I’m not sure which parts of your commute are most dangerous. Could you take the 8th Avenue bus as far south as it goes and then bike the rest?

I could do that, but that doesn’t even go as far as I-440 on Franklin Road, and the real trouble starts after that. There are significant sections of Franklin Road with little to no shoulder and 55 mph speed limits. I wasn’t uncomfortable when I did my test ride, but that was on a weekend morning — I still haven’t tried it during a workday commute. Several people have made the rather convincing argument that weekday morning commuters are bound to be more aggressive, more distracted, and less willing to share the road than weekend drivers.

Thanks for trying to think of a way I could do it, though. I really wanted — and still do want — to, but I’m slowly coming around to thinking it’s just too big of a risk.