Bike Riding to Work

Not nearly as exciting as scuba diving, although we are just in a pool right now for that adventure, but I figured worth keeping track of this summer.

The last two days I did not drive a car at all. Wednesday morning I rode my bike to Duerr Park where I manage the pool there and rode it back before getting ready for work at the YMCA where I rode my bike to and from. The day was windy and never got above 70 degrees but it was decent for bike riding. It added extra time onto both commutes but I never felt overheated. I did the same thing Thursday but the YMCA first and Duerr second which was rough since the Duerr route is twice as long. The weather was warmer this day but the wind was just as strong, if not stronger.

My route to the YMCA has changed since they started construction on the small part of the road that connects the whole neighborhood, Fairway East. It's a part that runs over a narrow, but wide-enough to keep me from getting across, creek. Their is no set end date of course for this nuisance; a nuisance it is as it keeps cars from getting easily between two sections of the neighborhood. Luckily I have decided to ride my bike to work because by car it would take me probably 20 minutes by car to get there, having to go about 2 miles in the opposite direction of the Y with at least twice as many stoplights. I leave my house and head toward my best friend's house where there is a walk/bike path behind this house, the sole occupant of a 10 ft road. It brings me out to the newest section of Fairway East so that I drive by fancy new(ish) houses and all their matching mailboxes. I get to the light that is now at that end of the neighborhood and turn right onto Morgan Road, a two-lane road with a speed limit of 45-mph that can get busy during rush hour. I have learned to brave the left hand turn signal of a biker rather than wait and cut directly across: arm straight out to my left clearly saying "I'm goin' that-a-way." Luckily Water House Road now has a shoulder and less hills than it did two summers ago since they fixed it up. At the end of that road I turn right onto Henry Clay Boulevard.

The most interesting thing I have seen on this road is a car parked within the reed growing at the side of the road. It was only there for one day. My roadkill count of the road is about 5, not counting anything twice although many of the corpses linger there for days and after a week or two are flattened, nondescript patterns on the pavement. I try my best to avoid cycling over them but I did it at least once by accident, and of course it was not an old kill, it was still a bit juicy. Instead of going up to the light I cut around the back of the Y through the Town of Clay park. I take the light on the way back home since I can turn right and not left. It takes between 15 and 18 minutes for this trip.

Duerr is simple as well, just longer since it takes about 15 minutes by car. Instead of starting off the same way as my Y ride, which I did last summer, I take a left out the other way and cycle to the light of a busier route, Rt 57/Oswego Road. Instead of turning with traffic (there are two lanes that turn left), I go straight on green and turn around near the Taco Bell to get onto Rt 57. From there I cycle passed many strip malls, churches, car washes, and a Dunkin Donuts, and pass under three traffic lights, almost reaching the Wegmans there but instead I turn right into that neighborhood. There is a walk/bike path over John Glen Boulevard (a highway) that connects the Elmcrest Elementary and Longbranch Elementary schools and neighborhoods surrounding them. I used to take this with my friends who would hang out with me after a crew race. This way I do not have to cross the busy highway. I get to Longbranch Rd, the road I used to drive down to get to crew practice (for the outlet to the lake is bridged by this road further on) and also to see my high school boyfriend, which connects to Rt 370/Cold Springs Rd where I either take a left at the light (if traffic is low) or I cut into the gas station there and wait patiently to cross. Duerr Park is shortly beyond this intersection, a dead-end road. The ride takes me about 26 minutes both ways but the winds have kept it to more like 30 these two days. Not too many roadkill sightings (oh, and now honkings or cat-calls yet, only nice hellos from walkers and other bikers). The only incident was a spider bit me yesterday leaving a good sized, weeping bump on my calf.

Totaling it up so far I have ridden about 7 hours to and from both places of employment which equals almost 6 hours of driving that would have been which means already I have saved myself (well, my family really since we all share cars) about a gallon of gas (I'm going by the fact that in the car I usually drive, a Pontiac Vibe, takes about 10.5 gallons into its tank and it takes between 5 and 6 hours of highway driving to deplete it). I'm sure I could do more accurate math but I think the approximations make sense. Health-wise it also keeps me from figuring out when to fit in gym time since it burns about 9x as many calories as driving would and only takes about twice as long, if that with the YMCA.

So here I shall write about any interesting occurrences (although I doubt there will be many) and keep track of the environmentally good impact I am making!