I start commuting Monday, barring any huge complication. My commute will be about 8.5 miles each way to campus. My campus has more than ample car parking, with a parking lot easily 8-10 football fields in size, but with a catch: the parking field is 2 miles from campus center. There's a dedicated shuttle bus that goes to campus from the parking lot, but it's always seemed silly to me. With solid bike racks in front of nearly every building, biking's got a huge advantage: I don't have to waste the 20 minutes of shuttle bus time, and I can probably beat a car home (especially at 5pm, given the traffic here.)

Over the last month I've been building up a commuting bike, a motobecane fantom CX. Yesterday my last part, the panniers came in, and I'm set to go. Very quickly with saddle, pedals, higher rise stem, dinotte light, rack, and panniers it's gone from a $550 bike to a $1000 bike, and I have a feeling even with Sora/Tiagra it's going to be the nicest bike on campus among the rusted old ten speeds and department store mountain bikes. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about theft, and I'm not exactly sure what will come of that.

I do have a small rented locker on campus, so I'm going to pull off my lights, any other accessories, and possibly my panniers too and lock the bike with both a U-lock and one of those heavy cables so I can get both wheels and the frame.. Definitely keeping spare skewers in the locker are in order, along with bolt-on skewers on the bike itself.

I am a clyde, and I do break a sweat doing even minor activity, so I'll be carrying a change of clothes every day. it'll be a hassle having to change back and forth, but I think the end result (being on my bike more during the week, and saving on car insurance) makes the means worthwhile.

Anyone have tips for stealthifying a brand new bike to make it less palatable to steal? I'm seriously considering the rust-colored paint that someone showed in the "fred" thread in foo, and am hoping that if I lock it with a proper lock and get the entire thing securely locked, it'll discourage most theft.