A bit of description of your route profile.
i have a ~15 mile one way commute along chicagos' lakefront. about 9 miles of it is along the city's lakefront bike path, the rest is on city streets - a combination of busier arterials and quieter side streets. the whole ride is EXTREMELY flat; the biggest "hill" i have to climb is a roughly 15' high glacial ridge left over from the last ice age. yes, chicago really is one of the flattest places on the planet.




What kind of bike you ride.

primary commuter: 2010 Motobecane Le Champion SL titanium road bike







back-up commuter: 1996 Raleigh M-80 cro-mo mountain bike turned hybrid


source: me




How you carry your gear and what or how much (volume) stuff you bring on the ride.
i try to keep it fairly simple. each bike has a small saddle bag with a spare tube, a CO2 pump, tire levers, and a multi-tool. i use a backpack to carry a change of clothes and other small personal items like wallet, keys, cell phone, etc. that's it.




Distance & time
~15 miles each way. my normal neutral-wind time is ~50 minutes on the road bike and ~55 minutes on the hybrid. wind along the lake can of course vary those times up and down




How long you've been doing this and any thoughts you have toward the future of your commuting.
i've been doing this for 3 years now as a 3.5 season commuter. i have ambitions to do the dead of winter as well, but 15 miles is a really, really long ride when it's 6 degrees outside with a savage 25mph headwind screaming right off the lake at you.