Babcock Amp Medical To Kelly Commute

Mr. Huddleston,

Your message finally worked its way around to me. I moved to the Denver area from San Antonio about 1 ½ years ago, but I did commute from the Medical Center area to Kelly AFB for 4 ½ years. I started near the intersection of Babcock and Medical. Since I left about 5 a.m., my route going in was more on the major streets, as there was virtually no traffic. It was a bit different coming home.

Going in, I took Babcock to Wurzbach, which I kept all the way across Bandera. If I caught a green light at Bandera, I went straight across. Otherwise, I turned right on red, then made a left turn on the street by the Luby's and went up a block before cutting back to Wurzbach. Once I crossed Bandera, I went a little ways more on Wurzbach, then turned left onto a side street that took me over by the parking lot of the shopping center there with Circuit City in it. I cut across the parking lot and picked up the 410 service road. As an alternate to that, I would continue on Wurzbach to the Bally's fitness place and cut down the alley between their building and the apartment complex to get to the 410 service road - depended on how I hit the light. I took the service road down to Ingram Road, where I turned left. I took Ingram to Oakhill, which I took down to Culebra. I took Culebra to Callaghan, which I kept to Commerce. I took Commerce to Acme, which I kept all the way across 90 to Growdon (the road around the runways). I went in the gate by Special Weapons if it was open; otherwise, I had to continue to Thompson to Gen. McMullen and go in that way.

Coming home, I took the same route in reverse until I got to Ingram and 410, with one little exception. When I was on Acme and almost to Commerce, I cut left, then right, one block before the intersection, then turned left onto Commerce. The light at Acme and Commerce was a bear to get to trip, even with cars there. Once I got to 410, I crossed under 410 on Ingram, then turned up into the mall parking lot on the right. I took the perimeter road around the mall and exited the Wurzbach side. I went straight across on that little road through the Crystal Hills development that never developed. The road curves to the right and goes up a hill, then curves to the right more and heads back toward Wurzbach. I turned left before that onto Blackberry, took that until it ended at Watercress, where I turned left. That street then winds to the right by the car lot to Bandera. I crossed Bandera and rode on the shoulder for just a block past the funeral home where I turned right on Rue Francois. I kept that to Evers, where I had to make a little jog left, then took a right on Forest Bend. I took a left off of that to pick up Forest Grove up to the corner by the school, then turned left on Cary Grant. Any of those streets will take you to Danny Kaye, but I usually went all the way down before turning right and following George Burns, then John Wayne to the intersection. Danny Kaye took me to Oakdell Way, where I turned right to go home.

I always obey traffic laws - stop signs, red lights, etc. I think that's what has kept me healthy in 6+ years of commuting. It's also the right thing to do, as it's the law. If I expect the cars to obey the traffic laws, they should expect the same from me. Also, if a driver sees a car run a stop sign, he'll generally say, "Look at that guy! He just ran a stop sign!" If the driver sees a bike run a stop sign, he'll generally say, "ALL bikes run stop signs! They should be banned from the road!" Think of it as doing PR on your bike.

I will say that there are certain lights that I could not trip. This was a problem in the morning, when there was very little traffic on the road. For the ones that I couldn't trip, I did have to treat them as stop signs. I waited until there was nothing coming in any direction, then went on through. If there was a car coming from behind me, though, that would eventually trip the light, I waited. In the afternoon, there is always someone coming who can trip lights.

This route was modified a bit over the years. I used to keep Wurzbach out of the mall on the way home until almost Bandera. However, when they cut the cross road at the bottom of the big hill, taking traffic over to the shopping center by 410, it became too dangerous. Also, winding through the neighborhood once I passed Bandera, I used to turn left off Rue Francois onto Rue Sophie, then turn right off that onto Forest Way. However, during periods of heavy rains, Forest Way at Evers can be quite dangerous because of high water there and a culvert that would try to suck you right in if you lost your balance. I also originally took Callaghan all the way down to 90, then took the service road to Growdon. I found I liked Acme better.

Hope this helps. Commuting in Denver is SO much easier than in San Antonio, plus there are so many more people who do it. There were over 4000 people who rode on Bike to Work Day this year. Quite a few of us hard-core commuters do it year 'round here, with lots of other folks taking it up during the warmer months. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were very few days when road conditions kept me from riding last winter (although they tell me it was a mild winter). All the buses have bike racks on them here, so you can ride partway if you want. The racks have saved me twice when I got halfway home and decided it was too icy to ride. I just detoured down to the bus route and hopped on with my bike. I did have to spend a small fortune on cold-weather cycling clothing, as my wardrobe was lacking in that area when I arrived. However, because of the dry climate, it doesn't feel as cold riding in the 20's as it did in San Antonio in the 30's. My commute takes around an hour and I do find that it's hard to keep my toes and fingers warm for the whole trip when it's in the low teens and below. It's also hard to shift sometimes, as the cables kind of freeze up in their housings. Guess that's why so many of the bike messengers downtown ride fixed-gear bikes.

Good luck with your commute!

JJ Risch