Never thought I'd say this...

[mimitabby]

I am a fearful rider myself. During the winter the fear grows because i'm not riding. Now it's really getting easier. I hop on my bike almost every day and commute. I am not losing any sleep over it or fussing about it before i do it!


I'd be a fool NOT to be scared, there are plenty of cars out there and not all the drivers are happy to see me in THEIR road. But i keep going. when they honk their horn at me, I wave like we're best friends. The one time recently that someone menaced me with his vehicle, I surprised myself. Instead of getting scared, I got MAD!
But that fear is truly a healthy respect for what can be a dangerous situation.

Check out your commute, be careful, alert, have fun! Since you live in Western Washington, you might talk to some of us from the same area about the best roads for commuting. good luck

[RoseC]

Check out your commute, be careful, alert, have fun! Since you live in Western Washington, you might talk to some of us from the same area about the best roads for commuting. good luck

I think I'm further south than any of the other Washington folks - I'm down in Thurston county...Olympia area. I did pick up a Thurston County map...it's how I figured out my planned route. It's a bit out of date, I think, as there are new paths going in all the time.

Unfortunately, the only *direct* route from where I live to where I work is the Interstate. *sigh*

[Torrilin]

If you can find any route that lets you dodge the interstate, do so. In most of the US interstates have a minimum speed of 45 mph, and you can be ticketed for going below the minimum speed. Interstate shoulders also tend to be pretty dangerous, since they don't get cleaned the way a surface street does.

How indirect are the indirect routes? I've lived in places where the only way to cross major rivers was an interstate... that could put a real cramp in your commute.

[RoseC]

If you can find any route that lets you dodge the interstate, do so. In most of the US interstates have a minimum speed of 45 mph, and you can be ticketed for going below the minimum speed. Interstate shoulders also tend to be pretty dangerous, since they don't get cleaned the way a surface street does.

How indirect are the indirect routes? I've lived in places where the only way to cross major rivers was an interstate... that could put a real cramp in your commute.

Oh, I didn't mean that I'd be riding on the interstate! Just that it's the most direct route. In the car, my commute is 11 miles.

The indirect one is the one that uses a) a nice wide shoulder on a fairly busy road, but one with mostly a speed limit of 35, b) a bike lane along a busy highway (that's the part I'm most concerned about), and c) the multiuse path.

[northstar]

Try it, you'll like it!

I started commuting *home* from work first. I carpooled in with a friend, loaded the bike, then rode it home from work. That worked fine. I did have to negotiate some busier roads, but it was no problem.

Then, on bike to work day, I rode both to and from work. Now I'm hooked on riding in the morning! I discovered that when I leave bright and early to go to work (ok, it's really early...5:30...but I have 17 miles to go), there is NO traffic on those roads. I get to listen to the birds and enjoy the morning.

And with the left turns...do what you need to do! I still have to do that to feel comfortable sometimes. The more I've ridden, the more comfortable I've gotten with taking the lane to make left turns instead of hopping off the road to walk the crosswalks.

[RoseC]

Well...I never ended up checking out the route this weekend! I did a 30 mile ride on the trail on Saturday, which was a personal best for me, but it meant I didn't feel like riding a long way Sunday, and today the Volpe (who tells me her name is Edwina, though I don't particularly care for the name) went back to the bike shop for some narrower handlebars - I set up an appointment the day I bought her. Got Salsa Short and Shallows, which I LOVE so far.

I also decided to try out a Terry Liberator X, since I'm still not sold on the B-17. I should never have taken the Liberator out of the shop. It seemed like a good idea at first, but after ten miles, I hate hate hate hate hate it. The part where the nose meets the back is wide enough to hurt, and the cut out does nothing for me. Not to mention I found myself missing the smoothness of the leather. I'm thinking I either need to give the B-17 more time (it has about a hundred and fifty miles on it so far), or I need something wider in the back but still narrow in the nose. I went to take the Terry back right away, but the shop closed early for the holiday, so I'm stuck with it until tomorrow. I don't even wanna look at it, though...ugh.

All of which has nothing to do with commuting...

[KnottedYet]

It all has everything to do with commuting!

If the B17 feels like it might be too narrow, would you be willing to try a B68? LisaSH just switched from a B17 to a B68, and loves it. I have a B67 (and another ordered so each bike will have one). The B67 is the same saddle, but with springs. Very narrow nose, abrupt change to the wide part. "T" shaped rather than "pear" shaped.

The leather is pebbled rather than smooth, so it's not quite as slippery as the B17, but it isn't rough either.

Bike names - maybe "Edwina" is her middle name. See what comes up for her first name or her nickname. (My Surly's name literally came to me in my sleep: Carmelita. That's her middle name. Her first name is Crow, or whatever language for Crow strikes my fancy at the time.)

I have Salsa Short-n-Shallows, too. Very nice bars!