Any day riding is better than not riding, with that being said my commute is pretty awesome.

BUT..............

Here is my commute.... 12 miles (one way), many sweeping turns of the Austin, Tx Hill country.
various drops in elevation of +/-200 feet, speed limits (laughs) of 60 mph. not too many traffic lights.
I try to ride in at least 4 days days a week if possible.

 

I ride pretty much every day,.........early in the morning,I don't enjoy it as much as in the afternoon. When I'm in my cage,...I like to drink my coffee,..and smoke,..and listen to the news on the way to work.

I commute 45 miles one way,,....long country road for the most part,......It's a nice ride,....but I'm not awake enough to enjoy it in the morning.

 

My commute is ~26 miles each way. It's mixed with hiway, city streets and interstate. However, it's Altanta, so I never really get any faster than 50 - and that's with luck. Now that it's hot, my evening ride is absolutely miserable. Nothing worse than stop and go traffic with thousands of cars around you belching hot exhaust on you. I suppose if I wasn't wearing a full face helmet and Fox Creek mesh jacket, it might not be so bad. But, hot is a small inconvenience when compared with not being safe.

 

Sounds like a nice commute.

But I'm one of the lucky ones, and don't have to commute to work, so everyday is a riding day for me. [sm=biker.gif]

 

Another awesome commute. I live in Douglasville and drive to Rome, Ga each day. During the winter months (Nov-March) I averaged about 2.5 commutes per week. Since middle April I've ridden every day accept one when I needed to use my pickup. The ride is 51 miles each way and great roads with little traffic. Last summer they had me in the Norcross office for a few months so I got a good fill of I-285 traffic for a while too, 47 miles one way on that one.

My Rome commute takes me about 10 miles in back roads, then 16 miles on HWY-278, which is 4 lane with practically NO TRAFFIC. Form that point I take GA-101 on up, it's two lane country roads with a couple of passing areas in rolling hills.

 

My commute takes 9 minutes from one end of San Francisco to the other. No traffic at 5.00am and I get to go over and around alot of hilly streets. Like a road course.

 

My ride is only about seven miles (just across town) but I usually skirt around the edge of town (making it about 8 1/2). Lately I've been leaving early and getting 30-45 minutes of ride time in - not an exceptional ride (this is the heart of flat farm country) but it's a great way to start the day.

 

Just over 20 miles, in the morning. Coming from La Crescenta, CA down the 210 freeway to Pasadena. Nice ride on the Foothill side of the freeway all downhill, not too much traffic till i get to the tunnel. Once you get onto the connector with the 134 it gets interesting. Lots more traffic, and some crazy cagers. Some like to do 65 and some do 80, yahoo!!!

The worst part of this drive, is that dump trucks that carry dirt and rocks, from the Irwindale area do a not so gentle exfoliation of my face when i wear my halfie. If it weren't so hot on my trip back in the late afternoon, i'd just use my full face helmet everyday. But damn do those little rocks, hurt like a son of a gun!

 

I'm a new rider, so I havn't dared the "rush hour" commute yet (though "rush hour" for me is not that bad at the times I drive to and from work). I did do the run one night just to get a feel for it and it's not a bad ride (though not too spectacular). 10 miles of local traffic with a few twists and turns thrown in. The funny part is that there are a couple S turns on part of my route, and it's a tight 3 lane road. Riding it on my motorcycle was actually more comfortable than riding it in my car, since the distance to the car next to me in those turns feels so tight in the car. If the weather improves, I'm hoping to start using the Sportster as my daily driver starting next week. I'm certainly looking forward to not only a fun ride to and from work, but an improvement over the 16mpg my car gets.

As it has stood now, however, with the exception of last night (had a poker game to go to), I've been out riding after work every night since I got my new ride, and have really been enjoying it. I'm jealous, however, of having a commute through the hills of Austin, or the streets of San Francisco. The streets of Plano are somewhat less spectacular.

 

Tralfaz, you suggest that the distance between you and a car alongside you seems more intimidating in the curves when you're in a car ? That would suggest to me that you have gone thru some of the twisties on your bike while you were next to a car in the other lane.

If you are, DON'T. In twisties or even straight and level, do not travel along side any vehicle, (car, truck, bus, etc.) Even though in different lanes, stay behind far enough that if he makes a lane change it will not jeopardize you. If you want to pass, do it quickly (accelerate) and don't just gradually pass alongside. Once you're far enough in front of him that his lane change would not be a threat to you, you can slow back down to what you would consider your normal speed.

If you develope this as a habit you will have eliminated just about 50% of the threats you face on the road.

If I mis-interpreted your text I apologize. This is just the old MSF instructor in me coming out.