Bicycle Commuting has Greatly Improved Downtown

I think every other post ive read on reddit since they have installed the new bike lanes downtown have been relatively negative. Up until the city decided to put the bike lanes in, reaching downtown via means other than car was either impossible, or if not impossible risky/dangerous. Now with the addition of the bike lanes on Lovell, West Michigan, Stadium, Portage, North, and Westnedge, and more it makes access to the heart of the city from all sides of the city bike accessible. Before these additions, I would’nt have felt safe to bike from my home to downtown.

Let alone, riding my bike makes me feel just free. I can go anywhere and do anything. Its converting the energy in my body into momentum that can take me where I need or want to be. It allows for me to skip all the rush hour traffic and enjoy the world around me. Sure, you go faster generally in a car rather than a bike. But I legitemately have to stop a lot less when riding my bike vs when driving in a car.

Within 1 to 2 miles from your job!

Walk to work, or walk to work more often. If you live one mile away from work, it would take you a max of 22 minutes to get to work walking. If you live two miles, your at a max 45 minute walk. Ive commuted via car before 45 minutes. There are times that I miss that commute time. Especially when work begins to get stressfull. It allows for me to decompress from work and relax before getting home and having to cook or get ready to do homework.

Within 2-4 Miles from your job!

For those of you who live within a 2-4 mile range of your job, I would really recommend you trial a bike ride in on the weekend. You will considerably cut down on gas usage and save on parking. I for one make it in quicker when I bike than I do when I drive. I don’t have to worry about parking, I don’t have to worry about traffic for the most part, and I am free to take whatever route is convenient to me. After a long day of work, I can take a detour home, and stop at the park to read a book, or take a different route or trail home, and im not limited by the constrains of traffic and parking. If you fully commit to riding your bike to work every day, and live 4 miles or more, maybe invest in getting an ebike! This can help take the load off when your going up hills, or when you just want to put in less effort getting to work every day.

4 miles or more from your job!

Think about taking public transport, while you could 100% take your car, think about all the free time that just opened up allowing you to do other things you may enjoy. Riding the bus means you get to sitdown and read a book, or scroll the interwebs on your phone! And while it may take a little bit longer to get to work, I guarantee you with propper planning you will be just fine. If public transport isnt quite as available for you, maybe consider getting an ebike if your under 10 miles away. They can take a great deal of pressure off of you, and if you hold out till the end of your ride, you could use the ebike battery to take you the rest of the way there while you just cool down.

Conclusion

I think that you should 100% one way or another attempt to take a different way into work, just to broaden the horizons and to mix things up a bit. I get stuck to often in a routine of security and comfort. It helps to break out of that every now and then and get some variety in my life.

I hope to see you on the bike path ! ;)