My Morning Commute

I live 16 miles away from where I work. There's a connection of bike paths that can lead me directly to work. It's so wonderful. A 16 mile ride in the morning is a bit hefty, however, keep in mind that only about 2 miles of that are on an actual road.


I leave my house, and bike maybe 5 blocks to the greenway (bicycle highway). I take that all the way to the Cedar Lake Trail, which leads me through Theodore Wirth Park. At this point, I've been biking beside a lake and a forest for about 10 minutes. Relaxing. Not usually any cars on these roads anyway.

In Theodore Wirth, I face a choice. Do I want to take Glenwood, which would make me bike along a roadway for about 1.5 miles, or do I want to take the Luce Line from 55 and Theodore Wirth Parkway?

In the end, I just look forward to getting past Winnetka. Once I pass Winnetka (and go under highway 169), I feel free. From then on, it's all trails through Plymouth. Fox Forest is a beautiful ride, despite them never cleaning up the leaves. They have wonderful bridges going along Plymouth Swamp (I don't know what the real name is of it).

Finally, I make it to Parkers Lake. There, I take my last little relaxing bit of the ride before an uphill climb to work. That hill is one of two potential spots on the whole ride where I might shift.

So my morning commute on my bike? It's fantastic. I absolutely love it. When I get to just glide along bike paths for almost 16 miles, having to deal with traffic rarely, it brings a smile to my face. And it makes me supremely sexy.