Describe Your Commute
 

Yesterday I replied to this thread, “ How has your commute evolved over the months / years?.”

That looks like a neat idea to format cycle commutes. A while back I summarized all the features of my commute to defend my assertion:

So I have expanded and slightly altered your format (new categories in red) to report my commute:


Route: Reverse commute from downtown on four different routes of a minimal distance of 14 miles, each defined by a different hill; can expand to about 30 miles to train
Bike: Specialized S-WORKS CF Road Bike; Cannondale beater mountain bike (fenders and Marathon Winter studded tires)
Destination:
Alternative Transportation: train, car, bus, taxis, car rentals, Zipcar, place to stay comfortably overnight.

If anybody is interested to describe your commute, here's the template; just Reply With Quote, Copy, Remove "[/QUOTE]" and insert into ….(spaces) .

I had subsequently added Road Conditions / surfaces, Traffic, Illumination, and Departure times to my original as written above.


Route:….
Bike:….
Destination:
Alternative Transportation:….

Further suggestions welcome.

Route: Minimal 12-mile commute, but often expanded to 20+ on the morning ride.Bike: 1995 Bianchi Advantage currently set up as winter beater with studded tires and fenders Destination:Alternative Transportation: Drive

Excellent reply, and enjoyed reading it. Thanks for being the first.

BTW, the family and I visited TO this past December, and I posted about cycling there to the Boston crew.

Route: 15.1 round trip, sometimes take it to 21 taking different route home.
Road conditions / surfaces: Smooth paved streets all with lighting. Some side\service roads, but most heavily traveled primary road.
Traffic: non existent in the morning; heavy on ride home. 4 heavy intersections to deal with.
Environment: Suburban.
Hills: None.
Frequency: 3-4 times a week year round on average.
Departure time: 4:00AM

Bike: 2014 Trek CrossRip; Rack and Fenders
Cargo: Trunk bag: Clothes, spare tubes,tools, rain jacket.
Helmet / Mirror: Helmet

Destination:
Parking: Outside covered
Cleanup: Locker room\shower
Departure time: 3 pm-ish

Alternative Transportation: Drive

Title: Vancouver suburbs to Richmond - 18 mos

Route: 33km each way on combination of side streets, hwy and bike paths. Includes hwy section where I can get a steady 30m effort. Useful for training and intervals when I'm inclined.Bike:….Destination:Alternative Transportation:m5/Smart

Great hours; 4 to 6 AM is the best time of day to ride IMO. The drunks are off the road (2 AM closing time in Mass), the midnight shift has not departed, and the usual commuting lemmings are not out yet.

I idealize that those driving at that time are the righteous of the earth that the world has entrusted to get everything started and ready for the new day to dawn for the rest of us.

Route::….7 miles, hilly, 2 to 6 lane arterials, 1/3 bike lane the rest VC, short section of single track abandoned road.Bike:…. Destination:Alternative Transportation:…motorcycle

Sounds like a nice route. I have a Specialized S-WORKS, NOS. Are your bikes variations, e,g. for cyclocross?

I love mine. When I was looking for a carbon fiber to replace my classic Bridgestone RB-1 totalled in an accident, my trusted mechanic, also a well-known fitter, just said, "Knowing how you ride this is what you want." THe MSRP was about four times what I expected to pay, but he got it half off as an end-of-year model.

The bike I'm riding now is a 2009 carbon s-works tricross. I bought it with the idea that I might do a few cyclocross races but I've yet to actually race. It's one of the few lightweight carbon frames that includes eyelets for full fenders which I wanted. I think the latest Crux Cyclocross bikes don't have fender eyelets.

Sorry Jim.

Filling out your form for three summer and three winter routes, plus variations of each in a matrix of three bikes is just too much work.

You'll have to be satisfied with:

1. The list of my three bikes at the left, or the descriptions of them in my profile at Bike Journal.
2. RideWithGPS maps of my Hills, Parks, Cemetery and Trails route, and my Winter Loop (because MUP on the three-seasons long loop isn't plowed).
3. and this pic of my parking spot at work:

http://www.brucew.com/images/kit/800/100_6828.jpg
And you already know that I bike commute on every workday.

I go-pro'd it the other day, and posted high speed version of it on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CLSyQLrxJI

Route::
Road conditions / surfaces: Fully paved, nice roads here (they fix potholes pretty fast)
Traffic: Not bad if I leave around 8, pretty busy before that. In the afternoon I take hillier side roads to avoid the 5:00 traffic.
Environment: In the city / downtown area.
Hills: If I go through a scary tunnel, minimal hills. If I avoid the tunnel (which normally I do), there's a 1 mile 4% climb, and then a nice steep quarter mile hill (maybe 12% at the steepest) up to the building I work in, no matter which way I go.
Frequency: 3-4 times per week
Departure time: 7:30-7:40, depending how many times I hit snooze.

