Do you ever get discouraged as a road cyclist?

[Shawn Gossman]

More and more drivers are on their phones.

More and more people tend to hate cyclists.

It seems that every road has construction on it in southern Illinois.

To be blunt, it's getting worse and worse to be a road cyclist at times.

Does this ever discourage you from continuing to road bike?

How do you counter this? What's your response?

 

[Rom]

I'm pretty much moving to the MTB for a while, especially with the students moving back into town soon. Hopefully, the weather will allow this.

 

[darylm]

A little, but not enough to stop. At home (Naperville) I know the roads really well as to traffic loads and times of day. Also, we have club rides where I always feel a bit more visible with a group of people and lots of flashing red rear lights!

I do tend to be a lot less comfortable in places I have never been. I lean heavily on Strava and RideWithGPS heat maps and routes to get a sense on where locals ride. That isn't 100% reliable since I still see heat map lines on roads I would never ride on.

 

[Rom]

A little, but not enough to stop. At home (Naperville) I know the roads really well as to traffic loads and times of day. Also, we have club rides where I always feel a bit more visible with a group of people and lots of flashing red rear lights!

I do tend to be a lot less comfortable in places I have never been. I lean heavily on Strava and RideWithGPS heat maps and routes to get a sense on where locals ride. That isn't 100% reliable since I still see heat map lines on roads I would never ride on.

I don't really leave town unless it's vacation so when I'm in an area I'm not familiar with, i try to find local group rides and hit those. If not I'll hop on garmin heat maps and typically it's not too bad. I have a pretty high risk tolerance for cars. I will take more lights and things on those rides though for sure

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I love the idea of heat maps! That would be a great way to find the best routes!