WHEE!

Mike (Solo) and I pre-rode the commute route on Saturday. And what a beautiful day it was!

Saturday, we rode the commute route. We actually started at Hillcrest/Valley View just north of 635 (there is a parking lot there where White Rock Creek Trail ends). We chose to start here because we already know the White Rock Creek trail is easy and how to get to it...it was the noth o' 635 portion we were concerned about. We took some residential streets up to get on Meandering Way. We rode on the street (2 lanes each way), but there is a bike path option that goes up the entire length of Meandering Way that we ride. We chose the road over the path because you get a better flow of a ride...on the path, you have to stop at each street crossing. There is good visibility and plenty of room for people to pass with two lanes.

We took MW up to Frankford and then hopped over to Hillcrest. Initially we were riding on Frankford proper, but I think we will opt for the sidewalk as it is only a short jaunt to Hillcrest from MW and we can actually cut through a parking lot. We took another side street to get to Davenport and took that all the way to Genstar. There is a light at Genstar, which is how we crossed over Preston and voila! We were at my office.

His portion of the commute was much more difficult and WAY longer (I will leave out some of the crazier details). We took Hillcrest up past the George Bush, then hopped on Ohio and took that for most of the way up to some other streets all the way up to 121. Luckily, Mike knew where he was going, cause all I remember is being petrified looking for a way to cross 121. We figured that out (there is an old road that we just hobbled across and then it spits you out at the light for Hillcrest right at 121...PERFECTION!!) and managed to peddle our way, nearly all uphill into the wind to Main Street in Frisco. We stopped at Manny's and ate some Mexican food (great cycling fuel...lol) and then figured out a way to avoid the sketchy areas and then started back.

Total trip, including a breakfast stop at Campbell/Preston for Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwiches and icea coffee and our yummy lunch, was around 6 hours - total mileage over 50 miles.

My commute route is pretty easy...it'll just take me some time (1.5 hours, I am guessing right now). We are looking at ways to cut off some of the distance to get to the trail near our place...but still stay out of traffic.

Next week will probably be our launch week...gotta work out some bugs on my rack/pannier system and get a kit together to have at the office...and figure out where to keep my bike! ARGH!