Bike:
Bike name: Diamondback Podium 5 carbon road bike
Cargo: Backpack full of clothes, ramen noodles, and other food I stuff in there
Helmet / Mirror: Helmet always, no mirror

Destination:
Parking: Covered, guarded parking garage
Cleanup: Shower in the company's fitness center
Departure time: 5ish
Alternative Transportation: Gas-hogging truck, or weenie mini van

Route:: 4 km (2.5 mi) one way.
Bike: Kona Dew City.
Destination:
Alternative Transportation: Virtually none. I got a ride in once or twice. And walked once or twice due to en route flats.

Time. As in how long the commute takes. Not everyone would like to fill that one out, maybe... but traffic lights are always a good excuse for why it's so high. ;) My ride is about 13-15 minutes on the way there, and maybe 8-12 on the way back, depending on the wind, road conditions etc. It's so short and quick, I don't really bother timing myself. Usually I leave home with half an hour to spare, just to give myself some time to prep for work on the other end.

A while back I posted to this Living Car Free thread, ”How Many Cities…”[have you cycled]

I do remember Charlottesville was easy to enter (circa 1983)

Thanks for that video, with a great soundtrack (though FWIW, I’m not a fan of that type of music, but it suited the video well). As I watched it, I thought the Environment was suburban for sure, then when I returned to your post, noted you call it “city / downtown area."

Maybe it was the speed of the playback, and I’m such a mirror maven, but the upcoming traffic made me nervous.

Addendum: I went back and looked some more, and I appeared to have skipped most of the city riding. Also, it looked like you showed two different rides (? to and from) and I caught the apparent suburban segments. When I get a chance, I'll have to return to the urban parts, since city riding is my favorite.

Route: 3.7 miles one way.

Road conditions / surfaces: Paved roads, mostly arterial routes, with separate bike lanes most of the way. But the bike lanes are often blocked by parked cars, delivery trucks, pedestrians and other shenanigans.

Traffic: 1-2 lanes of cars in each direction, going 15-25mph, often heavy -- it's not unusual for me to keep pace with cars or leave them behind if traffic's slow.

Environment: Urban.

Hills: My route is fairly flat, especially for San Francisco.

Frequency: About 2x a week. Would like to do more but my schedule often doesn't permit it.

Departure time: 8:15ish AM

Bike: My KHS Winner or my Diamondback, which is now converted to a hybrid.

Cargo: Backpack, purse, bike chain, bike cable, occasionally things I need to bring to work or for errands. I put most of this in panniers and wear the backpack.

Helmet / Mirror: Helmet.

Parking: Underground garage that requires an employee badge to get in; to get their badge, employees must go through an FBI background check. The gates are manned by guards and the bike rack is located right behind a guard station and in view of another set of guards.

Cleanup: I don't get super sweaty on my ride, so I usually just change shirts when I arrive.

Amenities: None, really.

Departure time: Around 5:15. I don't ride all the way home, because I can't typically leave early enough to ride the whole way and pick up my daughter at school before 6pm. I sometimes ride to the nearest BART station and then ride the subway to her school. If I can leave work by 5pm, I can sometimes ride a mile down to the next-closest BART station and take the subway from there.

Alternative Transportation: Subway+walking.

:lol: Well said. It's often controversial about passing and filtering traffic, and that really peeves one radio talk show host in Boston who occasionally rants against cyclists, and I called him about that.

Do they have g-u-n-s? :eek: Those are about the only circumstances where I would leave my CF bike away from my immediate work area.

Really? Even in separated bike lanes? If I'm in a dedicated lane I don't see any reason why I should go slower just to make the drivers (or talk show hosts) happy. :)

I believe some of the guards (some are US Marshals) do have firearms. Some of the folks who park in that bike rack don't even bother to lock their bikes, but I tend to -- it's still San Francisco and I've already had one bike stolen, so I'm paranoid.

I don't lock my bike at work either, being a gated, guarded truck terminal with literally 100's of security cameras, if someone decided to steal my bike they would be caught. Besides that, there's new bikes, electronics, ect. ect. by the pallet that would be easier and more profitable to steal.

I guess it is about half suburban, then half downtown/city as I get closer to work. I live in Chattanooga, not exactly a big city, so the downtown area is not really as built up as other cities. The first half was to work, the second half was back, I just recorded both since I take a different way home because of the extra traffic.

I did have a mirror for a while, but I got rid of it because I guess if someone's going to hit me from behind, there's not much I can do about it (maybe I'm wrong?). But I think having a mirror might take my focus away from what's ahead more than I want.

Sorry, but I missed that you rode “with separate bike lanes most of the way.” However, “But the bike lanes are often blocked by parked cars, delivery trucks, pedestrians and other shenanigans.” so I presumed you took to the streets. Most of my bike lanes are on the street, marked only by a white line, and sometimes disappear at intersections, requiring filtering. (A fun aspect of reading these commuter descriptions is trying to visualize them compared to my own.)

