How much do you see?

[GLC1968]

I was thinking about this on my way in this morning....how much do you all see on your commutes? I'm sure it's a little less now that it's so dark, but really...do you see variety? I do.

In my case, I start in a nice residential area. I pass 3 secondary schools and 1 college. I pass through a very wooded park (that is crazy dark!). I pass 3 McDonald's (which is pretty funny, because I live in a small city that probably only has 5 total!), 2 Bank of America's, 6 grocery stores and a few farms. I pass the airport. I drive through areas that are residential, commercial/retail, business park and industrial. I also pass at least one strip club, about 6 motels and a Denny's in a 'truck stop' type area.

All this in less than 15 miles. Amazing!

What types of things do you see on your commute?

[northstar]

When I take the "long way," I see our neighborhood's main street area, a rail yard, the Mississippi River, residential streets, a big dam across the river, and lots of wildlife.

I pass a Perkins in the morning that always tempts me to stop for a muffin and coffee. On the way home, I pass a Dairy Queen, which always sounds good! Then, about five miles from my house, the path goes right by a Tavern that reeks of greasy burgers (mmmmm...). Reminds me of my aunt who used to take me for burgers and Shirley Temples when I was a kid.

I go from the heart of the city to seeing some views of one of our country's greatest rivers...it's fantastic.

If I take the fast way to work, I see some of our state's most run-down, crime riddled neighborhoods that I will absolutely NOT ride through in the afternoon. Did that once and saw a crowd of people watching a fellow discharging a firearm in the middle of the day in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I ride through there only in the wee hours of the morning. Sad.

[Voodoo Sally]

Neat topic. I see some small-town outskirts and small-town centers, so, not as quite as interesting as GLC1968's ride. At one point though, I do go off-road, through a woods trail, over an active railroad track, and through an abandoned industrial plant that is off-limits, complete with a capped landfill and other hazardous waste.

But what I get a kick out of on my commute is the smells. If I ride by the Dunkin Donuts at night, I smell fresh donuts, and also, I smell hamburgers and steaks as I go by The 99 at night. Mmm. And there are usually times when a backyard grill is going. I'm usually starving, mouth watering.

[coyote]

They are widening the freeway. I have to go under it to get to and from work. Traffic is majorly backed up. I'm in a hightened sense of awareness becuase trying to keep track of those coming out of driveways, turning, moving over into the bike lane to get a better view. Now that I'm writing about it...it sounds pretty sucky. I do enjoy getting to work faster then all those poor saps in the lines of cars. I'm just not seeing much of anything.

[mimitabby]

I see road kill; small toy jeep, no wheels, broken cellphone, interesting blue box, a quarter! (no i didn't pick it up and it was gone the next day), phone cards, lots of broken bungees...
I pass two schools complete with school crossing guards one of which recognizes me and says hello, a vegetable market and a minimarket.
I cross over the interstate highway and laugh at the incredible traffic backups
and of course I get to ride my bike in the morning through an empty factory building where they used to build airplanes from 1943-1988.

[divingbiker]

But what I get a kick out of on my commute is the smells.

Oh, yes! On my way to work, I pass a Caribbean restaurant that is preparing some kind of curry, and the smell is out of this world. On the way home, I go by a Mexican bakery that oozes butter and sugar smells. I gain weight just breathing.

Other than that, I just see urban neighborhoods, some apartment buildings, a few street vendors selling sodas and candy bars and hot dogs, a few schools, a library, a pharmacy, Starbucks, a traffic circle, row houses, more apartment buildings, Au Bon Pain, and office buildings.

[onimity]

But what I get a kick out of on my commute is the smells.

You wouldn't if you passed a field of cattle!

I ride from a city to another, but Boulder is surrounded by open space so I initially ride through a tiny town and then a country road through beautiful fields. This time of year I usually see dawn and dusk, lots of wildlife active at that time. There are ponds, with frogs and all sorts of beautiful birds. If its near sunrise the sounds are incredible.

Lately I've been seeing the output of some sort of berry-eating but not berry-digesting animal that seems to like to relieve itself on the shoulder of the road. I am curious as to what the animal is. My theory is that it is an old hippie from the aforementioned tiny town.

There are cows and birds, coyotes, rabbits, mice, deer, all sorts of animals. I hear roosters at a farm I pass.

