by JuneBug » Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:02 am
Texas is great because there is no off season for riding!
Congratulations on sticking with your commute and your stellar touring set up.
Started bike commuting again after not too many rides to work this fall. It is astounding how much less traffic there is when school is out -- The roads have a bit of a deserted feel. I pass three elementary schools and very close to two high schools on my 9-mile commute. I see very few kids being walked by their parents to school, but a zillion parents dropping the kids off at the front door of the school.
Have seen some boys (looked about 5th grade age) on bikes (yeah!) but not wearing helmets (yikes! -- it is actually against the law for younger kids to ride helmet-less in Austin, TX).
True Confession: I am actually a half commuter. I have a lovely route into work in the morning with most miles having a small but dedicated bike lane on low to medium traffic density streets. At the end of the day, I ride over to the commuter rail station (12 minutes) and then get off at the stop closest to my house and ride home--another 10 or 12 minutes.
By scouting around the train stop, I found a back way across some grass, through a line of trees, scooooch between a building and a water retention pond and into the adjacent industrial/business park. The giant parking lot is mostly deserted by the time I'm there, so scoot on through, cross one very busy street, and I'm in my 'hood! This back route avoids a multi-lane extremely busy street, so it works well.
I'm a total morning person so this works great. By the end of the day, I just want to be a homebody snug in my house. I'm also over 60, so I don't have another 9 miles in me by the end of the day!
"The large print giveth; the small print taketh away" Tom Waits