Quote Originally Posted by hebe View Post
And there's a roundabout (we cross the rush hour traffic) which I was dreading, but actually isn't too bad as the visibility is much better from a bike than from the car.
Roundabouts* can work wonderfully for cyclists! I don't know if in the UK you have the concept of "taking the lane", but upon approaching a roundabout a cyclist can simply take the lane and proceed through the roundabout just like any other vehicle. There's no worries of being right hooked or left crossed (left hooked and right crossed for you).

A city here installed a roundabout leading to a popular beach area. It is not clear if it works - it could be that Americans simply don't know what to do with a roundabout, or maybe the traffic is just too jam packed for it to work right. However, it is great when on a bike!

* Hereabouts they're called "traffic circles", but I like "roundabout" better!