Question for you urban area roadies

[marni]

find the shortest route out and learn to put up with traffic- nota bene avoid school zones and school starting hours. Sometimes you just have to stick it out and do it. I have to ride 10 miles to get past traffic lights, school zones, shopping center parking lots and heavy traffic to get out to where I can ride. I just don't count those 20 miles in my statistics.

[Groundhog]

Owlie, did you do a google search?

I found this: http://www.touring-ohio.com/central/...ke-trails.html

and this:http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions...s/default.aspx

and this: http://www.ohiobikeways.net/columbus.htm

My hubby plans our trips using bikely.com, mapmyride.com and the "bike" option on Google Maps. It's a bit tedious for me.

I found a great book on bike routes for my Puget Sound area at Borders or B&N. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Bik...ng+puget+sound It is the best book ever. Maybe they have one like it for your area. The author specifically took streets with low traffic, scenic vistas, parks and does a sort of switch-back route to the top of Seattle's killer (for me at least) hills. Check your LBS (local book store ).

You could also check the local REI or ask at your LBS (local bike store ).

[OakLeaf]

You could also check the local REI or ask at your LBS (local bike store ).

Our local REI is in Pittsburgh. Don't think they'll be much help.

[Groundhog]

Our local REI is in Pittsburgh. Don't think they'll be much help.

Sorry! Didn't take time to look it up.

[Owlie]

Well, I got a TON of emails from my uni's club. They've been trying to get a collection of routes for some time, and next year's president (who lives in my building) has been putting together a booklet thing for new members of routes of 25-75 miles.

I'm actually in Cleveland, so I have to go pretty far out to find roads. I did in fact play with Google, which is how I found the bike trails. One of the local clubs also has maps online, with varying degrees of legibility. They're just not routes I'm comfortable with at my current skill level.

[tulip]

Just a thought--when I lived in DC, most of my riding was urban. I certainly count those miles. Miles is miles is miles, and time in the saddle is time in the saddle. You might not get your heart rate up for a consistently long time, but they are still miles. I don't consider my urban rides junk miles, just different miles. I can add some sprints and work on my bike handling.

[shootingstar]

Just a thought--when I lived in DC, most of my riding was urban. I certainly count those miles. Miles is miles is miles, and time in the saddle is time in the saddle. You might not get your heart rate up for a consistently long time, but they are still miles. I don't consider my urban rides junk miles, just different miles. I can add some sprints and work on my bike handling.

I agree with tulip. I guess I'm abit lost in all this: there are easily hills to build into a person's ride right in our city and one is not surrounded by much car traffic. Of course, to get to these neighbourhoods means going through busy intersections. Shrug.

In Toronto, it took one over 1 hr. to cycle from the mid-part of city to get into the "country"/rural area. I only went cycling out in the "country" when it was a planned "trip" with someone else or group. That amounted to several times per year. Otherwise it was just easier for me to invent a 100 kms. within the city for solo riding which I did ..

Toronto gets 1 million people pouring into the downtown core every business day. I was entering and exiting out of this for about 20 min. before I cycled into less congested, but still some traffic before finally into a greenway area then out into the suburbs where I used to live.

Also if one is a car driver...is not to think like a car driver and typical car driving routes, but think more like a cyclist where a bike can pass through areas for a few minutes, but it would be illegal for a car.

It would be worthwhile to look at some of those difficult-to-read bike routes and see if you can borrow parts and cobble something together.

But then, I don't know where you live Owlie. Both Vancouver and Toronto have natural greenways, some of which have been deliberately reconfigured for cycling. Took years to join up certain routes. Years.

[PamNY]

I can add some sprints and work on my bike handling.

Just be careful about the sprints (this is a general comment, not directed at you, Tulip). My birdwatching area is on the greenway route out-of-town so there is a high percentage of aggressive, too-fast cyclists who can't wait to escape the crowds.

I understand how they feel -- when I'm not stopping I feel the same way. But areas with strollers, wheelchairs, etc. require caution.

[tulip]

Just be careful about the sprints (this is a general comment, not directed at you, Tulip). My birdwatching area is on the greenway route out-of-town so there is a high percentage of aggressive, too-fast cyclists who can't wait to escape the crowds.

I understand how they feel -- when I'm not stopping I feel the same way. But areas with strollers, wheelchairs, etc. require caution.

I was thinking more along the lines of one red light to the next. They are always red, aren't they!? Owlie, if you have a greenway heading out of town, you could use that, but I gather from your description that you don't have one that leads anywhere. MUPs aren't great for getting your heart rate up because of the Multi-Users, like PamNY describes. You have to be very careful about dogs on leashes and babies in strollers and the like. That's one of my main problems with MUPs for cycling--they just aren't good for cycling (except when they are empty). Bicycles are vehicles. Pedestrians are not. They don't mix well.

[PamNY]

I was thinking more along the lines of one red light to the next. They are always red, aren't they!? Owlie, if you have a greenway heading out of town, you could use that, but I gather from your description that you don't have one that leads anywhere. MUPs aren't great for getting your heart rate up because of the Multi-Users, like PamNY describes. You have to be very careful about dogs on leashes and babies in strollers and the like. That's one of my main problems with MUPs for cycling--they just aren't good for cycling (except when they are empty). Bicycles are vehicles. Pedestrians are not. They don't mix well.

Yes, going to red lights should work if there's not too much traffic or too many jaywalkers.

Regarding MUPS, I think they are fine if cyclists can accept going slowly on the crowded part. It probably is good for bike-handling skills and it can be fun to interact with people. But that wasn't the original question.

[indigoiis]

My commute takes me from country roads into a small city in 28 miles, and back at night. Although part of it goes through what most people would "technically" consider bad neighborhoods, I have learned a lot about the areas around the city by riding through them. I often find that while they may look scuzzy and downtrodden they are often culturally rich, and people begin to know you the more you ride within their community. Some of the best food in our city is where I ride and in the morning, the smells of all the different ethnic breakfast restaurants is heavenly. Would I venture into the same hood after dark on foot? Maybe not, but during the morning or evening commute, it is a busy micro metropolis. The lights give me a moment to pause, consider traffic, look around me, and experience the city. Being a non-city dweller, it is experience I lack, so I gulp up every bit I can!

[Fredwina]

I'll also agree with Tulip - to a certain extent miles are miles. Luckily most major street where I live have bike lanes.

[nscrbug]

I'm with the rest of you on the "miles is miles" thing. I count EVERY darn mile I ride...and why shouldn't I? Heck, some of the "worst" miles come when I'm on the MUP heading back home from a long ride on the weekends. It's crowded with all sorts...runners, walkers, strollers, tricycles, rollerbladers, dogs, you name it. At times I feel like I'm barely moving trying to maneuver my way through there...but in the end, I absolutely still count those 6 miles.

[tulip]

Yes, going to red lights should work if there's not too much traffic or too many jaywalkers.

Ah, yes...a big difference between NYC and DC. DC is a city teeming with people who thrive on authority and regulations, so they don't jaywalk very often. The tourists, well, they are a different story.

[PamNY]

Ah, yes...a big difference between NYC and DC. DC is a city teeming with people who thrive on authority and regulations, so they don't jaywalk very often. The tourists, well, they are a different story.

Ah, that reminds me of my friend from DC who visited a few years ago. We encouraged him to use our guest Xootr to tour the neighborhood, but he worried that scootering around the World Trade Center site was too frivolous.

We convinced him that it was just urban transport and perfectly okay.