Girl! I had the perfect commuter for you being 5 ft 1 but I gave it to my sister! Since you are in CT I could of dumped it off on my way sometime to PA!!

I finally got rid of the backpack (actually my MULE where I kept all my bike stuff and water) and strap it to my rack along with another backpack that holds my laptop and office stuff along with clothes. I don't use clipless so I just use my regular shoes to ride and wear at work.

On the why you feel crappy in the a.m. you will notice your HRM higher when you working out in the a.m. than say, the afternoon. There are all kinds of systems in your body waking up and one is getting blood to all the right places. That's one reason you will find your HRM higher, also, higher HRMs sometimes indicate the need for hydration (lower blood volume) but that may or may not be the case. I find that mine is higher in the a.m. if I am out the door within 1 hour of waking. If it's 3 hours after waking, it's normal.

As far as eating for me, I might eat something really small, like half an apple or some OJ. I save my eating for when I get to work, and it's usually yogurt with granola and alot of fruit and alot of water. I also stop for coffee on the way most of the time, and the caffeine helps me get going (sometimes in a way that I'm not happy about!).

Boy I'm so jealous right now. I had to sit on the bench because of this stomach thing. Today is my first mtb ride since 'the bug' hit me hard last week.

Keep on commutin!!!