Thru the River Bottoms, across Old Shakopee in West Bloomington, around Bush Lake Rd., across 494, thru Edina, across 62, and I work in Minnetonka, but it is right in the corner where Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Edina kind of meet.

Yep. Right in the middle of the island, next to the little two-block-long MUP.

Yep. Right down the middle of Hennepin, along what City Pages designated as one of the 10 worst bike intersections in the city. It's a trip getting from the right lane of Hennepin on the bridge, across two lanes of traffic, into the slot between the straight and left turn lanes so I can catch the bike lane that starts inexplicably in the middle of the street on the other side of the intersection. Yesterday I was passed by a ninja biker. Today I had to brake suddenly for a pack of jaywalking pedestrians. Last week, a bus honked his horn at me and cut me off (running a red light just to make sure - I actually reported him to Metro Transit), and the week before that, another bus pulled out of a bus stop on Washington and ran the red light at Hennepin almost taking me out as I was crossing.

More purple flowers for Ganesh!

My company installed lockers, showers, indoor bike rack, and a $50 gift certificate at then end of the month for alt transportation/car poolers. The first week, there were quite a few bikers. But only one of them finished out the month. He stopped at the end of August and it's just been me. Which is fine by me since it means I don't have to worry about people waiting for the shower. There are still a few car poolers though. No bus riders anymore after that first month even though there's a bus stop right at our front door.

I have a trail all the way to work. I have a locked bike cage in the ramp (covered) when I get to work. I have scrubs at work, so I don't have to carry a full set of cloths, just socks, undies, and a t-shirt. The hospital has multiple locker rooms with showers to use, and, since I bike, I have two decent-sized lockers in my department to keep my cloths, shoes, etc locked up in addition to my tiny break-room locker.

Man, I never realized just how big of a commuting wuss I was until I wrote it all down.

You goalies are a different breed for sure.

heh, the other guy in the office rolls up his pant leg once in a while (literally) and rides in with lophers on - guaranteed we've seen the last of his bike till late Spring - my boss is quite proud of our "green" office - guess she considers his once a week or two ride into work being a commuter .

There is another professor at college here who is a faithful commuter, although I have not run into him.

And as the weather gets nastier - as I walk thru the student area to get to my office - I do get a lot of looks with all my gear on -- hehe wait till when I roll by and let loose a plop of snow/slush/salt (even though I try and wipe it off when I enter the building/before taking the elevator up to my floor).

Wow!!!! That sucks!!! For a company to make that extra step and spend monies for these kind of things - and no one (well, other than you) to continue to use them is a tragedy! And an unfortunate illustration to other businesses to why they shouldn't do it. I'm in the process with a few others to get our college in order --- but unfortunately I'm battling with people who want the college to go like some BIG campus's and have near to free rental bikes for the students and incentives to not have cars on campus - however I can walk across our bigger campus in 35 minutes - and the student housing is basically about a 5-10 minute walk to the school so supporting the free bicycle bit doesn't inspire me at all - we're not big enough. However a better INDOOR bike rack does inspire me!!! Especially on the downtown campus where I work. More and more students are riding to school - and more students are getting their bikes ripped off. HORRIBLE!!

I'm very familiar with it. I've been nearly left hooked on that bike lane around a 1/2 dozen times. The only positive thing about its design is that I've never seen it repeated anywhere else.

It probably looks good to those who want to show off how progressive the city is, - combining a dedicated bus lane, bike lanes, and car traffic onto one street. It just doesn't work very well.

Ugh - I hate playing tag with the city busses! (no bike lanes in my inner city travels)

Wuss? You're like commuting royalty ;-)

I don't have a lot to complain about either. My bike hangs from a huge wooden beam running through my office. We have showers but no locker room. I have to bring clothes.

My commute is about 1/3 quiet residential streets, 1/3 fast trail, and 1/3 slow trail or relatively calm city streets that skirt the river (depending on my mood).

I'm not seeing any other bike commuters here either, but it's the same in the spring and summer. We've been having beautiful weather until this week, probably the nicest of the year, yet there are very few bike commuters. I go on group rides on the weekends with recreational riders, and most of them have quit riding for the year except on weekends and spin classes.

The biggest problems now are 1) acquiring a decent lighting system; and 2) having to dress for widely different temperatures in the morning and afternoon. The temperature here often swings 30 degrees F between 6 am and 4 pm. That's one reason why you need a large seat bag or panniers -- to carry home all your warm clothes in the afternoon. Dressing in the dead of winter is actually easier because you can usually wear the same gear coming a going.

I am the last of three bike commuters still riding. The others have 10 mile commutes, and stopped a week or two ago. The dark and cold got to them. I only have 5 miles, so I can be a lot braver. After all, if I get miserable, I am only miserable for another 10 minutes.

I had an idea how to dress based upon experience with cross country skiing, but I find that the added twist of a self generated wind chill with cycling makes it a bit tricky.

I have gotten the upper twenties figured out, I hope the roads, paths, and sidewalks stay ice free for another 6 weeks. I am debating using an old beater hybrid, and putting on some tires for when the frozen stuff becomes permanent. Not sure what tires will be best at keeping me upright on ice, which is most likely what I will have to deal with. What snow we get will usually be cleared in a day or so, but the ice from snowmelt and uncleared sidewalks will complicate the last mile or two of the commute. I won't be riding on the road where traffic travels at 50 mph when there is snow and ice around, the morons won't slow down, more likely they will hit the brakes when they get upon me and slide right over me. Five miles on studded tires won't be that bad, will it?