I'd like to try commuting, but...

[Heifzilla]

This is the most direct way I have right now: http://tinyurl.com/ohpzsx

As you can see, there is really no way for me to travel mostly residential because there just aren't many roads that go over the lakes. Grass Lake Road is a 40 mph, twisty, hilly road and that's the majority of the ride. Rt. 173 is a 40-55 mph semi-truck route that is simply out of the question. I also work on a very busy road, but there are at least some options for biking there.

My other option is this: http://tinyurl.com/qua644

I rode it one way to work yesterday and it was fine, however, it is very hilly in some places and the hills would be uphill on the way home from work and I don't know if I could handle that after 6 hours of physically demanding work (I'm a vet tech). It also adds 4+ miles to the commute. Plus, it's all country, rural roads and pitch black at night. Both ways would be pretty dark at night, when I'd be riding home (I work 2pm to 8pm +).

Does anyone have a ride like this? I'm tempted to ask DH if he'd come pick me up after work, but I don't think he'd do it (I'll ask, though). That way I'd at least just have to ride the daylight part of the commute. I only work three days a week, so it's not like I'd be doing this every day.

I really want to do this, but on the other hand, it's intimidating. The ride yesterday was tiring and I had lunch and a car ride home to look forward to afterwards, not 6+ hours of work.

[Biciclista]

wow, that actually looks flat! :cool: I would go for the shorter route. Sounds kind of pretty and peaceful. Is it?
It does get easier after a while.

[Heifzilla]

wow, that actually looks flat! :cool: I would go for the shorter route. Sounds kind of pretty and peaceful. Is it?
It does get easier after a while.

It is mostly flat, but there are a couple of killer hills (to a midwestern flat prairie girl, anyway, which means they are ant hills to some of you :D

The shorter route is the busy, more cars route, where there really is no shoulder to ride on.

[Biciclista]

oh, that's too bad. I did a close up and saw that looked like a nice road. i couldn't see a bike path though :p

options: drive part way and ride part way. a lot of people do it.
And if it isn't too far for him, have your DH meet you once a week and take you on a little date!

[Cataboo]

will the shorter route be less busy in the evening? You could ride the longer route with the down hill in the afternoon on the way to work, and then ride the shorter more direct route home.

I'd say try it one day and see how it works. Have your husband ready to pick you up in the evening if it's just not going to work that day.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My other option is this: http://tinyurl.com/qua644

I rode it one way to work yesterday and it was fine, however, it is very hilly in some places and the hills would be uphill on the way home from work and I don't know if I could handle that after 6 hours of physically demanding work (I'm a vet tech). It also adds 4+ miles to the commute. Plus, it's all country, rural roads and pitch black at night. Both ways would be pretty dark at night, when I'd be riding home (I work 2pm to 8pm +).

If you click on "Walking" and then click the little camera icon, you can actaully drag the little man on the map and see photos of the entire route. Cool!
I have to say though after 'walking' the whole route by camera- I don't see a single hill anywhere. There might be some low 'inclines', but honestly it all looks completely flat to me. ;) I guess we all see things relative to our own areas. If you find that hilly then I am sure after riding it for a few weeks it will not seem that hard to you anymore- really, your leg muscles will quickly build themselves up to handle that easily with regular riding.

I think your bigger challenge will be the darkness, and for that you should get a really good lighting system on your bike- front and back, and a strong steady white headlight AND a strong steady red tail light. Not just 'blinkies'. Also you should have some good quality reflective wear and buy some extra stick-on strips for helmet, backpack, buy spoke reflectors, reflective gloves, etc. Light yourself up like a Xmas tree! :p

Good for you in wanting to commute by bike! I'd say it's certainly do-able, especially just 3 times a week....just seems daunting at first.

[Heifzilla]

oh, that's too bad. I did a close up and saw that looked like a nice road. i couldn't see a bike path though :p

options: drive part way and ride part way. a lot of people do it.
And if it isn't too far for him, have your DH meet you once a week and take you on a little date!

