Is the road less traveled a better place to ride?

That depends on many factors. As far as I\’m concerned, cobblestones are definitely the road less traveled. In fact, for me cobbles are the road not to be traveled! I have no desire to try them. Just look at that surface! Those interstices look wide enough to catch my front wheel; and then, over the handlebars I\’d go!

I guess the road less traveled is safer where motor traffic is concerned. The fewer vehicles there are, the less chance we have of getting hit by a car; and there are fewer exhaust fumes that we have to inhale.

When I did Bike MS in 2013, we were riding alongside a highway. Fortunately there was a wide shoulder we could use; but even so, having steady traffic almost at my elbow isn\’t to my liking. This traffic included several huge flat-bed trucks loaded with pine logs!

The downside to the road less traveled is that you can be far from help in an emergency. Sure, most of us have cell phones; but if you\’re a long way from home, will somebody be able to come and get you? When I got that flat tire Sunday, there was no direct route via the roads between home and my location. Guess why it\’s so important to know how to change a tube?

And I\’m just talking about rides that don\’t take you more than 25 miles from home. Some people do bicycle tours that take them to roads far less traveled; or even to places where roads don\’t exist! I don\’t have that kind of gumption; and if I did, I\’m not sure it would be wise to try it. Not when I\’m working to keep prediabetes at bay!

Roads Most Traveled

If we’re going to talk about the road less traveled, we might as well give a nod to the roads most traveled. For me, it’s the bike path on the levee. Over the years, I’ve almost worn a groove in that path! There are usually other riders out; so I\’m not entirely alone.

Bicycle commuters have their roads most traveled; and probably have alternate routes as well. Sometimes I can\’t take my preferred route to work because a train is blocking the way. When that\’s the case, I have to go by the road less traveled (less traveled by me on a bicycle, that is); and that means riding alongside of traffic. I don\’t enjoy doing it any too much; which is why I usually go by the longer route. I like getting in a few extra miles, anyway.

Which do you prefer: the road less traveled; or the roads most traveled?