Well, I don't have any delusion of cutting my commute time drastically...maybe a few minutes...but it's more about the quality of the ride and the effort I'm exerting. Currently with the weight, gearing, tires, and sheer age of my bike, I feel like things are dragging a bit...and every once in a while a guy on a road bike just blows past me like I was standing still.
Like I said...I'm averaging about 14mph and I'd say top speed I'm able to sustain currently is about 16-17mph on flat ground.
At least half the ride is open road (through an old Air Force Base, and then a fairly rural area with no stops) where I think if I could tuck in and crank it up I'd be able to take advantage of a road bike. Once I hit the city, it's stoplights, curbs, back alleys, and so forth...but it's only for about the last mile. The bulk of the ride is wide open.
Anyway, thanks for all of the suggestions. I was looking at the Jake years ago. One thing I notice with many of the cyclocross bikes is that their top gear seems to be fairly low...close to that of my mountain bike (44t on my Rockhopper and 46t of the Surly Cross Check). Are Cyclocross typically geared lower? I was under the impression that they were usually geared like road bikes on the top end?
I've never owned a road bike, so pardon my ignorance, but with a wide open stretch like I have, wouldn't I want to shoot for something that had a 50+ tooth crankset?