I have a simple 5.25 mile commute from the NW side of Chicago to Chicago's Loop. In previous years I did an arduous commute to the NW 'burbs. With such a short commute of course I'm concerned that the weight is going to creep on. I like to challenge bike messengers on their way to work down Milwaukee Av.
Our family is a one car family. I've been icebiking since the 97-98 winter. I enjoy warm weather commuting/utility cycling and also love biking in the coldest weather and donning my studded tires. My coldest ride -13 F after the Blizzard of '99. The highest winds I've ridden in were about 50+ mph crosswinds. I periodically fantasize about icebiking in Alaska. In 2000 I had my most annual mileage with about 9800 miles. With the cakewalk commute downtown, 2001's total will be closer to 4000-5000. I've crushed or made obsolete just about bike part. 2000 was a challenging year with 4 bike/vehicle collisions and no injuries except my cracked aluminum Nashbar touring frame. I even walked away from a head-on collision with a huge SUV pickup turning left illegally in front of me, and the 48 spoke wheels didn't even go out of true. I also hang out on the Bike-Chicago email list http://bike.to/bikechicago
In 2000 I had 4 collisions. At Talcott & Harlem Av. in Chicago near Park Ridge a groggy driver was turning left facing sunrise and clipped my rear fender. In Park Ridge I was cut off by a turning mini-van into a strip mall when traffic was backed up due to a huge fire in town. This bent the derailleur hangar on my new Gunnar. I fell and got some bumps, but was otherwise OK. In Algonquin, IL I was riding through a construction zone with traffic. A huge SUV pickup was making an illegal left turn to a grocery store and I ran into the bumper and we both were coming to a stop and I fell on the ground and had no scratch. At a later date I was in Schaumburg at Golf Rd. and Plum Rose. The bike path crosses to the other side of the street. I was in the left turn lane with fluourescent vest, NiteRider Digital Extreme 12e rear light on, and was rear ended at a red light. No damage. Even though I usually ride in the city, all of these occurred in a suburban environment. I find that city drivers are more careful, despite the congestion. I enjoyed chasing the guy on the Litespeed on the way home the other day.
I raced BMX bikes from 1979-1982 and was really into BMX cruiser racing on the national level and was a huge fan of the Honey's Pizza BMX team, and raced on the DeLux BMX team out of Lebanon, PA. My bicycling web page is at http://www.mindspring.com/~bvonmoss/bicycles.html At the moment I prefer the Gunnar Crosshairs for commuting.