You made a good decision, maybe not for the reasons you thought.
I think you need to ride a little more on the bike and get comfortable with the distance. Scout out routes, see if you can find a better route, or adjust your schedule to make your route work better. It can be hard to judge a route (and the attitude of drivers) from driving a route.
Can you leave your clean work clothes at the office the prior day instead of taking them in? That'll lighten your load if you're not commuting every day.
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"be careful this rando stuff is addictive and dan's the 'pusher'."