Hello all!
I am about to join the ranks of the great... all you folks who regularly commute by BIKE! I told myself since last summer when the price of a gallon of gas got as "high" (relative to the Mid-West) as $3.30 that if it got that high again next summer -now "this" summer - that I WOULD commute.

I had some obstacles to overcome, but... luckily the company finished our gym in the lower floor of our building (showers, changing rooms, etc). My other biggie was how to feel safe leaving my large investment in our building's garage. Well.. that really hasn't gotten solved yet, but I came up with a solution! I bought a Giant Boulder-w on Saturday! No frills steel mountain bike, but still fun to ride. I won't worry so much locking that up in our bike rack in the garage at work... not as much as I would have if I were leaving my OCR-C.

My commute is only 4.5 miles. Tulsa has a bikeway committed on roads through neighborhoods right near me and it goes all the way downtown where I"m going. I figure even at a slower pace of 12mph, I can get there and sadly only take about 10 min longer than driving. After a few tanks worth of savings, the bike is paid for. It may take all Summer...but... I feel great about the opportunity to take one more car off the roads during rush hour(s)!

I think this'll make me stronger on my road bike, and even appreciate it more! I'll miss coming home for lunch and seeing/playing with my dogs, but... I guess I'm doing more good saving $$, not contributing to the smog, and getting even more exercise!

You gals were also an inspriration! Rock on, gals!
I'll check in tomorrow and let you know how it went!