Hi Velogirl. Regarding the road conditions of my commute: During the late-Spring, Summer and Fall I use our bike path (see my previous message to Stubacca) In the winter I use Route 9, which is a fairly well maintained state road (it's plowed during winters, but at some point there is build-up of snow along the sides, which puts me in the line of fire from autos.) After winter, there are some potholes; usually they are filled sometime during the summer months. So not too bad really. Occasionally, some idiot will break a bottle and there will be glass debris. I have to be careful not to over-react by swinging out into traffic to avoid it. Luckily, there's not a lot of that either. You say your commute is 12 miles? ugh.. I don't think I'd like that on a daily basis. Seven miles is about right for me. Lastly, I certainly will try to get bike shop to throw in a rack and maybe swap out the tires for something that is puncture proof. I take it that your original tires are serving you well?