Morning Commute

Leaving my neighborhood, the first two miles is easy, smooth and almost no traffic. It's a couple of rolling hills and a 2-lane bike path that switches sides of the road about every half-mile. Though that part is a little annoying, I guess I can't complain about it.

The next mile is around behind some of the major shopping centers and strip malls in the area. Fortunately, the city built an alternate route that sees a little less traffic and maintains a more rural appeal. It has an asphalt sidewalk, or maybe it's a bike lane, but it intersects non-ramped curbs, so I opt for the road.

Eventually, my ride goes from the backroads to the main highway in town, Maryland Hwy 235 or Three Notch Road. Though it's VERY busy at 6AM, the bike lane is plenty wide and because the bike lane is outboard of three other lanes, the next lane over is a turn lane. Fortunately, very few people are turning into strip malls at 6AM.

All things considered and based on the actual population of this town, I feel pretty lucky to have a lane at all. Growing up in the southeast, roads were typically 2-lane "blacktops" with no shoulder, no sidewalk, no emergency lane, nothing of the sort. As I understand it, Charleston (SC) has made great progress with the conversion of railways to bike trails and has added bike lanes to many of their most traveled roads.