CX = Commuter Cross

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When I drove a car to work I got absolutely ill at the thought of taking the same roads everyday as I'm sure many others feel. No one wants to be a part of the "rat race." Aside from people yelling different slurs there isn't much to differentiate 4 years of bicycle commuting the same route. When it starts to feel monotonous I'll ride a different bike or switch up something on a bike, like handlebars or tires. When I switched from street tires to cyclocross tires on my Surly Steamroller it opened up a wider range of options, from variations on my existing route to new routes completely. It made commuting incredibly fun again. The downside to commuting on a single-speed when you're on pavement, gravel, grass, or singletrack is that there isn't a perfect gear ratio. I would either spin out on the pavement or be pushing too tough gears through the grass. This is the reason I got a Surly Cross-Check and built it up with SRAM Rival. Steel frame, tire clearance, 20 speeds. When I so desire (which is a lot) I'm able to choose a route that not only breaks the monotony but also shaves minutes from my commute, giving me a more "as the crow flies" route.

Here are some features on my commute:

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Gravel road cut-through from Jefferson to Court.


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Cobblestone breezeway. This and another set of cobblestones makes me feel all Paris-Roubaix in the morning.


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The medians of East Parkway. If enough people rode/ran these urban greenscapes we could have a really nice long singletrack. You can see something similar along Southern at Audubon Park where years of Cross-Country practice has worn a path into the grass.

And those are just variations on my normal route. I find, though, that there is a huge span in the middle and end of my commute that is mostly or all pavement. It would be really cool if I could be off-road the entire or most of the commute. But not, like, riding in people's yards or anything. I'll see what I can do.