Commuting - First day of commuting

By Bike anyway.

8.5 miles to work.
11.7 miles home.

Boy am I tired. Figure Ill do every other day for a couple of weeks befor I go full time.

The only issues I had where that I need a Good light and security harassed me at work for wearing shorts. I had to go change in the Admin building befor I could go to my office. I need a couple of pair of good bike shorts also. Any suggestions on lights or shorts, what about rain gear?

Good job on the commute. I know when I first started it was much shorter than that and I couldn't believe that people did it Every Single Day.

Now I can't get enough time in and I wish my ride were double what iti is.

For shorts I go with what's cheap. I've found 'em for $30, you can probably do better with a little more bargain hunting. Those are distances for which padded shorts will be nice, especially in the VI where I would expect you sweat more. Rain gear = fenders. That's the prime directive. Some swear by cycling capes (basically ponchos). Dunno. Myself, I just have a usual rain slicker which leaves my lower body to get good'n'wet.

Lights? Depends on whether you need them to see or simply be seen. If you're riding around on streets that are lit, you can just get by with a light to be seen by. The Cateye EL-100 (or whatever the equivalent model is these days) is sufficient and gets good battery life.

Hey Rescue! (EMT? DMAT? Souls? What sort of Rescueing do you do?)

I've heard Supergo has a deal on good front "seeing" lights.
For the rear light, I HIGHLY reccomend the Cateye EL-TD1000. 10 leds, one of the brightest backlights out there- with 2 side-leds so cars see you from the side.

If you are commuting during dusk or in the early morning, I definatly reccomend a "Headlight" to help you see the road. I commute to work and school and definatly am set at ease having a bright light in front of me. These lights I've linked below are a good start for about $50. You can find lower-priced lights at Nashbar.com, performance.com or by searching through the commuting archives. We love our lights.
http://www.supergo.com/profile.cfm?lProd_id=25215&lmfg_id=&searchtext=quest&referpage=
http://store.airbomb.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=LT1026&link=qbike
http://store.airbomb.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=LT7505&link=qbike

I have a cheap trek headlight now and it doesnt illuminate the road ahead for crap. My morning ride starts in the dark and ends befor the sun is completly up. I have a no name blinky on the rear but Ill probably grab a brighter on. On a side note I put the blinky on the panner that is on the inside (the side cars will pass on) I would rather have it offset like this for cars to give me more room although the drivers down here are use to cyclist.

I am currently the commander of our (volunteer squad) High angle and Marine units. At work (oil refinery) I pull extra duty on the Rescue Squad and Fire Brigade.

I didn't check out the linked lights above from charlesw, but I would recommend getting a halogen light with a nice rechargeable NiMH battery. Light & Motion makes a light that they call the commuter and it has about a 2 hour burn time. I think it is around $100 and runs a 10 Watt bulb wich works fine for moderate speeds in the black of night.