Been reading this thread with some interest. I never really gave commuting by bike a ton of thought. I hate traffic with a passion, which is why I commute by motorcycle. We can lane split in CA, which cuts my freeway time by more than half. But as I've been riding more, I've explored routes that avoid street traffic. I knew that there were two river trails that led toward my office from home, but did not connect, requiring a lengthy street ride to go from one trail to the other. Through experimentation, I found a route to connect the two trails largely through a residential area, making it a lot more appealing. I've been playing around with the ride on weekends on my different bikes to see how long it would take so I can figure out how early I need to leave and am ready to give it a shot on a regular weekday. Among my newer Trek FX3, Electra Ticino 8-speed and my old '94 Trek 930 mountain bike, oddly enough the 930 is the bike I've found most appealing for the ride.

Here's how she looks after being lowered down from the garage rafters for the first time in about ten years, cleaned up and lubed. Since then, I've replaced the old, dry knobbies with Michelin Protek tires, replaced the old brake pads and she flies. I don't think I'll change much, if anything. The old bar-ends give some different hand positions, and I don't plan to ride in bad weather, so no need for fenders.