I was wondering about that. How do people drive part way and then bike? Where do they leave their cars?

I guess in a more urban setting there are parking lots and stuff, but around here there really isn't anyway to do that. I mean, yeah, some places have a park 'n ride, but they are few and far between and none on my route. There's no where for me to leave my car. Plus, many of the parking lots around here have signs posted because they wiull tow your car unless you are using the store or whatever.

[Heifzilla]

If you click on "Walking" and then click the little camera icon, you can actaully drag the little man on the map and see photos of the entire route. Cool!
I have to say though after 'walking' the whole route by camera- I don't see a single hill anywhere. There might be some low 'inclines', but honestly it all looks completely flat to me. ;) I guess we all see things relative to our own areas. If you find that hilly then I am sure after riding it for a few weeks it will not seem that hard to you anymore- really, your leg muscles will quickly build themselves up to handle that easily with regular riding.

I think your bigger challenge will be the darkness, and for that you should get a really good lighting system on your bike- front and back, and a strong steady white headlight AND a strong steady red tail light. Not just 'blinkies'. Also you should have some good quality reflective wear and buy some extra stick-on strips for helmet, backpack, buy spoke reflectors, reflective gloves, etc. Light yourself up like a Xmas tree! :p

Good for you in wanting to commute by bike! I'd say it's certainly do-able, especially just 3 times a week....just seems daunting at first.

Believe me, there are a couple of wicked hills even though it doesn't look like it. Wicked being relative to what you're used to. One of them I cannot make it up, even in granny gear...I can get halfway and then my bike stops moving and I fall over :D :D

Yeah, the lights would be important. I've been looking into some and I can't believe how expensive they are, but what price is your safety worth?

And it *is* daunting! And it's the dumb things you end up thinking about, too. Like helmet head. How do you deal with that once you get to work? I tuck all my hair up into my helmet and when I take it off I look like Nick Nolte :D I can handle the wiping down with babywipes thing (we have a shower and work but it is DISGUSTING, hasn't been used in who knows how long, and currently it has a toilet plunger in it and I don't know where that's been...yuck!), but the hair thing I'm not sure how to deal with. On the other hand, luckily for me I work as a vet tech, so it's not like I need to be stylin' at work or anything :)

I really want to do this but I really have to psych myself up to it.

[Possegal]

Slight hijack - but how cool is that "walking" guy thing on Google maps? :) I am now going to have to post something with it to try and show the hill near the house I gree up. The photo I took one day some time ago, apparently didn't convince folks that it was a bad hill. But take little googleman for a walk up it, and even he gets tired. :)

[Biciclista]

If nothing else, you might happen by someone's house and ask if you could leave your car there. Are there no parks, nothing? I think this deserves more investigation. (I always thought of rural as being more free, not more controlled!)

[Heifzilla]

If nothing else, you might happen by someone's house and ask if you could leave your car there. Are there no parks, nothing? I think this deserves more investigation. (I always thought of rural as being more free, not more controlled!)

There's the big state park across the way, but it closes at dusk and the parking areas are only a mile or so from my house.

Rural doesn't mean more free, I don't think. There are plenty of fields and undeveloped lots but no where to park a car without permission unless you know someone.

Oh, and I did the "walk" where I know the hill is hellish, and it does not look like much at all on google street view. But I get up to 30 mph going down that hill, so I know it's a doozy. But fun to ride...down! Google street view seems to flatten stuff out quite a bit, I think it's the lens they use to get the wide angle view.

[sfa]

Wow, I think you'd get extra-special double cool commuting points for having to cross into another state on your commute!

