HOw long have you been riding this route, and how regularly do you do it?

I would be highly inclined (excuse the pun) to do the hilly route and use it to get in shape, but that's my personality. I'd much rather conquer my cardiovascular system than traffic ;-)

However, over the past year I've gotten much more accustomed to traffic (but I still don't really like left turns... but I've gotten a whole lot more accustomed to them.)

If the shoulder were really wide and it wasn't a long way, I *might* be tempted to sneak over... but I'd want to analyze real risk vs. perceived risk as well as the irritation factor for the motorists. Left turns *feel* hairy - but on my route, fact is if I'm willing to hold off for as much as a minute, I'll have a nice big space to make my way out into the road and then to the immediate left I have to make. I plan 'way ahead (I caught myself trying to do it in the car the other week) scanning behind me for a nice space. I honestly don't know what I would do if I *had* to be more aggressive. I might just learn to do it. I remember learning to drive and having that same intimidated feeling, being sure that every car was aimed right at me. Of course, two critical differences are that on a bike I *can't* accelerate to match the traffic, and the splat consequences are more severe.

Can you get smaller tires on the commuter? (How rough is the gravel?) That could make the hill easier, too.

I'd probably do the hilly part or leave earlier so there's less traffic to do the trafficky one.



(tho' I have been told that somebody wrote to our newspaper about the "risky" behavior of people on the roads, including rollerbladers and cyclists riding the same direction as traffic... and the amateurish newspaper, far as I know, did not have the professionalism to put an "editor's note: it's illegal to ride against traffic" at the end.)