So, as everyone probibly knows, its Bike to Work Week this week. There is a even a special bike to work event here in the town I live in, Fairbanks Alaska.. this is strange as Fairbanks is not really all that bike friendly of a place. Its not bike “unfriendly”, just not very friendly. Only really hardcore folks commute by bike year round (like my wife Nancy) or folks that have had their license revoked as the winters are fairly intense. This makes for a interesting dynamic at times. I am an indifferent bike commuter – biking on pavement with traffic is not very interesting or fun to me, so I ovoid it when possible. I commute to work via a round about way by bike on the in the summer avoiding the pavement were possible, however once the trails set up with enough snow and become travel-able, I switch to skis, run, or bike on the trails rather than the road. My summer round-about route into work is about 12 miles one way, and takes about 45 minutes – here is a link to a Googlie Map. Its a pretty mellow ride, with some gravel sections to liven things up a bit. Its just long enough I can get a good dose of NPR and catch up on the news of the day.
So, this is how it went today..
The start of my ride – note the heavy traffic. I think I saw one car in the first 20 minutes.
After 2 miles or so I turn onto Henderson Rd, and start to climb a bit.
Eventually I turn onto a dirt road called St Patrick’s Rd. This is my favorate part of the ride – the next 4 miles or so are all unpaved and fun.
Eventually St Patrick dumps out onto Ester Dome Rd, and the pavement returns. After a short fast downhill I turn onto Sheep Creek road. This morning I ran into my the first biker had I seen in the morning in a long time – possibly all spring actually.. She was zooming along and a pretty good clip..
Finally I turn onto a short trail that winds though the trees onto campus and to my building, the ever so lovely named building, the WRRB.
My route home is pretty much the reverse, though if I want to add some distance and have the time I change things up a bit and go back via Ester Dome road and Henderson. This adds a biggish hill and is a bit more of a workout..
Alas, on the way home I got the first flat of the year – possibly the first since the summer of 2008… bummer. I use stout tires with thick flat resistant inner bits, but while good they appear to be not invincible. Perhaps these tires are just not quite up to snuff – they are Bontrager Race Light Hardcase tires and the tread does not seem to last all that long – one of these tires is lasting me about half a summer. After fixing the flat I went home the short way.
Happy bike to work week everyone!