Congratulations on deciding to commute in Manhattan! Soon, us cyclists will be in charge of the streets. Why can't Bloomberg ban personal vehicles from driving into the city during rush hour? People should take mass transit, or bike, or walk. Period. Only cabs and delivery trucks allowed.

4)
I was pretty slow on the City streets when I started riding my bike. Bike messengers were flying by me really fast, and I thought "they must be CRAZY riding like that!!" but it was all just getting used to how the traffic works.

Now, a year after I started my commute from Queens to Midtown, I fly past about half the bikes on the road, while still feeling like I'm riding safely and in control. I won't go into my highest gears, simply because, if anything or anyone comes out in front of me, I want to be able to stop. If I'm going as fast as I do on the Central Park Loop, no way could I stop if an idiot on his/her cell phone walks in front of me cause they're not paying attention.