Found a new route to work. Finally.

[Penguini66]

I don't go on "rides" much but I do ride almost every day in the spring summer and fall. My commute to work in the cage is about 19 miles of mostly highway driving. In the morning it takes me, on average, 25 minutes by car but sometimes as little as 20. I've ridden the highway rount on the bike but don't find it fun or relaxing (the reasons I like to ride). So over the past 12 months I've been trying to find a decent back roads route that doesn't cost me that much time.

This morning, I think I finally found my route. It clocked in at just over 16 miles and 30 minutes for the second day in a row. And that was with hitting just about every red-light and sitting and waiting a few times. The bonus is that a few miles of the route are right along a creek so I even get some decent scenery mixed into the suburbia hell and city for the rest of the ride. Its a more direct route, in contrast to looping around the city on the highway, it is rather pleasant, doesn't take that much time. I'm very happy.


Now I just have to find a decent route home. I can't take the same route because the traffic patterns, lights, etc just do not work out. By car, my commute home is, on average, 30 minutes. By backraods on the bike, I don't think I've ever gotten it down to much less than 40 (and this is after about 4 years of commuting to-from the same areas on a bike). Most of the extra time on the bike is spent sitting at poorly sequenced lights and traffic that would be normally be missed by taking the highway.

[FMYStreetRacer]

i'm kinda in the same boat as you. i travel only 5 miles each way to work and back. the main trails are near my house but i still live in the city. i had one bad ass trail next to the train tracks that went off into the woods for about a 1/8th miles and it was woods all grown over like a cave. i don't know if someone saw me go trhough there one day of what but about a week after i found it it got torn down by apperantly some huge machine. now all the tree's are still there months later but no other activity. i did ride down the same tracks today and noticed some orange spray paint on the side of the tracks looking like they were marking something. looks like i'm about to miss my only train that i can take on the way home. any ways keep on looking out, you never know where you might find another trail at.

[Penguini66]

Wow, this must be my week! Last night, on my way home, I found another short cut that cuts out the main intersection/light that was giving me heartache and making my commute home long. It is a little road that I didn't even know existed and I'm betting most other people don't know it exists. My ride home just got 10 minutes shorter. Woohoo!

My issue is that I live on one side of the Susquehanna river and I work on the other side of the river. I have a choice of 5 bridges to cross that river. Three of them are Interstate (I-76, I-83 & I-81). None of them are fun on a 200cc dual sport. The two city road bridges are OK but I have to make a left turn at a light(on the way home) to get on one of them. So for an efficient commute, that only really leaves me with one bridge.

Then, as one can imagine, on both sides of the river of those city bridges, traffic gets congested. That was my issue on the way home. I'd get to the bridge easily. Cross the river. Then spend the next MILE in stop and go traffic waiting to get through the next light. Now I found a little side road that circumvents that light. Just hope nobody else knows about it. Although you have to backtrack just a touch, its much quicker in the long run.

On a side note, did anybody hear the story about how the big brown trucks are not allowed to make left turns anymore? The theory and research shows that drivers used to waste time sitting waiting to turn left accross traffic and at lights. Now, all of their routs are mapped out such that they do not have to make any left turns. All right turns.

I'm pretty picky about my route. I look for long stretches of road with no stop signs or lights where I can make time. If I have to go through a light, I make sure its not a left turn because this bike doesn't have enough metal in it to trip the under road sensor. And no highways.

FMYSR, I wish I had a "trail" to ride along on my daily commute. But for now, I'll have to settle for decent non-stop sign ridden back roads. Although, I have taken an off road excursion or two out of frustration with gridlocked traffic. Nothing says you can't ride in the grass along the highway does it?

[FMYStreetRacer]

haha, yeah riding onthe grass here in florida is a big no no. i still do it every time there's traffic though. the other night i went for a joy ride down to a local bar to see if there was anything going on. on the way home i guess a hockey game just got out from the arena and the traffic to turn left was crazy. i jumped into the median and rode it all the way up to the light. when the light turned green i just dumped the clutch and rode off away from the traffic.


we'll see what happens with my trail, i might now have it for much longer.