My Favorite Bicycle Commute

My commute starts from the corner of NE 156th Ave and 40th Ave NE in Redmond, WA. I ride along 156th (which has moderate traffic to 51st Ave NE, then almost no traffic) to 60th Ave NE. At 60th Ave NE I get onto Bridal Crest Trail. This is a skinny dirt trail that can get a little overgrown in the summer but is otherwise fun to ride. In the winter I'll often skip the trail and take Old Redmond Road instead (which is about 1/4 mile north).

Bikes aren't allowed in Bridal Crest State Park, so I have to stick to 60th Ave NE for a couple of miles. There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses 405. Just after the bridge take a left onto 114th to get to Watershed Park.

Watershed Park isn't on most maps, but has a couple of miles of nice trails. It also lets you avoid a bit of the riding on 108th (not that 108th is bad, the park is just more fun). Inside the park I take the lower part of loop 1 from the entrance on the upper left to to the peace sign, then trail 1 to the you are here indicator. To do this just take a right at every intersection. On a nice day you might as well take the time to ride all of loop 1 and loop 2.

For the rest of the route I basically follow 520. First I take Northup Way and Points Drive, then get onto the trail that runs just north of 520. Where 520 meets the water I take the bus across Lake Washington. 108th and Northup way have traffic, but you don't stay on them long. Points Drive has almost no traffic since there is a car barrier halfway up it.

The bus drops me off at the Montlake Flyer stop on 520. I head across the Montlake Bridge to the Burke Gilman Trail and take that north to Ravenna Park. Ravenna Park is yet another fine dirt trail and leads me almost to my house.

This summer (2003) I'm mostly commuting on my Heron Touring. When I'm carrying my laptop I use the Arkel Briefcase pannier that is shown. Many days I only carry a change of clothes and they can fit along with my tools in the Baggins Little Joe saddle bag shown behind my seat. I use the Carradice SQR to make the Little Joe easily removable for the bus part of the commute. Most of my bikes have a generator hub, but I just bought this one, so currently I'm using a rechargable battery light. This bike is ideal for commuting on because I can carry a good amount of stuff on it, it fits wider tires (good for the dirt portions of my commute) and it has a more upright position that I find to be better for city riding.