I switched routes today on the way in. My daughter's first day of her sophomore year was today, and my wife and I drive (that's right ... drive!!) her to school, and from there I go to work on the bike. And thus began my schooltime route.

The comparisons of this route to the standard summertime route into work are many:

• 14 miles instead of 20
• Generally nicer Santa Clara neighborhood route rather than industrial San Jose, though still on heavily-traveled roads
• A relative lack of potholes compared with the summertime route
• Spinning through beautiful Santa Clara University rather than blah San Jose State University
• The addition of a fairly nasty highway interchange

(No offense to any SJSUers on the board, but SJSU is not exactly pretty.)

Not a whole lot of traffic today. I suppose that will change when the other schools open. It was chilly again this a.m., so chilly that I'm actually contemplating wearing knee warmers!! My knees were creaky this morning because of the chill.