Some great advice, and it look like you have a much more picturesque commute than mine going into inner-city Sydney, Australia (although I do cross three quite nice large (& often steep!) bridges over various bays on the way to the city.

But you have given me food for thought; I think safety has to be a priority otherwise bike commuting can become a source of stress, rather than a healthy and liberating option. I far prefer riding on quiet suburban roads to poor quality MUPs adjacent to busy mulli-lane highways packed with commuter traffic. Often a parallel road has 1/100th of the traffic and only requires a short detour.

Thanks!

John