What I would do in your case is to just try it. Try it on one route one day and the other route the other day and just see how it goes. Or if you're nervous about taking on the whole commute in one day, drive in with your bike in your car and ride home on one route, then the next day ride into work on your bike and drive home. This kind of hybrid commute is an approach that I think a lot of people take on a routine basis, especially if they have a long or difficult commute. I'd be more inclined to take the slightly farther but less busy road. You'll get good at the hills in pretty short order. A year ago I was asking on here about dealing with hills on my commute (I don't really have any truly flat sections, and the first 6 miles (or last, depending on the time of day) is pretty much 3 miles down then three miles back up) and while I would like to say that now I'm so used to them that I hardly notice them, the truth is I STILL hate them, but they are much, much easier. I had to walk them the first few times and I always tell myself that that's still an option (as is stopping at the coffee shop at the base of the three mile hill and calling DH for a ride! I've never done it, but I've been tempted.).

Good luck!

Sarah

[Biciclista]

Wow, I think you'd get extra-special double cool commuting points for having to cross into another state on your commute!

Good luck!

Sarah

How did I miss THAT ???

"oh yeah, my commute's not too bad, I just have to go through Wisconsin to get to Illinois"

[tulip]

When I lived in Maryland, I went through DC and into Virginia to work everyday by bike. It was kindof fun thinking about a tri-state commute.

Heifzilla, why don't you just clean the shower and use it? That's what I did at my old job. They had a shower that was not used and it was not up to my standards, so I spent a few hours scrubbing and it was fine. I got some of that after-shower spray for the tiles and that kept it clean. Most places don't have any shower of any kind, so you are waaaaay ahead of the game. The hills will get easier ONLY if you ride them. Otherwise, they'll stay hard.

I've found in my life (bike commuting and otherwise) that it's very easy to think of reasons NOT to do something. The challenge is to make it happen. Solutions, not excuses, are what I try to focus on.

[Pax]

If nothing else, you might happen by someone's house and ask if you could leave your car there. Are there no parks, nothing? I think this deserves more investigation. (I always thought of rural as being more free, not more controlled!)

Not in Illinois, the ground her is very fertile and every square inch of it is owned. There are a minuscule number of places where you could just drop your bike and walk through a field (they're fenced). It's a common misconception about this state though.


Heifzilla - I used to live in Lake Villa and can see the difficulties with your commute. It's doable but the lack of shoulders on most of those roads will make the ride "interesting".

BSG - The hills in Northern IL are loooooong slow inclines, they appear flat until you're on them and then your thighs explode about halfway up. :p

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

BSG - The hills in Northern IL are loooooong slow inclines, they appear flat until you're on them and then your thighs explode about halfway up. :p

Yes we have some of those several mile long inclines around here too. My thighs used to 'explode' halfway up them too....but after a couple years of fairly average type riding in our pretty hilly areas, I have little trouble with them now, simply because my leg muscles have gotten stronger. As Tulip says, "The hills will get easier ONLY if you ride them. Otherwise, they'll stay hard."
I'm 55 and I've only been riding for three years, never having been involved with any exercise at all before that. I also have some respiratory limitations. Hey, if I can do it on my 30 lb. steel bike, anyone can. ;) :D

[canonsue]

For now, I am doing the drive part way, bike part way. My commute is 25 miles each way with a 10 mile killer hill. Once, I ride more, I will bike down the hill and to work and then take the bus back.

However, for now, I just park at any public parking lot. Last time, I rode, I parked in the Home Depot lot which was 7 miles away.

-Sue

[Heifzilla]

For now, I am doing the drive part way, bike part way. My commute is 25 miles each way with a 10 mile killer hill. Once, I ride more, I will bike down the hill and to work and then take the bus back.

However, for now, I just park at any public parking lot. Last time, I rode, I parked in the Home Depot lot which was 7 miles away.

-Sue

I know I am sounding like I am making excuses, but there really isn't anywhere for me to be able to park and ride like that. I'm pretty rural, so when you find is clumps of areas where there are stores and stuff. So, for example, there is a Jewel (grocery store) in town wherw I live (opposite way of my commute of course) and then there are a couple of gas stations, and then nothing. Once I get within a mile of work, there's another Jewel (it's on the big semi-truck road though). So basically, I work in the town where there is shopping, but if I drove there to park, I'd be passing my place of employment, so what's the point of biking?

