I used to regularly commute from about 2008 to 2016, but in the last 9 years I've only taken my bike for sporadic leisure rides. Back then, I was in my 40's to early 50's and my trip each way was 8-9 miles which I did 3-4 times a week. I took an early retirement from my long-time career employer and found a job with an employer clear on the other side of town, so I figured bike commuting was a thing of the past for this old guy.

Fast forward to my early 60's, about 50 lbs. heavier, and I got this dumb idea in my head to try and bike commute again. I knew that there were a couple of rail trails that linked up and went more or less near both my house and my office, which is about a 26 mile drive in the iron cage. But when I studied the map in detail, I realized that i could ride about 21 miles of suburban rail trail out of a total 25.4 mile bike trip. Just to add a little sugar on top, the trail can be accessed on either end of my commute by some pretty nice local bike paths. So, I threw my bike rack on my wife's car and loaded my old trusty commuter bike onto it and had my wife drive me to work this morning so I could try out the ride home.

Let's just saying I'm feeling it, and not in a good way!