Advice on biking to work?

[steuard]

Now that I'm recovered enough from my knee-related fun over the summer, I'm planning to start bicycling to work at least some of the time. One flaw in that plan is that I do not, at this time, own a bicycle. In fact, I know next to nothing about what to look for in a bicycle: the last time I was shopping for one, I had very different needs and expectations (and hey, maybe bicycle technology has changed in the past fifteen years). So I put it to you, blogosphere: what kind of bicycle should I buy (and does it matter where I buy it)?

A bit more information: I live about 2.5 miles from work. I have my choice of riding to campus on a moderately busy street (Arrow Highway) or on a convenient bike path that runs right behind my apartment complex (most of the way, anyway). The route seems basically flat, though that perception could change once I'm riding rather than driving. I'm in decent shape apart from the knee thing (and my physical therapist tells me that bike riding would be good for me). I expect that most of my riding will be done during the day or early evening (but during the winter, the sun might certainly have set before I head home). I don't foresee any major off-road biking in my future. If there are other significant details that I haven't thought of, let me know!

Once I've picked a bike, what else should I make a point of doing or having done or buying to be set to go? (I don't know what happened to my old helmet, so I know that I'll need to get a new one.) Any advice from others who have tried this sort of thing?

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

[cont.]
One thing about traffic: many people feel that, the higher-traffic a road is, the more intimidating or unsafe it is. This isn't actually true. The difficulty level of the road is based on
(a) the road surface (in good repair? potholey? lots of broken glass? weather? etc.)
(b) how many interactions with car traffic you are likely to have. (Note that I say "with car traffic" because bikes are traffic too! That's the point of vehicular cycling, and that's how the law is likely to treat you, even if it isn't enforced.) If a road has a lot of traffic but is very wide (lots of room to share) and doesn't have a lot of right-turning cars (and you don't need to make a lot of left turns), this is a nigh-ideal road. If it's lower-traffic but quite narrow, it'll be a lot more nerve-wracking. If it's a road where cars frequently make right turns, ditto.

You should, overall, do what you feel most comfortable with. But you should become aware of the theory and practice of good road cycling, because (evangelical bias here!) it's just better. Safer, funner, freer. And, if you spend a lot of time on your bike, even if it's almost always on the path, you will occasionally find yourself on the road, in which case you owe it to yourself to have decent road skills.

Oh, oh, and the most important thing! Bike commuting rocks. It is fun! You get to be outside, feeling and seeing and hearing your world 360 degrees, instead of in a car. You get to interact with the world. You get exercise. You get to be alert and focused. You get to not pollute the environment. And I mentioned the fun! I am so jealous whenever I see bikers these days, because they are out there and I am not. Yay for bikes!