Daily Commuting Tip - Take the Road Less Travelled

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When we're going to work, there's a tendency to fall into the rush-hour mentality - to take the fastest route, to ride fast and to zone out everything around you. For many, this is the raison d'etre or bike commuting - the daily adrenaline and endorphin kick.

However there is another way. The A to B points of my commute present me with essentially two options. Option #1 is the scenario described above: a busy arterial route out of the city centre, where there's a compulsion to keep pace with the traffic and ‘get it over with' as quickly as possible. On rare days when I'm feeling brave and energetic, I'll take this route, but I'll always regret it.

Option #2 cuts around the back of the railway station onto a canal towpath, under bridges, behind office buildings, past swanky canalside houses, underneath the main road that Option A would have me slogging up, past a fully restored flight of locks and lock-keeper's house. On the way I meet fishermen, narrowboaters, geese, joggers and other cyclists. It's 15 minutes of traffic-free bliss every morning, a stealth route, an urban escape route, and a damned fine way to get to work.

Not everyone is so lucky to have such an idealised traffic free route. However, most city dwellers could deviate from the ‘as-the-crow-flies' route and take in parks, converted railway trails, canals and waterfront paths in order to make their everyday commute a rare oasis of calm before the rush of the day. These detours may add 5 minutes to your commute. So what? Get up 5 minutes earlier. You won't regret it.

So fire up Google maps and check out the escape routes in your area.

More: Daily Commuting Tips Archive