Originally Posted by
jagged
There's lots of discussion of equipment in this thread. Let me talk a bit about route selection.
You know the best route to drive to work, but that doesn't mean you know the best route to ride to work. Your ideal route will avoid busy streets as much as possible. That means that instead of taking the big, broad streets and highways favored by cars, you'll take the side streets that run parallel to those big streets.
If you are lucky enough to live someplace that has a helpful bike trail, use it. When I started commuting, I didn't think it was worth my time to ride a half-mile out of my way to a bike trail, so I instead took a route through heavy traffic and multiple stoplights. That route was shorter, but ultimately not quicker--and probably not safer. Life is easier without cars, traffic lights, or exhaust.
Let me add something in this post: there are some routes that may require you to ride the bus. If you find this more favorable on your part, you can actually ride until the next stop then continue doing your commute. There are actually a lot of buses that have bike racks installed on them to make transportation easier for bike riders. However, if you find it the bus ride distracting to your routine, then you can also opt for commuting all the way.
Though you have a point about an easier life without cars and traffic lights, I guess we all have to learn to make this work for us.