Name: Michael K.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Started bike commuting: June 2010
Commute distance (one way): 19.5 km (12.2 mi)

Describe your commute: My commute is along the shore of Lake Ontario. About 60% of it along separate bike paths (acutally MUPs), the rest along normal streets. Fortunately they are wide enough so the cars don’t come too close to me, except for a few places. I bike all year round.

Describe your bike and accessories:
Trek 7300 hybrid bike. (I also have a folder – Dahon Mu P24 that I use mainly in winter.)

What I changed:

• seat – Spongy Wonder bike seat
• handlebars – trekking (aka butterfly) – many different hand positions and two different postures: upright; bent forward (when going against the wind)
• pedals – Gusset platform pedals – very supportive, comfy, non-slip, different types of shoes and boots can be used (in winter I wear big Sorel winter boots). Also, because they are plastic, they are not as cold as metal pedals in winter.
• tires – Schwalbe Marathon Racer in summer, Marathon Plus in winter

What I added:

• - Zefal Spy mirror
• - Echowell bike computer
• - rear rack
• - waterproof Axiom panniers or Basil wire baskets
• - kickstand
• - simple plastic fenders with DIY mud flaps
• - Bush + Muller lights – Lumotec IQ Cyo Plus in the front and Seculite in the back, powered by DiNotte Li-Ion battery (the Nordlicht sidewall dynamo is hybernating in a box)
• - brass bell
• - Kryptonite New York lock

What bit of advice would you like to share with new bike commuters?:

1. If you are thinking about cycling, it may be helpful to start biking where you feel completely at ease and where you don’t need to worry about anything but your handling of the bike and how the bike feels; at the same time it really helps when that place looks beautiful, such as a countryside trailway or an empty side road or a nice park. (A parking lot or a driveway may be technically good for getting used to a bike, but those places are hardly inspiring and uplifting).
2. Listening to your body is vital. It may be frustrating to see most bike commuters zipping by you very fast, but trying to keep up/catch up would just result in a sore body, more frustration, and a possible discouragement. The fast commuters also went trhough adjustment periods, just like you. It’s better to do your thing and enjoy the smell and sight of the flowers.
3. How I wish now I would have spent more money and bought a better bike in the beginning. Buying a cheap bike and then later on buying a better bike costs more than buying a better bike in the first place.
4. Ringing your bike bell at geese is of no use; you need to honk.
5. Bike commuting is so much fun it can be frustrating not to be able to ride your bike one day. Don’t cry. Touching the thing called a “bus” or “streetcar” is safe.