Greetings all
Haven't read through all 14 pages yet
so pardon if any of this is redundant.

I am no athelete or sports/bike enthusiast
just a 42 y.o. male with a sedentary job.
Although I am not overweight, I am
switching to cycle commuting for
economy, health and environment.
I have enjoyed my commuting experiences
thus far. Just started in June and am curious to see
how far into the Midwestern winter I can go.

Like JDCII above
my commute is mostly rural
14 miles one way over flat indifferently paved roads.
The last 3 miles is a small college town
with fairly intense traffic during the usual commute hours.
Otherwise it's cattle, corn and soy beans with the occassional dog.
No hills really on the way in
but on the way home
the first 3 miles take 20 minutes
with my Trek 820 with road tires.
Fighting the wind occurs more than I expected.

Got a freecycled japanese road bike of
unknown vintage and when I get new tires
on it, will begin to practice with it to see
which I prefer.
That said, those Dutch utility bikes
in Saint Augustine are calling me...

Soon my 7:30 a.m. commute will
switch to an 11:00 p.m. commute.
Have a light for the helmet
battery powered headlight on the bars
LED tail light
LED arm band with reflector
International Orange mesh vest with
green reflective tape front and rear
and going to put conspicuity tape on the frame
and swap out the tires for reflective ones
like what's on the Breezer bikes

So, point is
I'll soon find out which I prefer
road bike vs. mountain
but would like to hear folks thoughts
on the suitability of the European style
utility bikes for a commute of this nature
(mostly rural at night) Kogswell,
altered Eastman http://www.yellowjersey.org/east03.html
Dutchbike or something like these,
an English style Roadster, a French Porteur
etc.

Thanks in advance.