I would just like to say, my commute sucks. It's not very long (6mi one way), so it's not an issue of being a "difficult" commute at all, but it's more an issue of quality. ROAD quality. I am in the Navy and I live about a mile from the base (Naval Station Norfolk, if anyone is familiar). Between my house and the gate, I can wind through smooth residential streets away from traffic (which is horrible here). Once I'm actually on the base, the next five miles is a completely different story.

Now I don't know if any of you are in the military, or ever have been, but there's this certain element of cheapskated-ness to anything run by the federal government ( ), and that extends to the roads on base. These things look like a torn-up patchwork quilt of asphalt and concrete, paved by a blind man with Parkinson's! My commuter bike is a 1987 Schwinn World Sport with 27x1-1/4" tires, and by the end of my ride, I am exhausted- not from fighting the bi-directional headwind that is always present, but more from the jarring potholes, bumps, and breaks in the road that make my ride feel like a barely-controlled five mile collision! There has been more than one instance when a pothole has nearly knocked me off course and slammed me broadside into a car. There are a couple stretches of road that actually have a designated bike path (maybe 500yards total on the entire base ), but those are usually so covered in sand, gravel, and debris that it's a death wish to even look at them the wrong way.

I won't even mention the drivers on base. Well, maybe I will. There's something about 90% of people in the military that I guess comes along with the attitude of many in the service. For some reason, so many people on base drive way too fast and aggressive, and thanks to that I'm only one pothole away from becoming a two-wheeled human pinball in the middle of a giant moving game of SUV Plinko!

That being said, I love being stuck at a light next to Joe D.Ouche in his Mustang GT blasting the latest Eminem track. When he peels out, floors it to 60mph, and immediately slams on the brake and hits the first right into the gas station, I roll on by, with my steel steed clanking and creaking over the swiss cheese asphalt I've grown to love, and revel in the fact that the only fuel I need for my ride is a banana and some extra water when I get home.

That is all.