Originally Posted by
tFUnK
My excuse is that my 4 mile ride into work would take me on busy commercial roads with a lot of debris and shrapnel and a couple of undesirable left turns. One requires me to cross 2 lanes (45mph limit) to get to the left turn lane, and the other involves a light rail crossing with unfavorable traffic light patterns.
Another “Big but…” San Jose, like many US cities has a grid system. I’ll bet that there is some kind of parallel road to those “busy commercial roads” that has less traffic and/or easier left turns. Maybe the routes aren’t the most direct but that’s part of the fun. I don’t commute anymore…retired…but for 40 years I would tell people that I knew 433 routes between my house and my work. Yes, that’s a silly boast (and 433 is a prime number) but only by a little. I rode between 9 and 11 miles most of the time (depending on route) and crossed 4 major arterials. There is an arterial just to the south of my house that I
could have used but if I rode 3 blocks further south, I could follow a quiet neighborhood road for much of my ride.
Quit looking at roads with car eyes.