CommuteSmart Birmingham is offering a small amount of money for people who choose alternative methods to get to work. So if I ride my bike to work, I'll effectively be making $4 per day by saving $2 in gas and receiving a $2 payment from the program. I'll try it until some homicidal maniac tries to run me off the road on my way to work, then I'll quit bike commuting and add one more car to the road. Thanks in advance to all the homicidal maniacs for making the world a better place.

I was hoping to start commuting next week as part of the national "Bike to Work" day, but I still can't put my foot in a cycling shoe because of my broken toe. Oh yes, I've tried. Just about every day I try on my cycling shoe. This week I tried to pedal on the trainer in my cycling shoes, lasted about 5 minutes, then went back to platform pedals and athletic sandals. I could commute on my bike with platform pedals. I keep thinking, well maybe tomorrow my foot won't hurt when I put in a shoe. And the next day, I think the same thing. Ad infinitum. Waiting is hard.