Then I get to Costco. I pass behind it and through another old town surrounded by strip malls. There is an old man that sits on a folding chair outside his house and we greet each other every morning, every afternoon. Two dogs on the left that bark each morning. Lots of foxes in the little neighborhood, usually around a yard-turned-junkyard (full of lots of interesting things)

I turn right and see a big *(#$&(*@ hill. This is roughly when I wake up, which is a good thing because it immediately precedes a quick downhill through a massive subdivision, lots of SUVs, roundabouts, lawn crews, etc., then another hill. I pass a massive gym where the parking lot is packed, then zig zag through a perilous Wal-Mart parking lot where there are bikes for $48.77 outside. Then another killer hill past a golf course where the maintenance guys always greet me with friendly catcalls, we know each other by now. It takes my mind off the increasing grade. As the hill increases I know the detail incredibly. A little felt doll hat. A patch of glass. A shirt that appeared mid-july. Some broken bits of reflector. Then the top, where I hope for cars behind me to trigger the light, and a nice coast downhill to my office.

If I've ridden my mountain bike I like to take dirt roads and a stretch of singletrack home, a beautiful way to end the day. I love that because I always know what is blooming and can watch the seasons transition day to day.

Great thread. I love my commute and I love reading about everyone else's.

Anne

[kelownagirl]

Thru a new subdivision with lots of construction and trucks, a stint towards the lake with a beautiful view, past an orchard, then a vineyard, then a fruit and veggie stand, into another residential area with one small restaurant/grocery store, till I arrive at school - all in three short km's....

[Pax]

My commute starts in a lovely tree lined residential area, after a couple of miles of that I roll into the bike lanes at the university. I pass a farm, some horticulture greenhouses, a few college dorms (lots of dodging sleepy students), some odd art pieces that look like ten foot tall paper wads (painted neon yellow/green/orange), then I rise by the observatory and finally into the bike lot at the main library. A nice 4 mile ride.

This is where I work:


This where my bike lives during the day:

[kelownagirl]

That's a great idea! I think I'll take pics of my commute one day.

[northstar]

Thru a new subdivision with lots of construction and trucks, a stint towards the lake with a beautiful view, past an orchard, then a vineyard, then a fruit and veggie stand, into another residential area with one small restaurant/grocery store, till I arrive at school - all in three short km's....

Ooh, KG, this sounds lovely!

[redrhodie]

My commute starts on a road to a popular beach. The Atlantic is on my left, with some spectacular views of Narragansett Bay and the bridges. After I pass the beach, I have to go through a town with a few chain stores, banks, traffic, that kind of thing. Once through town, I'm bascially on winding country roads. I pass a couple of schools and a few residential devlopements, but I also pass some small farms that sell their produce on tables out front, honor style.

I see lots of wild turkeys and deer. There are farms with horses, cows and chickens.

Wish it weren't raining today! I'm missing my ride now!

[GLC1968]

Awesome responses! And Queen - good idea on the pictures!

I had to drive today (boo), but next week if I get good weather, I'll take some photos on my commute on the way home when it's light (obviously).

[Crankin]

Sally, where do you go off road? Are you talking about the Starmet site near the Thoreau Club? I hardly ride my mtb, but I am always looking for new trails.
One of the things I noticed on my old commute was a building with a GIANT clock on it. It's in the front of a shopping center on a main road (RT 2A) on the corner of Pope Rd. I have driven by here zillions of times, but i had never noticed it in 17 years! I would always pass the clock between 5:58 and 6:02, which gave me a sense of being on schedule.
A big part of my commute was on a road I love to ride on. When I first started riding, I would go out and back on this road, for a total of about 6-7 miles. It is one of the few fairly flat roads around here. It was a lot closer to my old house, so I loved being able to ride it on my commute. There are a few little rollers going toward work and at 6:15 in the morning, it was amazing how slow I would be going, compared to when I was just riding for training. It's heavily wooded on both sides, with a good bike lane, but there are a lot of cars at certain times of the day.I noticed a lot about the houses on this street. On the way home, I would fly on this road because it's on a slight downhill that way. At the end of this road is a park, where I would stop, take a long drink and rest, to prepare for the next part of the trip, which had some tricky traffic sections.

[Pax]

Since I work at a Big 10 school I was able to find those pics on the web, I'll try to remember my camera for a few more shots of the commute.