I've missed the last couple of Bike to Work Days and I really don't have a good excuse. So this year I decided that hell or high water I was going to ride to work.
One of the things I also decided was that I was not going to make any special preparations, other than determine my route. In other words, I was going to try to go to work without compromise. Carrying my normal gear (my laptop) and my clothes that I'd need for the day. I know a lot of people take clothes to work, or leave their laptop at their desk, etc etc. but I wanted to see what it would be like to really truly try to shoehorn a bicycle lifestyle into my car lifestyle.
Well, I did it, but I can't say it was easy. The Xtracycle got a lot of stares and "hey dude cool bike" from other BTWDers. But it's heavy and I was carrying a lot of stuff. I felt like the RV in the slow lane.
My work is about 15 miles from home and it took my about 2 hours to get to work, and about 1.5 hours to get home.
If I was in better shape I could probably shave some of this time. The thing that I really didn't expect was the amount of time spent at stoplights.
My conclusion is that the Xtracycle is great if you want to carry a lot of stuff for short distances, or if you aren't in a hurry. Once you get out on a bike you really start to appreciate the compromises of mobility. I can carry a lot, but its slow. I could probably get to work in under an hour if I took my roadbike. But, I'd have to make arrangements for my laptop and my clothes. 
Makes me wonder how the world will change when gas isn't $4 / gallon but rather $8. Will people gravitate to jobs that are closer to home? Will employers provide more showers and changing areas? Will people stop dressing as nicely at work? Will smaller computers be the norm, or will we go back to desktops? A thousand questions come to mind. The really great thing that you see when you bike to work is that a) we are needlessly reliant on our cars and bikes are a great alternative and b) biking is just plain fun. If everyone biked to work, I have a feeling that work-related stress would be a thing of the past.
One REALLY interesting thing I discovered is the new feature of Google Maps in "My Maps." You can draw a line on the map and it will automatically measure the distance of the line. Really handy for bike routes. View Larger Map