Thanks all, I feel a bit better there is a bike shop that just opened around me so I may pop in and look for a good mirror, a second head and tail light and vest. and price out slicks... anyone have a rough amount i will be spending on slicks? I work from 9:30 to 8pm so coming home won't be to bad, going to work will be interesting but which i will have to do some test runs to see how much time it take me to get there. I have a little extra weight to push around and haven't been riding much either which could be whats making em nervous as well... I do appreciate all the advise though.

someone asked for me to post my way to work http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united...dley/432403542 so here is the best way w/o highways.

If i can get though 120 pgs of reading a test and paper by tomorrow afternoon I will head out to the bike shop and maybe/hopefully get the gear i need and then head out to work..... lol may have to convince someone to pick me up when i get up there :p

cheers all

Well... sorry to admit it but some of cycling does entail this.

However if you aren't scared about people showing up at your door, you can give us a google maps route from your house or starting point to your workplace and I'll try and work with it to get you a ride that utilizes side streets and residential areas as much as possible. Then you can go out and drive the new route on a weekend to see what it'd be like on a bike

lol yeah i know I need to suck it up and just do it which is most of my delima. This is y I figured I would post here I'm pretty thick skinned and a kick in the a** to get me going is never a bad thing lol

heres a point A to point B Google Map. I did create a route using mapmyride that i think may be the way I am going to try. Cheers

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=e...77841&t=h&z=13

try that, I got it so that you're on mostly smaller streets and tried to look around for ones with a shoulder

drive it first - it may seem a lot longer by car but remember that it is exactly the same distance only by means of streets that have lower speed limits which should allow you to actually go faster on a bike (since you generally have less traffic volume and you're a little more free to do as you wish)

lol that just about the same route that i was looking at earlier cheers KC

really? using quarry road?

I couldn't access your mapmyride page, so I guess I couldn't see that we selected similar streets

hmm not sure here it is again Mapmyride

When it's all said and done, you have to use your own judgment. If you decide wrong, it'll be you that gets run over, not anyone else.

Just doing it until you get used to it may "work". But the problem is that getting used to danger doesn't make the danger go away. Steelworkers and mountain climbers get used to heights so it doesn't bother 'em at all, but they still get killed or busted up on occasion, too.

lol true true, I am a rock climber as well. so i know the risk. when I originally posted i wasn't thinking of alt routes more so the highway. I know i can do it and will be fine once i get going as well as in better shape its those little things that occasionally slow me down dam over thinking lol

yeah try to stay off major roads if possible. Luckly here in vegas there are plenty of less traveled side roads that go parallel with main roads..they barely ever have many cars and go through neighborhoods..so i take them to work, and only get on main roads to cut across to my job.

I just worked out about 3/4 of my future commuting route, and it is an awesome ride. I get to to ride by canals and through a park. The rest is side streets with maximum speed limit of 25 mph. Some have speed limits less than that. Most of it is also a designated "bicyle route," so cars are used to bike traffic already.

I've spent several days working on this, both using the maps and riding the terrain. It's been worth the work. My ride tonight was incredibly pleasant.

...Next step is trying it during rush hour.