Name: Nicolas Hognon
Location: Paris, France
Started bike commuting: Summer 2010
Commute distance (one way): 10.5 miles (17km)

Describe your commute: During my commute I cross Paris from east to west. My ride goes through some cool bicycle paths but sometimes I also have to share the road with the car (and bus) traffic of Paris (which can be really heavy somtimes, even for a bike). And the end of my ride (in the morning) I go through a park (Bois de Boulogne) and sometimes I even see a rabbit.

Describe your bike and accessories: I have a Specialized CrossTrail Sport. I changed the tires from 700x45c to 700x35c (Schwalbe Marathon Plus). I have :

• Topeak Super Tourist rear rack)
• Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Plus (Handlebar Bags)
• Ortlieb Bike-Packer Classic (Rear Panniers) (I did not use them often for commuting)
• Cateye Compact Opticube as front light
• Basta Zoom Auto as rear light
• and SDK fenders

What bit of advice would you like to share with new bike commuters?: Commuting with a bike is not really hard and almost everyone can do it. Since using my bike to go to work I think I am happier. Even if it is raining I am happy. You have to be careful when you share the road with cars and be careful with pedestrians (at least in Paris where there is not a lot of bikes yet). So I recommend everyone tries it… if your commute distance is not to long.

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