Urbana-Champaign Bicycle Commute

Got my Trek email blurb... with a completely cheesy "ten reasons to ride instead of driving" that ended with saying they wanted to hear why *we* liked riding instead of driving. Of course, I still had to hunt around to find a way to contact them, and then it was a "question" form that will probably land on a sales desk and somebody who has nothing to do with that blurb... but hey, this is Trek (where, by the way, there are no signs that the touted "women who ride" project ever got its wheels rolling).
I sent 'em a few comments about just how deeply you have to dig on their site to *find* the word "commute." Here's one reason for them: "If you ride in a city and bike during commuting hours you'll love being able to cruise past long lines of vehicles held up at red lights (be sure to watch carefully for right-turning traffic who might not see you)." Yea, city commuting is as simple as that... nOT.
Hmmm.... reckon I'll make my own top ten.
Contenders: "Urban moments" (or "Urbana moments ;)) like the time I made the move to take that big trash can out of the middle of the road on a windy day, and the school bus stopped traffic for me.
Arriving at work feeling awake and feeling GOOD.
The applause when you're a rolling light-fest...
Yes, riding past the gas stations, watching the prices go up and down ... and up.
(Interesting that Trek completely avoided any vocabulary that might be anything remotely related to politics or environmentalism. *Their* top ten reasons were *all* selfish.)
Yes, finding interesting things along the side of the road.
Tallying those miles at www.bikejournal.com :)
People look at you and smile. Some smiles are better than others, perhaps, but the world really does need more smiles. More people smile than give you the finger, if you remember to look.
Oh, yea, then there's definitely the reason in my top ten that's about the reason people like to go hiking and camping... the "here's the weather, be in it!" adventure where you are challenged to be prepared and be comfortable and happy ... genuinely, if you really were prepared and yes, the hand-me-down GoreTex helps with that!