Monday, July 21, 2014

Two speeds, many modes

I'm blessed with a commute that offers many permutations and combinations.

I've got the beeline: a high speed straight line shot downtown.  There is no charm, nothing to admire about this route, other than the occasional art work on high, when the sun is playing in the clouds.  It's a crisp way to travel on two wheels: alert, extremely focused, drifting around seams and patches left by constant construction.

The opposite is the meandering coastal route.  The route hugs the lake and then branches off about midway and follows the Lachine Canal downtown.
The difference is about twenty minutes, depending on the traffic on the expressway.

Sometimes I'll split the difference.  Start out on the meandering slow route to contemplate the meaning of life and my place in the universe.  When it dawns on me that I have places to be and people to meet, I shift gears and hop on the highway.

Here's a glimpse, a very poor glimpse, of what that looks like.  All I had was my iPhone.  Google did the rest of the damage on the upload.

I'm almost embarrassed to offer the evidence.  But from a forensic point of view, it does the job.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

David:

Do you mean like taking the expressway

like this ?

Bob - Riding the Wet Coast

VStar Lady said...

I think I'd leave early every day just to be by the water. They only time my ride to work involved water was during the spring flood.

RichardM said...

I second the vote for the longer route just to enjoy the view of the water. Anything instead of the expressway...

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

I like the idea of choice....nothing wrong with and something very fine about favorite choices.

Trobairitz said...

The pictures of the commute along the shoreline sure are pretty. Would make you want to leave early every day.

SonjaM said...

Anything involving water would take over priority... work? What's that? Home? Can wait. Montreal summer... lovely.

Dar said...

I vote shoreline route! I have two routes as well. The down and dirty straight through downtown or the long meandering route down Dalas road and cut over to connect to the end of the down & dirty route to get the rest of the way.

David Masse said...

Precisely. Thanks Bob :)

David Masse said...

Karen, water is so compelling, isn't it? Doug Adams in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a passage on what he called 'boundary areas' or something similar. Places where land meets the sea. That it was a vetter place to live, cosmically. Quite strange, very appealing.

David Masse said...

Richard, the expressway still has something to offer, at least for me. It's a different feeling. Rocket ship vs crop duster.

David Masse said...

Doug, that's it, really. I have some really nice, totally different choices. It's a true luxury.

David Masse said...

Brandy it rreally is pretty. For some reason, this year leaving warly has been a challenge. Maybe it's the bigger bike making the lazy way more appealing.

David Masse said...

Sonja, a very poetic comment. Captures the mood perfectly.

David Masse said...

Dallas road. Now that's surely on of the finest shoreline routes in Canada. I hope to return some day.

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