I have to laugh... my Gazelle is definitely my "ultility" since it weighs about 50 pounds!

I agree with what folks have said about being scared... and that there are lots of things to be scared of. My commute is 7 miles.

I am *not* particularly slow, they tell me... but my commuting average is often under 12.5 (today with construction it was under 11). Commuting is completely different from getting out on the open road. I keep track of how long it takes me but I definitely don't try to up my average. I'm focused on commuting. I wll go fast in stretches for fun, but still, I don't look at anything that is going to shift my motivation to "am I going to beat yesterday's time" when I'm in anything like traffic (and we don't really have a lot of that). However, I know that where I used to live, most people had at least an hour's commute (mine was 1:15) ... that's a lot of commuting time and t hey're not even riding!!

This morning I encountered a genuine grumpy "what are you doing on the road impeding my precious life" driver. Even my winsome smile didn't convert him...