The gas prices made me nuts. The traffic made me nuts. And, at 62, I am enjoying being a little nuts and doinjg something about it that naysayers think is even nuttier.

Started out with a fifteen mintue walk to the bus....then got the rusty bike out when the walk got monotonous....and painful. Rusty, clunky bike and all it was GRAND! But the rusty clunky bike weighed WAY too much to lift to the bus bike rack and I had to chain it to the 7-11 chain link fence....not that I would have been heartbroken if it had been stolen but it would have been a hot painful walk home.

This past weekend I bought a 15" Trek 7.6 FX and it is a thing of beauty. I spent the weekend getting the lay of the land in exploring and learning how to put the dreamily light 19 pound bike on the bus bike rack. (I ignored the snotty driver who really didn't want to show me how the first time and jollied him into being helpful).

I pedaled around all day Saturday and although I never got out of 1st gear (thankfully Delaware is flat and I'm WAY out of shape) it was the best Saturday I've had in years. I'm feisty so dealing with traffic was a snap and I avoided troublesome areas.

The only close call I had was with heat stroke and pedaling up a very very small (but to me KILLER hill) in 95 degrees. There was lots of good news though. I had water with me, sat beside the road and doused myself, and contemplated how bizarre the beginnings of heat stroke feel. The other good news is that I was on the large grounds of the hospital at the time enjoying their landscaping and geese population and I laughed to myself that I was only a hundred yards from the emergency room! I don't care how heavy water is, the next time I'm taking twice as much water.

I'm now obsessing over panniers for grocery/errand shopping and have read all the reviews and suggestions here. Thanks! The grocery store is only a couple of miles away and nearly everything else I need is relatively close. The car sit quietly in the garage for the past few months and that makes both of us very happy.

With the minimal biking commute I'll be doing (compared to the bus part of it on the Interstate to work), I'm certainly not a hard-core bike commuter like some of you but I love the whole concept of it on so many levels.

It's nice to find this community to share experiences about biking!

Pardes