And, regarding hills. Pax has it right...looooooong slow inclines (and there really are some actual hills, too!) I know that the only way to get used to them is ride them, and I don't go out of my way to avoid them. I wish I could ;) And BSG, my bike weighs 34 pounds (or very close...I know for sure it is over 30 lbs) right now (one small bag under the seat but no racks) and I am what is so "adorably" called an athena :rolleyes: I still need to add a rack and some sort of bag to haul my clothes. Or I just use my messenger bag, which is ok but I don't know if I'd be able to deal with it for a 12 mile commute.

Tulip, I can clean out the shower, but I am just not comfortable with the idea of showering at work. We have one bathroom for almost 15 employees and I wouldn't feel comfortable hijacking it for 20 minutes or whatever. Plus, my boss is freaky about water usage. We're on a well and septic and he won't even allow us to use towels in the cage for every animal because we'd have to do too many loads of laundry and that would over stress the septic field. We have HE front loaders that are 10 gallons a load and we are limited to 2-3 loads per day. If we have more laundry we have to wait until the next day to do it (or sneak a load in if we can). I would rather just clean up with babywipes and avoid the drama. The only issue I can see is my helmet head. How does everyone deal with that?

[Eden]

Interestingly enough when I started cycling a lot I grew my hair - pony tails are just so much less messy looking on me than helmet hair......

Would a fun cap (I'm thinking something like the little round cloth style ones or newsboy type - not baseball) or buff style head wrap be acceptable at work? A head wrap even with somewhat messy hair (in fact spiky gelled hair could be even better) sticking up out of the top could be cute.

[OakLeaf]

I get where you're coming from - I live in a rural area too, and although I can commute to work with a minimum of "bad" roads, it's only because of where my gym is located. Most of the other places I'd like to be able to ride to (stores, post office) can't be accessed except by taking roads that I wouldn't even consider bicycling on. (Very heavy traffic, no shoulder, narrow even for cars, frequent car accidents.)

WRT helmet hair, could you wash your hair in the sink? That would also help you cool down and stop sweating. (If that's an issue for you; it sure is for me.)

[Becky]

Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask about hair.....seeing as I chopped it all off about a month after I started bike commuting :D

When it was longer, I kept a spray bottle of water, some hair goop, and a cheap blow dryer at work. Wet it down, goop it up, and blow dry. Now I just dampen it, brush out the "helmet wrinkles", let it air dry, and add some pomade after it's dry.

Do you have a place to stash toiletries, a pair of shoes, spare underwear and socks, etc.? (You might have answered this already- sorry!) I keep duplicates of all of my normal toiletries in a file drawer at my desk- less stuff to carry or forget!

[newfsmith]

I would encourage you to actually try commuting. I commuted 8.5 miles to my job (also as a vet tech) for 8 years. My route was suburban with moderately heavy traffic in places. I had one surface crossing of a 6 lane road. I also commuted year round, and often was coming home at 9 or 10 pm.

I found vet teching to be very well suited to bike commuting, after all I was just changing into scrubs when I got to work. While I didn't shower when I got to work in the summer, I did hose my head off in the treatment room tub. After you've held a couple dogs with ear infections, you don't smell fresh anymore anyway. None of my co-workers or boss ever objected. I was usually the first one there in the morning, and often the last to leave at night. Morning rides got me energised for the day, evening trips let me de-stress.

The big investment to make is (as already pointed out) in lighting. A couple of Planet Bike Superflashes on your rack will do nicely, one flashing, one steady. On my handlebars I use a Princeton Tec Switchback 2 backed up with an Eos on my helmet. Helmet lights make you much more visible at intersections, looking left & right warns traffic from side streets that you exist. In the winter invest in at least a front studded tire to help control skidding. Rear tires don't need studs for traction.

This is my route. It does have some short hills. Where it goes through the wildlife sanctuary (large wooded section) the road is narrow 2 lane with no shoulders to speak of. Unfortunately, that is used a lot as a cut-thru to I-95 so there is a lot of 40-55 mph traffic even though it is posted for 30.
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