As above,
Full mudguards
Rack & panniers
Lots of lights – remember to change the batteries often

plus buy an outdoor thermometer so that you can check the temp each morning and dress appropriately. I can now tune my riding kit according to temp and avoid excessive sweating from too many layers (and wind chill on a shaved head)

Getting a Spec Allez Sport which has Specialized Mondo Sport w/ Flak Jacket protection, not sure about mounts for mudguards and stuff. Can leave kit in work so will not need to carry very much.

The route is quite hilly up and down over two valleys so not sure how long it will take first time out? Good advice about taking it slow in the way in though

One other bit of advice – enjoy it!

You will end up getting riled at the stupidity of a minority of drivers but – as i've slowly learnt – it's much better to arrive in a calm frame of mind than seething with repressed anger.

Your fitness will improve radically so your weekend jaunts on the mtb will be so much nicer as well.

One thing to take into account is not to run all your rear lights flashing – always have one on steady as it is virtually impossible to judge distance to a flashing light.
Also make sure that wherever you put your lights they are visible to a card driver – it sounds obvious but a guy at work was taken out recently going past a junction because his lights were invisible to the car driver (all mounted low down on the seat stays – four of them as well)

What's wrong with "darkside" as a term? It's harmless fun. I've got a road bike, I love it and yet I still talk about the "darkside".

Because it makes you sound like a t i t.

Because it makes you sound like a t i t.

Oh dear. Yet again I find myself unable to counter the rapier like wit and overpowering intelligence of another STW poster. If only I had his brains and way with words!

Ed2001 was probably a bit over-the-top, but it does sound like the sort of thing a teenager would come out with, thinking that it was cool and "rebellious". To me, it's on a par with "Rad Dude".

As I said TiT.

I agree in some ways. It is probably quite childish and silly, but sometimes that's not a bad thing. I'm certainly not trying to be "rebellious" and I'll happily admit to being hopelessly uncool.

As I said, I love riding road bikes, but also love poking fun at "proper" roadies. "Darkside" is nothing more than a bit of harmless fun.

As for "rad dude", I use that too, though normally refering to mountain bikers much younger, much more skilled, and much more brave, than me. I'm basically being jealous!

also love poking fun at "proper" roadies

You're going to have to explain to me what's so amusing about that, and exactly what you think there is to poke fun about.

ok second week and going well so far, however I'm getting pain in the front of my hips, any ideas what might be causing this. I had no probs on the mtb at the weekend but this morning on the road bike it was quite painful. Is it something to do with the set up or riding position?

As I said, I love riding road bikes, but also love poking fun at "proper" roadies. "Darkside" is nothing more than a bit of harmless fun.

Harmless, yes, but painfully trite. Was probably mildly entertaining about four years ago.

also love poking fun at "proper" roadies

You're going to have to explain to me what's so amusing about that, and exactly what you think there is to poke fun about.

There's plenty to poke fun about when it comes to roadies, just as there's plenty to poke fun about when it comes to mountain bikers. Just comes down to whether or not you have a sense of humour.

8 miles there and maybe 28 miles on the way back.
It could be just the ticket to a fitter life-style.
Summer's coming and that's going to mean big detours back home!
There's no one stopping you riding the mtn bike to work you know!
Then you can have some XC fun on the ride home perhaps?

Lights front & rear. Eyes in the back of your head perhaps?

PS -pain in the front of your hips mean that the saddle is too low.

Do those who do call it the darkside because it's 'the other side' of mountain biking or for another reason?

What do the Roadies refer to Mtn bikers as?

It is quite comical to see folk wound up by the use of the term "darkside".

Keep using it I say, watching idiots foam at the mouth is why I'm here.

@awhiles – that's probably because they've stopped off at Peaslake for a cuppa and been wlecomed by the massed mtb-ers with the pleasant phrase "Look here come the **** roadies".

not much different from the "what's that smell? bullshite? no it must be the mountainbikers"
which was said very loudly by a london dynamo rider at peaselake bus shelter.

you can be a nob on any kind of bike.

As a MTBer all year round I tend to dabble with the Darkside Roadie, when the weather starts getting warmer/drier by summer I am then a Roadie, when the clocks change and the days are shorter I leave the roadie alone, now thinking of returning to the Darkside Roadie again.

Whats so upsetting about the DARKSIDE anyway!Harmless fun innit!

note down your time for commute on day 1.

beat it on day 2

and repeat.

then ride offroad with your usual mates after a few weeks and notice how much you dominate them by.

nothing like road bikes for making you fitter, faster and stronger.

What do the Roadies refer to Mtn bikers as?

Hairyleggers, I believe.

i just call them cyclists.
seeing as most people i know ride a mixture of cross/bmx/tri/road/track/mtb.
it's only the fat ones who exclusively ride uplift days or DH bikes on xc trails or full-on roadies that seem to have 'issues' with other cyclists, and seem more worried about what others are or are not riding and how they themselves are perceived than the enjoyment of their own riding.