8 miles isn't too far to bike! I used to ride about that to commute. When I started, it took me around 40 minutes to get there, and an hour and a half back. Slight incline one direction.
About six months in, I was down to 20ish there, and less than 40 back.
Winter sucked pretty bad, someone got me gore-tex mittens though. Still had my eyelashes freeze
The American mind cannot comprehend this (i.imgur.com)