Hi everybody.  I posted the following on a bicycling community on LJ last night, and it just occurred to me that some of you might be into biking, or interested in it and so might have something to comment about.  So!  Copy pasting it here. 

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I’ve been thinking about getting a bike to get me around town a little more independently.  I was assuming I’d be doing this on my budget, which is practically nonexistent.  (Not exaggeration.) So, while I’ve been poking around the net a bit, mostly I’ve been thinking this would be something a ways off, until I could learn enough to hopefully be able to scout something servicable at a garage sale or something like that.

Well, while I was dutifully making my requisite father’s day call today, I mentioned in passing that I was thinking about maybe trying bicycling.  He completely threw me by offering to buy me one, a nice one.  “Just go to the bike shop, and when you find one call me and I’ll give them my credit card.” Holy crap, Dad! 

Now, I’m still not 100% sure that he’ll follow through on this - aren’t complex family relationships fun? - and I’m not sure that he knows what the price range on bikes really is (although his sister did a Seattle to Portland ride a year or two ago, and I’m sure she mentioned the price around him.  And he did tell me to get the best one they had.  So I don’t know?) but going with the “let’s pretend this is all going to work out beautifully” theme, I’ve been spending the last several hours looking around the net a bit more seriously. 

The vast, vast, vast majority of what I’ve come across in regards to commuter bikes has been sales sites.  I’ve found lots of pretty things, but because they’re all sales sites, I’m a little skeptical and a little confused as to what is really best, and what’s really needed. 

SO.  I come to you knowledgable folks in hopes that you will have some input.  I really hope you aren’t all incredibly sick of newbie “help me pick the right bike” posts.  I don’t know anyone who knows anything about bikes other than “they have them at WalMart,” and my brain tends to get really scattered and I get really overwhelmed if I don’t have something particular in mind to ask about as a starting point when I walk into someplace new, i.e. my local bike shop. 

Some things I need to take into consideration:
- I’m a girl, age 26 come Friday, 5’2”, and a good bit overweight. 
- I want something to get around town, to run errands and get myself places.  Mostly pavement, but sometimes dirt paths which are frequently kind of hilly, and gravel, all of that.
- I live in Alaska, and I’m hoping to have something that I can use safely in at least mild winter weather.  The weather runs the gamut up here.
- I would very much prefer something with a low-ish step-in, as I do wear just-past-my-knees length and ankle-length skirts sometimes, and riding around with my long skirt hiked up to my thighs doesn’t seem terribly ladylike, which is probably something I’m going for if I’m wearing a skirt. 
- In a similar vein, I’d like something that I’m not going to get my clothes all muddy or dusty or whatever in.  Fenders?  Yes?  Am I thinking in the right direction?
- I’m going to be using my bike for transportation and for getting stuff done, like going to get groceries and things like that.  I stumbled onto the xtracycle last night, and that looks pretty awesome, particularly since it can carry a passenger, which would be handy.  I’m going to keep that in mind for a little way down the road when I figure out whether this is something I’ll stick to and that will work for me.  Until then, I will still need a way to deal with at least the smallish grocery runs.  I’m thinking baskets or something?  I’m kind of lost here, this is really something where I feel like I need input from people who actually use their bikes for this stuff and can tell me what works for them. 

Any help, advice, links, recommendations, comments, whatever you can give me would be very much appreciated.  This seems like a really cool community.  Thanks for reading this.

Edited to add: I’ve kind of been looking at Breezer bikes; any comments on those?