That's a good point. While playing with google maps I was able to tweak the route a bit to include a bike path for about 5 miles of the route. That helps ease my traffic anxiety and the path is flat so it's less likely that I will exhaust myself too soon. The midwest has crazy weather sometimes but luckily we are heading into fall and I feel it's the perfect time to get started (even if it is just one way during the daylight hours... baby steps). I'm not so worried about rain as much as I worry about being cold (though I think I still have a little while before the bitter cold comes to Missouri... and by then I may have found a solution). One poster suggested finding wool sweaters at a thrift shop to wear - that's a great idea because I don't care so much about looking good as I do being comfortable.

Thanks again for all of the encouragement - it's so easy to get swept up into thinking that you need more than you do (which creates opportunities to make excuses to never start). I'm going to keep reminding myself that this is good for my health and my wallet. And I will definitely keep reading to learn from all of you experienced riders.