of the interstate. Traffic is much, much lighter, and there is less climbing in both directions. My best time has been less than 65 minutes. Worst time more like 85 minutes.

My regular commute route is probably 4-5 miles longer round-trip than the shortest possible route. Safety is the biggest factor in my route, which avoids roads with heavy traffic and narrow lanes. It just so happens that my route is more scenic because I am riding through neighborhoods much of the way rather than commercial business districts. Occasionally I go way out of my way and pick up one of the local greenways, which adds about 10 miles to my afternoon commute, and I do that for the scenery as well as the extra miles.

+1 for later at night/early AM.

Traffic goes from steady to all most nothing in many areas of SEPA & stays nothing from about 23:00 and 04:00 most weeknights/overnight, and 01:00-0400 sat/sun overnight. The more major thoroughfares like 413, biz route 1, and a few others that you can ride on (i-95 is bicycle restricted, as is the turnpike) see most of the traffic in these hours, and in some cases can be bypassed without adding distance.

- Andy