This morning was gorgeous: a silvery early dawn fog, and then the canteloupe-colored sunrise over the river.

I've been riding to the office 2-3 times a week for about a month, and realized as I was coasting into the lot this morning why the workday day feels so different when I ride as opposed to when I drive. In the car, my commute takes about 8 minutes; on the bike, closer to 40. When I drive to work, I feel like I just rolled out of bed right into the office. I've got to skip over a lot of gears to get from dreamland to screaming sales manager land.

But when I ride, there's this lovely forty-minute cushion between the house and the office. I get to see early risers playing with their dogs in the park, chat with other commuters at stop lights, even smell what people are cooking for breakfast as I roll past their houses (bacon! at 7:30! I didn't know people had time for that!). By the time I get to work, I'm not just awake, I'm almost human.

I hope I keep my nerve up for the morning and evening commute in winter darkness. My husband (an ex-daredevil motorcycle racer, worrying about ME) wants me to promise not to ride after the time change. I need to convince myself, before I can convince him, that I can do it safely.