Most of my trips to campus have been along the Burke-Gilman Trail, because it’s just more fun to zip along on a trail dedicated to bikers than to stay on the streets.
The trail isn’t the straightest path from A to B, though. It adds distance to head south to the trail, wind along the water to the south side of campus, then wind through campus to the north side where my classroom building is. So when I realized I was running late this time, I decided to take the direct route.
As I hit 45th Street, a 44 bus was pulling up, which mirrors my route most of the way. I briefly thought about stopping and hopping on the bus, especially since a slight wind was cutting across my non-gloved hands (item No. 1 on the priority list – good gloves). Instead, I decided to stick it out on the bike and rode past the bus as it was picking up passengers.
The late-afternoon traffic along 45th Street was moving, but slow. In several spots I was able to roll past long waiting lines of cars. By the time I got to the U-District, I’d not only stayed ahead of the original bus I’d decided to forego at the start, I caught up to the 44 bus ahead. And the direct route shaved nearly 15 minutes off my last trip to class (although part of the reason is I know how to get to the building from the north, and still don’t have my bearings totally for winding through campus).
All in all, a win for commuting by bike.
Leave a Reply