The ride in was excellent, as they almost always are. The weather is nice, no wind to speak of. The rides back have presented minor challenges... either searing heat, or nasty headwinds, perhaps both. Today it was the headwinds. Plus I was surprised by free food late at work which I could not pass up, and the food had not quite settled when it was time to head out. So I wound up cutting 5 miles out of the commute by getting on the light rail. The toughest part of the commute is after the light rail station, and actually the final stretch right before getting to my place. I've only done the light rail a couple of times since I started commuting the entire way, and it seems like cutting the 5 miles out doesn't really make much of a difference in terms of the difficulty of the commute. Everything that is cut out by taking the light rail is fairly easy and flat. It almost seems as though the longer rides gets me in more of a rhythm by the time I hit that final stretch.