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:

[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!

[7rider]

What types of things do you see on your commute?

You know, I never really thought about it, because it's just - ho hum - my commute to (and from) work.

Fortunately, about 80% of it is residential. I see kids walking to school at this time of year. I see home decorations changing with the holidays. One neighborhood is mostly an older orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and they recently took their Sukkahs down. It's always strange to see them set up in suburban driveways and side yards! I also cut through a shopping plaza parking lot to get on a MUT for a short while. A big international chain grocery store is leaving, to be replaced with a smaller locally-owned chain (Magruders for Giant, for the local gals).

Once in the city, I pass a gym, a few banks, a few parking garages, the county courthouse, and the Metro entrance with its bus depot. The only smell there is usually diesel and urine. Blech.

And there it is. 7 miles from 'burbs to city.

[withm]

Awwww geee - I've been thinking I should take pix of my commute since much of it is really nice but now that it's dark so early I'm not riding to work anymore. Could do it tomorrow but riding 13 miles one way with 20-30 mile headwinds is not very enticing. And then there's the matter of it being hard to photograph "the wind." The forecast is 4-6' waves on the ocean but if the wind goes west, the ocean will look seemingly flat when I cross over the inlet bridge. Maybe I can commute to work on Sunday if the wind dies a bit and take some pix. The gardens on the return leg are really beautiful.... OK, I've talked myself into it - I'll try to do it on Sunday.

Martha

[onimity]

I rode part of my commute route yesterday and took some photos. They are on-the-bike photos with my point and shoot, so not the best composition/quality shots I've taken!



This sign is just a few feet from my house.



Tiny country road. It dead-ends onto a bike path so traffic is about 90% bikes, 5% runners, 5% cars. That's my sister up ahead.



Mountains to the right



The town of Marshall



Heading east. The hill to the right has MTB trails that I like to ride on the way home.





Not a bad way to get to work!

More images here (with different seasons & different parts of the route including a couple of extended detours for fun )

Anne

[northstar]

WOW, Anne, too cool! Gorgeous scenery. You must be very relaxed at work.

[caribou]

I was going to wimp out and take the light rail to work today, but now I'll have to ride in to enjoy the sights and smells. Actually, the light rail station has the more dangerous smells: it's almost directly across from one of Sacramento's best high-class bakeries, and one of Sacramento's best low-class donut stands. I swear they purposely blow the smells over to the folks waiting for the train.

What I see on the bike commute: the beautiful old school turned into a community center near my house, a great crepe shoppe (uh-oh, more food), a busy slightly run down area near the freeway, quiet tree-lined residential streets with lovely c. 1900 homes and a few run-down ones, a house that looks c. 1905-15 that's getting completely rebuilt (all outside up, jacked up--it will be interesting to see if they restore it or destroy it with modernization), lots of piles of leaves this time of year in the bike lane-waiting for the yard waste recycle pickup, trash and recycling cans in the bike lane waiting for garbage day, parked cars to watch the doors on, the same older lady almost every day walking the neighborhood looking for aluminum cans to sell, busy cross streets, a little view of a corner of the state capitol, the business buildings of downtown, the Archive Plaza light rail station, and then the big ugly green 1964 monolith that's home for the next 9 hours.

Okay, time to get dressed and go see it!