If it's really just 1.5 mile, why ride? Walking on the sidewalk should only take you 20-25 minutes. I mean I like riding my bike and might do that if I was running late, but it just doesn't seem worth it to me to ride that short of a distance if you're going to be fighting traffic the whole way.
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Bikes: 1996 Eddy Merckx Titanium EX, 1989/90 Colnago Super(issimo?) Piu(?), 1990 Concorde Aquila(hit by car while riding), others in build queue "when I get the time"