first commuting experiences and questions
Ive had my trek 4300 mountain bike for about a month now. Ive been using it to get to/from class and my job on campus, as well as getting around town. My daily commute is generally trouble-free. I was, however, getting pulled over by police twice in the first week of having my bike for headphones/no bike light. I asked my LBS what else I needed to do to stay out of trouble. I was told that riding on sidewalks is illegal, so I have been riding on the road as close to the sidewalk/parked cars as possible.
I recently went on a ride via a major street. The traffic was fairly heavy/fast and the road had a ton of potholes. The combination of the traffic and poor road conditions made the ride somewhat scary. Some potholes/large cracks seemed unavoidable. My friend was riding behind me so I was afraid to break hard. I didn't want to swerve to the left further into the lane because of cars and I didn't want to hit the hole/crack head on because it might damage the wheels of the bike.
As I typed this up I realized going slow would probably be the easiest solution, but I'm curious as to how more experienced riders deal with traffic/road conditions in more urban areas. Does anyone have pointers to riding in city conditions?
I had also considered putting thinner tires on my bike, but now that seems like such a bad idea with the road conditions in certain areas. Im curious, how do road bikes with skinny tires/no suspension deal with rougher conditions?