So I've been bike commuting for awhile, and with life getting so busy/stressful it's kind of become the thing that has kept me sane.
The problem has become that my work has moved MUCH further - from sub 5 km to 20+ one way which means a much different commuting situation than before. I made it work with a road bike through the summer, which was awesome. But come winter I realized that, especially since I'm going to have to seek 'alternative routes' from the out of town highways that I would take to my new workplace, I needed the equivalent of a super all-terrain. And not taking 1.5 hours to get there would be nice.
Enter the most expensive vehicle in my fleet, who shall be called Monster:
Attachment 18325
So far, 57km and it's the absolute best!!
Showed up to work without too much fuss, got home (headwind, uphill, hungry, backpack, etc) feeling pleasantly worked, not falling-over exhausted. I think Monster and I are going to get along great :) By my math, 10,000km and I've made up the cost of the bike by not driving my car. I'll call it even at 20,000km. Beyond that, savings for me!!