Sean and I have been riding our bikes to and from work which has been working out pretty well so far. The ride to work is about 3 1/2 miles and includes a steep 1/2 mile down the mountain, about 1/2 mile on the side of the road and finishes with a beautiful dirt trail around the lake and across a waterfall to the hotel.
Going to work, I can cycle the distance in about 20 minutes but it takes me more than double that coming home because of the crazy long and steep uphills. I am not a great cyclist; I'm scared to go fast, I'm not experienced riding on trails and I suck at shifting gears. It doesn't help that we have extremely cheap mountain bikes either (my chain falls off repeatedly which causes added terror).
Besides speed or the condition of the trail, the main hazard of the commute is other runners/walkers/cyclists. Sometimes they don't see me or hear me or get out of the way. Because of this, Sean and I now both have little bells on our handlebars - awesome, I know. Since it's dark in the early morning when we leave and often dark when we come home, we both also wear reflective vests, flashing lights and of course helmets, which are required by law in NZ. In short, we look very very cool.
My favorite thing about riding to and from work is the chance to be outside for a bit and enjoy the view. It's been a long time since I've been up daily to see the sunrises - they are beautiful!
Dang! I thought my bike commute was beautiful. You win!
Beautiful view!