The best and worst part of your commute

[run it, ride it]

WORST PARTS:
-Head-on wind the whole trip there--try explaining to your non-bicycle-riding supervisor that you were .03 seconds late because you got caught in a headwind.

-Hot and exhausted...great way to start an eight-hour day of outdoor labour

-Trying to get bike shorts on at the end of the day, when I'm even more exhausted and sweaty.

-TRANSPORT TRUCKS. Sometimes there's too much traffic for them to move over and I nearly get sucked under.

BEST PARTS:
-NO SPEEDING TICKETS (at 7:50am on a Saturday, when Murphy's Law dictates that the only other person on the road is a cop). I am chronically late--the best thing about biking is that I can leave at the same time and get there EARLIER each day!

-The look on the same cop's face when she sees me the day after the ticket travelling about 110km slower.

-I don't have to wait in line at Main Gate to get into my place of employment (provincial park). My coworkers will be lined up out to the highway for 20 minutes and I just breeze past the line and wave to the gate attendant as I fly by.

-My trip there (13km) includes only right-hand turns.

-Discarding the sweat-drenched polyester uniform and steel toes for bicycle shorts and a bra top for the trip home.

-The ride home is almost always with the wind

-The way my boy lifts his head, arches his neck and perks his ears when he hears the bike coming down the driveway for our evening ride after work.

[betagirl]

The best part of my commute: There are 2 parts I really enjoy. The first is near my house, as I go down Washington street toward the city through all the old homes and under the huge 100 year old trees that canopy the road. The other best part, and this may sound crazy, is Wacker drive in the city. It's such a rush to navigate through to my school or work with all the cabs, buses, and cars.

The worst part is: The 3 miles of ghetto I have to ride through as Washington crosses the west side of Chicago. It's kind of depressing, kind of risky, and there's a ton of glass and other crap in the road. I've had 6 flats since I started commuting in June. Needless to say I'm REAL good at changing my rear tire.

[CorsairMac]

Worst part: When my co-workers hum the song from the Wizard of Oz. The one where the "witch" is riding her bike with Toto in the basket. Everyone thinks they're a comedian...

roflmao - I Love it! The guys here will hum that every once in awhile too! I'm thinking we should get ourselves some red silk poppies for our desk!! waddya think?

[CorsairMac]

The worst part is: .......and there's a ton of glass and other crap in the road. I've had 6 flats since I started commuting in June. Needless to say I'm REAL good at changing my rear tire.

have you looked into Kevlar tires and/or slime tubes? We've got bike lanes here that are just a mess and either I'm very lucky or my Kevlar tires and Slimed tubes have kept me safe and it didn't add that much weight to the bike.

[betagirl]

Hey CMac - I did put a Kevlar tire on the rear. I got a flat a few weeks ago. Not sure why though. I think part of my problem is crappy performance tubes. There was a piece of glass in the tire, but it didn't puncture all the way through. Most of my flats were pre-kevlar. So here's hoping

[light_sabe_r]

I'm adding UNISEX TOILETS to the worst part of my commute. The floor's sticky and it's almost like they haven't been cleaned in eons...

Did I mention I work in a hospital?? EWE!!!!

[bigredbike]

Tater, I think we have the same kind of dog. Aussie? That's Cooper on the left, he's 2-1/2. Spoiled rotten.

Okay, best part: cutting through neighborhoods with no traffic and no stop signs. Always have to be alert but easy riding and pretty fast.

Worst part: a busy 4 laner that I have to grind through the first and 10 last minutes with lots of debris in the bike lane.

[withm]

My route is 13 miles due north/south. The prevailing winds are out of the north in the morning, and often shift to a more southerly direction in the afternoon. So...

Worst part: 13 miles of headwinds in the morning
Best part: 13 miles of tailwinds when I'm lucky

[SalsaMTB]

After a few reroutes, my commute is now about 13 miles each way (original route was 16!!)

Best part....leaving early morning and basically having the road to myself. The mornings where DH is motivated and rides in to work with me!

Worst parts....there's a bridge over a major freeway that is only two very tight lanes and no shoulder. Drivers are very aggressive on this bridge and it freaks me out riding over it. Plus, I have to take the lane because just over the top I have to make a left. I just muscle as fast/hard has I can up and over it and pray the drivers a nice! The traffic on the way home is pretty bad also.

[betagirl]

I forgot 2 other best parts are when I just start getting into downtown Chicago, and am crossing over the Kennedy expressway, I look over at all the cars stuck in bumper to bumper traffic It's also at this point where if the wind is blowing right, I smell the chocolate being made at the Blommer chocolate factor a few blocks away. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[DebW]

Years ago I had a commute that went west in the morning and east in the afternoon. The cool part of that was that every afternoon in the summer, I knew if there was a sea breeze and how far inland it went. It was really obvious. I'd be riding in calm air and within 1/2 mile I'd be bucking a headwind. The sea breeze usually extended to about the Arlington/Lexington line outside Boston.

[Tater]

Tater, I think we have the same kind of dog. Aussie? That's Cooper on the left, he's 2-1/2. Spoiled rotten.

Okay, best part: cutting through neighborhoods with no traffic and no stop signs. Always have to be alert but easy riding and pretty fast.

Worst part: a busy 4 laner that I have to grind through the first and 10 last minutes with lots of debris in the bike lane.

Yes, bigredbike, Jack is Aussie! Four years old and spoiled as they come!

One other good thing about my commute, after having a flat and deciding to walk the remaining half mile home, two people stopped to ask if I needed a ride or if I was okay. That was cool!

[Lise]

Hmmmm...nothing particularly good or bad about the commute...best part is on a summer morning when I feel like a kid riding to the swimming pool again. Then it turns out it's work I'm riding to!

I'm with beta about the chocolate factory, so I'll give another best/worst: The b/w of my ride downtown to get to the south lakefront path.
Smells:
Best: Chocolate factory.

Worst: Leather factory. Barfatrocious.

Pavement:
Best: my block, recently repaved.

Worst: that bit of Elston by the railroad tracks. If you don't go over the tracks just right, you hit a major pothole. My water bottles have gone flying twice at that part.

Speed:
Best: Elston, between Division and Chicago. Flying! In the aero bars!

Worst: Lake to Roosevelt on Des Plaines. Two words: Friggin' stop lights. OK, that's three words.

[Sheesh]

I just recently started commuting by bike (today was day four!) and I just had to stop on my way home tonight to enjoy sitting by the lake. It is a beautiful day and there was a faint breeze (just enough to keep me cool, but not so much that it felt like I was battling the wind to get home). Lake Michigan is definitely the best part of my commute.

The worst is the part where I have to ride on the streets. I take the lake path most of the way, but once I get downtown, I have to take Harrison and I'm not really comfortable on the roads yet.

OT: I too have an Aussie! His name is Murphy and he's a blue merle.