There was a tremendous response to my bike commuting post last month, but there was a whole bunch of stuff I missed, so consider this Part Two.
1) Even if you can't commute with it, the bike still can be handy. Need to run down to the grocery store or convenience store, but it's a bit too far to walk there and back in a timely fashion? Use your bike. It's not as fast as your car, but it's still faster than walking, even when you're going uphill; if your destination is within five miles of your home, even the slowest cyclist can make the round trip in an hour or less. And before you say "but there are no stores within five miles of where I live", plug your home address into http://www.walkscore.com/ and check to see just what's near you; you may be pleasantly surprised. You don't have to spend a ton of money for panniers, either: The Banjo Brothers Grocery Pannier is $35 and it will easily handle dinner for two, among other things.
