My Commute Ride

Riding your bike into the office is a great way to get in some extra miles during he week.
But you need to carefully plan your ride. Why? Well, cycling in the US this is not as trivial as cycling in the Netherlands (Wiki). The majority of car drivers are not cyclists, and thus do not understand how vulnerable a cyclist can feel.
In addition, in the Netherlands there is a continuous network of cycle paths, clearly signposted, well maintained and well lit, with road/cycle path junctions that often give priority to cyclists.

My Commute

As a result in the US you will have to pick your battles. On my commute-ride, there are no bike-paths. In this case this is mainly because if is a "back-country" road that not many cars drive, so that is a plus.

Altitude Profile

The downside is that there is some climbing involved, but that just makes it a great training ride.
I typically park my car down town Ramona at a "Park & Ride". In that way I skip the initial very narrow and winding road out of the Country Estates. I envisioned that most people are still sleepy behind their steering wheel, or are distracted while texting or sipping their morning coffee. So this strategy will prevent early morning surprises.

In addition 3 more tips: visibility, visibility, and visibility. I am not shy in lighting myself up as a xmas tree; blinking lights and bright colored clothing. So far I only had one collision...with a squirrel, but that was a loose loose situation. For the squirrel that is...

Have a safe ride!