With my busy schedule, my commute is the main way I am able to get in my training hours. I get about 3 hours of training time round trip - 23.5 miles each way. I've been able to average about 2 days a week.
I'm lucky enough to live within a mile of a great trail system. Denver has one of the best in the country. Denver constantly ranks in the top 10 best bike friendly cities in the US.
My route:
Once out of my neighborhood I take the Bear Creek Trail to the Platte River Trail then get on a gravel short-cut called Lee Gulch Trail, this drops me onto the C-470 Trail, which takes me within a half mile of work. I love this route, it's safe from motorists, well maintained and not crowded.
If you have Google Earth, click on this link.
Then click on Google Earth under the map, you can then follow my route via a birds eye view.
Click the play tour button once in the Google earth program - it looks like this. If you don't have Google Earth, download it here for free.
My Commuter:
My main bike I use to commute is my cyclocross bike. The great thing about a cross bike is you can run 23c road tires or bigger tires with knobbies. The cross bike is fast like a road bike but has more frame clearance for bigger tires to get you through the mud and snow plus cantilever brakes which won’t clog up with mud and crud.
This last weekend I put the cross tires back on, it's cross season again! I'll keep you posted on this front.
I'm surprised how consistent my commute times are from day to day, usually within 3-5 minutes. The two things I've noticed that can add time is stop lights and wind. My route crosses 4 busy intersections. Twice in three years I have hit every intersection while it was green, and those two times happened within a week of each other.
It was almost like a religious moment, the seas parting and letting the environmentally conscious bicycle commuter be delivered harmlessly through the clogged intersections filled with evil CO2 polluting heathens. Either that or I got lucky.
I'm starting a commuting page here on the Good Life Cyclist. I will post comments, thoughts, commute times etc. Maybe even a forum where you can comment on your own “good life” commuter stories. Stay tuned! If you have an idea on what you would like to see, drop me a message.
Until then, keep your commuting life good.
