I've been lurking for a few weeks, getting myself mentally prepared for commuting to work by bike. I don't know why this has me so nervous. I used to do a lot of bike touring and didn't think twice about riding on pretty much any type of road, but I think 18 years and two kids has done it to me--there's more at stake now and I'm not as young as I used to be!

In any event, I remembered/discovered this weekend that there's a walking/biking trail along part of my route. This would make it possible for me to bypass a long hill and somehwat heavy traffic with one blind curve where the road narrows and the shoulder disappears entirely. OTOH, it adds a bit to the total route (not much--maybe a half a mile each way) but slows me WAY down, since instead of zipping down a hill I'm dodging joggers with headphones, people walking little dogs with bows in their hair (the dogs, not the people, although maybe they had bows too--I didn't look), tree roots bulging through the surface, and many more cross streets where there's no traffic but I have to slow down to negotiate across.

So given the choice between a busy but fast road and a slow but relatively safe trail, which would you choose for your commute?

On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm so excited to get my bike back tomorrow! I've been researching bikes since I decided after one ride that my Target POS wasn't going to cut it as a commuter, and I kept coming back to touring bikes--they're reliable and sturdy and comfortable. So instead of plunking down a bunch of money for a new bike (tempting though that may be) I'm getting my 18 year old Miyata overhauled and back on the road.

Sarah