From Gardensprings/Gardenside to UK

I was talking with a friend who lives on Alexandria Dr. about his bike route to UK's campus.  The path he described included many major roads I'd rather avoid when on a bike.  Here's a map of what I imagine the route must be, based on what he told me (once again, I forgot to zoom-out before I saved the map, so you will have to zoom-out to see the entire route at one time):

http://routebuilder.org/5f6

I started this ride at the intersection of Alexandria Dr. and Lane Allen Rd. because it's the closest major intersection to his house.  You'll notice that the route has you on very busy roads the majority of the time: Harrodsburg Rd., Waller Ave., and S. Limestone.

I asked him what he thought about riding on these roads.  He replied that people driving cars just needed to get used to the idea that he will be riding on the road.  For a while now, he has been taking the same route at the same time and has had fewer and fewer issues with cars the longer he has kept at it.  I applaud his effort and patience.

However, I would not take the route he takes.  While I am all for getting people in cars used to sharing the road with bicyclers, I'd rather share the road with as few cars as possible.  With this is mind, I created a route  from the intersection of Alexandria Dr. and Lane Allen Rd. that uses roads with far less traffic than Lexington's major arteries.  Here it is:

http://routebuilder.org/5f5

For anyone who has been studiously following the routes I post, it will come as no surprise that I make use of a park and once again suggest a short cut through the hole in the fence line at the corner of Devonshire Ave. and Pyke Rd.  Actually, the "short-cut" does not actually shorten the ride.  It'd be shorter to use Unity Dr. to get to Red Mile Rd. from Addison Ave.  But that'd have you riding on the potentially busy Red Mile Rd. longer than is necessary.  However, if you do not like taking short cuts through fences, you could use Unity Dr. to get to Red Mile Rd. without adding that much busy road to your ride.

So, how do these two routes compare?  The route I suggest is clearly a more pleasant ride (assuming you find rides with just a few cars more pleasant than rides with 1000s of cars).  My friend's route is shorter (distance-wise, at least).  However, the more pleasant ride is just 1/3 of a mile longer, not a large enough distance, I think, to justify taking the shorter, but busier route.