Thanks, everyone! I am thankful for the validation and the reminder that this is merely a season of life; there will soon be time. I don't want to be so caught up in waiting for free time that I don't enjoy the phase we're in. It's just that I have discovered that I LOVE biking (as opposed to the running I've done for years without really enjoying it that much), and I would love to do more.

Thanks, too, for the suggestions about riding in the dark; that's a possibility. We live far enough in the country that wildlife is a huge problem here too. I have nearly wrecked by hitting a deer in the daylight....we live in a dense deer population....so I would be a tad concerned about that. The good news is that the time change will make it lighter earlier in a couple of weeks, and it very rarely gets colder than the 30's in the mornings here.

My take away from this discussion is that what I'm doing right now is reasonable given our time and budget, so I am going to choose to focus on the joy of riding when I get out for my short rides.

Thank you!