The photo below is from the top of the Santa Cruz Bike to Work page. Now, for those of you still with me (JNC has stopped reading after she saw the phrase "bike to work") I just have to say that if you are going to advertise cycling as a means of transportation, this is probably not an effective way of doing it:

(Photo credit: Shane Porter)
This does not look like fun. This photo makes me want to crawl in my warm, dry car and drive, not only to work, but drive to anywhere I need to go, even the grocery store that is 3 blocks away. Just looking at this photo makes me want to go pump my car full of gas just in case I get stuck in a rainstorm. Plenty of other useful information on that site, though.

Now that I can ride a bike without feeling like someone just took off the training wheels, I'm going to ride to work a couple times a week. I need the miles, I need the exercise and I sure as hell need Al Gore off my back. I'm sure this will result in all kinds of hilarity involving key pieces of clothing left behind and near misses with SUVs. Wish me luck.