Speaking of ninja commuters, I saw a guy at 6:45 a.m. this morning (nearly dark) riding a black mountain bike, with black shirt and pants, black backpack and no lights. He was riding on a very busy 4-lane road, the most dangerous part of my commute. Incredible. Are people really that stupid?
I ordered some new tires last week for my commuter -- Continental GP 4000s with reflective sidewalls. Hope they arrive before my current tires go kaput. Noticed over the weekend that some threads were starting to show on my rear tires. I've gotten a lot of use out of the tires (Michelin Axial Pros) but not really sure of the mileage -- probably at least 2,000 miles. I'm fortunate that the roads are pretty good on my route without a lot of debris, so I don't need bombproof tires like Gatorskins. My route is very hilly, so I would rather have tires that are light as well as durable.