My question about firearms was rhetorical.

I was hit from behind on a peaceful street so likely I was not monitoring from behind as frequently as otherwise. I'm glad though I did not watch it in my mirror, though maybe could have avoided it. I don't find the mirror distracting, but quite reassuring, and I wear both left and right.

Title: Bloomsburg to Danville. 19 months

Route: Direct route 10.6 miles each way. Usual route 12 miles; more in the summer depending on time.
Road conditions / surfaces: Side streets through town. Secondary road that parallels main road and then a quiet neighborhood that connects to my workplace via a very short MUP.
Traffic: Not much in the morning. In the afternoon most traffic is close to work then it thins out until I get back to my town.
Environment: Small town, rural and ending at a large campus.
Hills: Gradual uphill the last 7 miles with a couple small climbs.
Frequency: Winter - whenever possible (no studded tires). The rest of the year 99% riding.
Departure time: 6:15am

Bike: 2015 Trek 520 Disc with full fenders.
Cargo: One Ortlieb back roller classic with lunch, work clothes, Crocs to walk from bike to office and rain coat. Ortlieb handlebar bag with wallet, keys, personal items that I used to carry in a purse when I was a car commuter.
Helmet / Mirror: Helmet. I still haven't decided what type of mirror to use on the new bike.

Destination:
Parking: Parking garage bike rack.
Cleanup: Change clothes.
Amenities: Locker room to change. Shower available if needed. Food court, C-store, cafe, Subway.
Departure time: 4:30PM

Alternative Transportation: Drive

Glad you didn't get hurt. Even though I don't have a mirror, I have sort of developed a decent sense of when someone is about to pass without leaving much room, versus when they are giving space. I guess it sounds different..and granted it's probably like a 1 second warning, not nearly as good as a mirror. Whenever I hear that sound though, I do a little swerve toward the edge of the road, if it's safe, and tuck my elbow in. I have no idea if that actually makes me any safer, but it's what I do.

Also, as a side note..I figured out something useful about those reflective leg band things (supposed to be for keeping your pant leg from your chainring). If you wear one on your left leg, it must make you appear further to the left, for someone looking from behind. As soon as I started wearing one of those on my left leg, I started getting buzzed a LOT less often.

I would LOVE to figure out how to get some LED / laser type thing to shine a colorful light down on the road, a foot or so to my left. If someone could figure out how to do that, I think cars would give more room.

Thanks for this reply, and not to make a fuss, but I was in an acute care hospital for about two weeks, rehab hospital for another three weeks, off work for three months, and off the bike for five months. I won’t get into a mirror popcorn thread, but I have noticed that if I am passed by a car, I’m never sure if another one is immediately following just by hearing.

I too wear the reflective bands because I think the up-and-down motion is distinctive to indicate a bicyclist. I have seen posts about such laser type things. Maybe they could be found on the Electronics Forum. I think this thread could be a good place to exchange such information, though my recollection was there was not much interest in general, including by me. However I do recall one intriguing product, but I have no idea where I saw it.

Ah, yes, I did say that. Riding on SF's bike lanes (many of which are delineated with a stripe, very few of which are actually separate) is an exercise in flow; something's in the bike lane, so move into the vehicle lane briefly (if possible), then back into the bike lane. There's usually an obstruction every few blocks. On top of that, faster cyclists use this approach to get around slower cyclists. I think the drivers in this city are relatively accustomed to having bicyclists sharing the lanes with them, and often can observe why. Mostly it works out and everyone gets where they're going.

Route: 11.5-mile commute

Road conditions / surfaces: Mostly side streets, some busier streets heading into downtown, 2 to 4 lane streets (30 mph)
Traffic: Minimal in the morning; fairly heavy on the ride home; one small overpass.
Environment: Residential/Urban to Downtown.
Hills: None.
Frequency: daily when not raining or below freezing temps.
Departure time: 6:00AM

Bike: 2009 Bianchi Axis (cx) with rack and fenders, 700x32c Panaracer RibMo tires
Cargo: Trunk bag with lunch/snacks, spare innertube and tools, wallet and cell phone, clothes.
Sometimes a backpack with laptop.
Helmet / Mirror: Helmet

Destination:
Parking: Outside inside secure gated facility
Cleanup: Change from commuting clothes to work clothes (pants/polo type shirt usually) I keep my office shoes at work.
Amenities: My own office to change/get ready in, Cafe in the building, other than that.. nothing.
Departure time: 6:00PM

Alternative Transportation: Drive

You probably mean Charlottetown. But yeah, it's still low traffic. Probably a bit higher than in 1983... but still low. :D

For those who might be reading this thread from last to first post, this is a suggested template to describe your commute.


Route:….
Bike:….
Destination:
Alternative Transportation:….


Just Reply With Quote, Copy, Remove "[ /QUOTE ]," insert into ….(spaces), and post.

Further suggestions welcome.