Road Less Traveled
 

Granted in the purest function of commuting is to get us from point A to point B, but how many people intentionally do not take the most direct route for some extra scenery or time in the saddle? If you do what are your reasons?

Depends on how much time I have.

I never take the most direct route. My two alternate routes are more fun and have better scenery.

Occasionally. This morning my wife and I took a couple of miles extra on the way home from church just for enjoyment. In Amsterdam I'd often do this partially for the enjoyment of the route but also because my most direct route only had a bike lane for much of the way instead of a faster and smoother cycletrack. I've also been known to lengthen my route based on pub availability.

i used to ride through Mather Field airport in Rancho Cordova, Ca. because they had a few old planes on the ramp that i liked to look at. it was only a mile or so out of the way. the traffic was light and was well lighted at night too.

I take the longer route because the shorter route is: A) on a much busier stretch of highway; and B) it has a bit of a hill, which the longer route avoids.

The longer route is much quieter and more serene, in a residential area.

Never. My most direct route is a MUP with gorgeous views of a wide variety of scenic chain link and wooden fences. The next shortest route would be mostly on high-speed arterials with no bike lanes and would increase the distance by over 33%.

For the trip home, almost every day. Scenery, wildlife, less traffic.

My trip is fairly long 33km so I don't usually extend it much. I sometimes take a different route by the river that adds a few km and if it's particularly miserable I can shorten it up by a couple of km. My ride includes about 30min on a new highway which has a little more traffic but a wide clean shoulder and no lights which I prefer.

The most direct route to work is 4km each way but I cycle anywhere from 16 to 25km each way (depending on the route) for fitness.

I have a very nice Greenway, forest shade by the creek, most of the way. I only take the more direct route, with traffic lights hills and traffic, when I want to hit it harder than would be wise on the Greenway.

I take the longer route because it is safer, the scenery is nicer, gives me more time to enjoy the ride, gives me more exercise, and the biggest reason is, it is lot more fun.

Taking the most direct route would put me on a 2 lane road with absolutely no shoulder and some of the worst drivers around. I go 3 miles out of my way. Unfortunately there is only one good way into my city from where I live, and not many options to take the scenic route. I have been experimenting with some side streets on the way back home, and all I have found is super rough pavement and steeper hills. I haven't quite given up yet though

I've always chosen longer if it was safer. Also, there have been times when I went out of my way just to get more miles in.

Now I live 30 miles from work so I do not need to look for longer routes. Now the choice is how far I drive before I park and switch to the bike. Now I tend to drive short and ride long. When the winter comes I will have to reverse that.

On my last long commute I took the slightly longer commute going home. Traffic was bad on part of the longer stretch, but then it turned into a wooded park with a nice MUP and view. And I avoided a killer hill going that route. I could only do it in summer, as the park wasn't lit at night.

I try to vary my route as much as possible just to combat boredom. I also go out of the way to visit different stores than I would if I drove when running errands on the way home.

I take the safer route that's longer over the less safe route pretty much always, but past that I take the shorter route in the morning, then debate the longer route in the evening when I have more time...

When I hit the Thursday night ride, it could be seen as a 45 mile detour.

I often take a MUP home that meanders through downtown and along a river. The scenery is great and it only adds 6 miles to the ride home. Not bad.

My most direct route is 5.1 miles. I take that when I'm in a hurry in the morning and I usually take it going home when it's warm in the summer.

I have other routes that are up to 10 miles long that I will take for some extra exercise, or because I just feel like riding down roads less traveled by motor vehicles.

i don't take the most direct route because it's a very busy trafficy street full of angry motorists and bus exhaust and people opening car doors into the traffic lane and people jaywalking out between parked cars and a million other things going on to be constantly on guard for, especially at rush hour.

so i go a little bit out of my way and side street it to work. much less cars (by an order of magnitude at least), much less stress, much less exhaust, and only a small time penalty of maybe 2 minutes. plus, the side streets are primarily tree covered, so less sun to overheat me.

totally worth it in my opinion.

I have two direct five mile routes, one that is a MUP except the last three blocks, and the other that is on road with bike lanes about 50% of the way. The MUP has the advantage of no road intersections for the first four miles. The on road direct route has been my winter route after a snowfall when I need something which has been plowed. However, I rarely take either, but instead take a combination of MUPs that follow the stream that runs past my house down to the Potomac River and then follow that up to within three blocks of my office (a 12 mile route). I do this mostly to get more riding time/milage.

I commute in Atlanta Georgia, typically riding 20 miles from Decatur to Sandy Springs. The most direct route is 15 miles and I never do that one. That route has me spending well over half the distance on major four to six lane roads with 45 mph speed limit and lots of agressive traffic and narrow lanes. Not my cup of tea. My route mostly follows neighborhood roads where few if any drivers would drive as thru-traffic. The roads are almost all two lane with 35 mph or 25 mph speed limits.

I have a few favorite routes and then one in particular that I ride 90% of the time or more. Among other benefits I find that routes with a lot of turns make the time go faster. I get a better feeling of progress that way. And the ride goes through more "phases" in terms of the kind of surroundings (industrial, parks, suburbs, etc.). While I love to follow routes like these, I sort of dislike learning them. I don't want the mental focus that takes while I ride. I like to ride without figuring out how to get there. So I've developed most routes for commuting/other by using the TomTom app on my iPhone which finds great bicycle routes. It will do things like route me through a shopping center parking lot as a way of getting between two streets expediously. Or it might send me on walking bridge over the interstate - in short, things a car driver would not or could not do but work great on a bicycle.

This Town is 1 big hill, water on 3 sides , a peninsula .. around at the shore line wins over straight over the hill across ..

For me, its all about what the trip is for. If it's groceries or heavy load, i go the most direct route avoiding rough pavement areas. If i'm just popping over to the bank or super quicck errand, i might be inclined to go on a farther route just for fun.

- Andy