Wednesday, 17 August 2011

Which Way Did He Go?

Hi all,

My Trek 7.5 FX Disc bike has not arrived as yet but I thought I'd share some information on the routes I'll be taking to work.  I've started them at a grocers in the neighbourhood and have ended them at the Hamilton ferry terminal.  I normally commute by the Sea Express fast ferries.  They are reasonably priced and very convenient.  But I digress.

I live in the western portion of Bermuda. The main road, Middle Road, spawns two others: South Road and Harbour Road.  South Road is popular as the south shore has some of the best of Bermuda's beaches. Pink sands, blue waters, and fun surf.  Harbour Road runs along the islands in the Great Sound and, funnily enough, Hamilton Harbour.  Most people scoot over to Harbour Road to avoid the traffic on Middle Road.  Middle Road has traffic entering from both sides. Drivers are usually very courteous and will slow or stop to let traffic enter.  As you can imagine this slows the flow so if you're in a hurry you generally scoot over to Harbour Road.

Harbour Road Route


The Harbour Road route is 15.1km.  Like all the routes it will be a constant up and down battle with the hills. One hill in particular comes to mind; Burnt House Hill.  This is where I'll enter onto Harbour Road from Middle Road.  It is quite steep and long.  Going home on this route will be an ordeal as this hill is not as steep  on the back side but is long and steady taking forever to crest.  It is a very windy route.  I suspect that once I become fit enough to tack along at a decent speed that this will be the more interesting of the three routes to traverse.

Middle Road Route


The Middle Road route is also 15.1km.  It does not weave about as much as Harbour Road and the hills are perhaps the most tempered of the three routes.  It will be the busiest route but the more frequent straightaways will increase my visibility to other traffic. I may start with this route, if only to avoid tackling Burt House Hill.  Actually, come to think of it, there is a considerable hill that begins about Paget Marsh near the end of the route that does not end until just before the junction of Trimingham Road and South Road.

South Road Route


The South Road route adds on another kilometre taking it to 16.1km. It is almost as straight as the Middle Road route but it has significantly more hills.  These are not extremely steep but they do run on for a while.  However, there is one exception of note.  The stretch of road that begins about the tennis courts near Elbow Beach rises sharply to meet Southcote Road.  Then I'd soon have to take on the hill that starts near Paget Marsh mentioned above.


Well, that is it folks.  These routes are a good indication but I can take many variations of them. The three roads are well connected so I could add on kilometres by switching between them along the route. Alternatively, I could just stick to the main roads and go past the City of Hamilton and circle back on one of South, Middle, or North Roads.

You can see how hilly Bermuda is if you switch to Terrain view on any of the maps. Not many flat stretches in sight. If I'm not pushing up then I'll be flowing down. The plan is to work on the downhill as well to get an even burn through the commute. I've been reading up on cadence and the pedal circle (down, back, up, forward). I didn't splurge for the fanciest of bike computers so tracking cadence is out of the questions.  I'll concentrate on the pedal circle and try to just get into a rhythm that feels good.


Thanks for reading,

Edmund


No comments:

Post a Comment