New bike commuter in NC mtns
 

Been lurking as a guest for a few days and already have learned much about the do's & dont's of bicycle commuting. I'm getting in shape for my 5 mile commute by biking around downtown Asheville.

Hope to begin full-time bicycle commuting in a month or so. It's certainly not flat around here, so I'm building up to it.

I've been surprised so far that in an area so well known for mountain biking, there are very few bicycle commuters. Hope to lead the revolution...

Hi neighbor!

Welcome to the forums and to bike commuting.

Have fun on those hills!

:beer:

I know some in Asheville. Welcome and have fun commuting. You can do it. Five miles isn't even worth starting up the car!

Welcome.

You can say that again. ;)

no kidding about them hills!!!! i commute from Arden to Asheville...my commute is 30 miles round-trip:eek: and to say easy is crazy!!! i don't commute everyday because i enjoy the trails too much and if i cycled to work everyday i would not be up to mtbing:(

my commute consists of riding thru Biltmore Forest, climbing to Windswept (the ridge by Mission Hosp), then climbing halfway up Town Mtn Road....takes at least 1 1/2 hours each way...

i see a few commuters here & there but not nearly as many as i thought i would either...good luck and happy pedaling!

Thanks, everybody. I bought a new Trek 7.5 FX with fenders, lights and a rack last weekend, so I'm ready to go! Tremendous improvement over my old dept store moutain bike.

bouncybouncy, I'm impressed with your ride. You certainly look to avoid the main roads. I live off Sweeten Creek Rd, and plan on using that and McDowell to get to work downtown.

off the main roads are just less stressful!!! i do travel along Hendersonville Hwy for about 2 mile from Royal Pines (somewhere around there...i found a couple side street short cuts) to the Parkway where I duck into Biltmore Forest (now that is a great part of the route)...i have been trying to get stronger so the hill climbs i attack and am constantly trying to stay in a harder gear! (i have a personal bathroom w/shower here at work so stink is not an issue, thankfully!!!)
i would not ride sweeten creek on a bike if you paid me....toooo many cement trucks and semis...and people just not paying attention on there way to work!!!! maybe after it went to 4 lanes, but that 2 lane section is just too risky...especially rush hour (if you can call it that hehe) but it is still heavy traffic!
i picked up a map of cycle friendly maps at the LBS...it is color coded according to which route is high or low traffic. i am fairly new here so it was extremely helpful!