Do you wear work clothes or shower/change at work?
Definitely interested in this topic as I’m about to start doing it myself. At the moment this is my plan. I live about 10 miles from the office.
Sunday afternoon drive car to office loaded with clothes for the week. Then ride home.
Each morning I’ll ride into the office, throw my bike in the car, grab a fresh pair of clothes, then shower.
At end of day I’ll change to bike gear and ride home. Repeat throughout the week and then drive my car home at the end of the week.
I’ll use a small backpack to bring my lunch to work each day. I don’t regularily bring home my laptop but if I need to I’ll just drive that day.
I’ve got a 13-mile commute each way. I wear cycling gear and ride my Caad 10. I have an Osprey Radial backpack to carry clothes, wallet, laptop when necessary, etc. On Monday, I bring in clothes for 3 days and bring them home on Wednesday. Thursday, I bring in clothes for the other 2 days. Best case scenario is that I don’t have the backpack for 6 out of 10 trips. Worst, case I’m bringing home a mostly empty backpack because I’m carrying the jacket and gloves I wore in the morning. Shoes, deodorant, etc, I leave at work in a locker that I’m fortunate enough to have. If I didn’t, I’d probably still do the same except leave that stuff in my desk.
I shower at the office. If we didn’t have showers, commuting that far in Austin summer, even in the morning, would be a no-go.
Plenty of people with shorter commutes (5 miles or so) wear their work clothes.
I ride to work 1-2 times a week in the summer to get in a few extra miles and take advantage of the longer days. I ride my fat bike occasionally in the winter too. I have a 13 mile each way trip…usually extend in the summer to get in 25-30 each way.
It depends on your office setup. I have an office that i can lock so I wear bike gear, shower at the office, and keep my bike in my office during the day. I leave my laptop and files in the office and just leave my work iPad at home those days so I can check email, etc from home that night.
I love it…great way to start and end the workday!
18.2 miles each way. I use a REI backpack to carry a shirt and underwear. I keep pants and shoes at work. Shower before I leave for work and call it good. I live in the desert so I don’t get soaked with sweat. Last, I drive in on Monday and take a huge bag of groceries so I have food at work all week.
I commute13km from suburbia to CBD, with a short ferry ride across the harbour, in Auckland New Zealand. It’s mildly hilly and generally breezy. I ride virtually every day for almost 14 years now. I’m 55 years old.
Summer is warm and humid so I sweat quite a lot. I take my office clothes with me every day. I use a 30 litre backpack that carries clothes, lunchtime workout gear, lunch and ancillaries (wallet, keys, sunnies, phone etc). I shower at the office after my ride.
Winter is colder but rarely below zero. It rains a LOT in winter so I rug up well. and have a rain cover for my pack.
I ride a KHS Flite 900 carbon road bike (at the moment) with 25mm Schwalbe Durano tires for puncture resistance. I have lights on my bike and my helmet, for year round use. (I’m sick of getting hit or nearly hit by cars) and I have an old GoPro that I video every ride. I charge lights and GoPro at my desk each day. I wipe the SD card about once a week if no incidents to report to the cops. I used to think that I’d ride a shitter for commuting, but then I figured I ride my commuter every day, so why not ride a decent bike with good groupset (Ultegra) and enjoy my riding rather than being stuck on a crappy bike. Plus I used to train a couple of days a week before work so a real bike made sense. I would like to get a new bike but am holding out till a decent road bike with hydraulic discs becomes available in my salary range. Besides, first wife says the bike shed can’t accommodate any more bikes)
I’d say 95% of the time I LOVE my daily commute. 3% it’s OK and 2% SUCKS. (headwind, uphill into rain, on a Friday night after a stressful week sucks big time). There is a fantastic community of cycle commuters on the ferry so that adds a great social aspect to things as well.
I’d say give the cycle commuting a go. It won’t be very good training, but it is a great lifestyle choice if you have the right bike, right gear and right attitude. If it turns out to not be for you, get back in your car. Life’s too short to spend time doing stuff you don’t like.
Do you wear work clothes or shower/change at work?Depnds on the weather and distance and your interests.
I had a one-mile commute I’d do in work clothes slow, only when no precip and not too hot. And an 11-mile commute I’d do in riding clothes and change at work. These were white collar jobs.
When I was younger I had some sweaty blue collar jobs. In one I’d ride in work clothes. Another was quite far, so I’d riding in riding clothes and change, but not shower (there was no shower).
I am so lucky.
I keep a couple of suits at work, commute in my shirt, light jacket and MTB shorts, then get changed at work. But then again, my commute’s only a few miles so no sweatiness to deal with.
If I go with a longer route home - say an hour or two’s riding - I’ll get the bib shorts and jersey on and dump my clothes at work. I’ll take them home a couple of times a week.
Originally other office staff used to take the piss of my mamil clothing, but since I DGAF its no sport for them anymore.
I used to bike to work when I lived in Europe (about 4 mi each way) on a folding bike that I could keep in my office so it wouldn’t get stolen. I would wear work clothes and didn’t have shower facilities, but get some baby wipes (the Costco brand is the best I’ve found) and you can “freshen up” at work with a wipe or two and a fresh coat of deodorant. I’d also recommend getting some of the reflective velcro bands to tie around your pant cuffs (if you’re wearing work clothes) so your pants don’t get caught in the chain.
There’s also all manner of bike commuting-specific gear.
I have a 10 mile commute and ride my new Specialized Diverge gravel bike. Was on my Specialized Ruby for several months after my previous cyclocross bike was stolen. I drive the bike in on Monday and take my clothes and socks, underwear for the week, as well as three days of lunches and breakfasts. I have my own office and small fridge. I ride back and forth tues-Thursday and drive my bike back home on Friday. That way I have the car at work during the week if needed. I shower and put my makeup on in the morning before the ride- in the summer I need a quick baby wipe clean up and I’m good to go. Make up is water proof and I have specifically asked people if I look and smell ok on this routine and got the go ahead. May not work for guys. Especially the make up part… I have a medium sized back pack to haul stuff in, to include my food for the other days.
Do you wear work clothes or shower/change at work?
100% bike clothes. Even if you have no access to a shower. Biking in work pants is a great way to end up with crotchless work pants. I only have to commute 2 miles, but putting holes in the saddle of one pair of pants was enough to get me to always wear bike shorts and just change in the bathroom when I get to the office.
I nearly Always go to work on my bike. In the wet, cold wintermonths on the MTB, in the summer on the racer. I wear bikeclothing and leave workclothes at work. It’s a 12,5km oneway trip. I have acces to plenty of showers at work, so that’s not a problem.
Once a week, mostly on mondays, I take the bus to work with some fresh clothes and run back home (with some detours through forested areas, great way to get a long run in). On fridays I stuff my bag with the used clothing and take them home.
It’s an easy way to get in a lot of trainingmiles, with little extra time-investment.
I bike in 4 days a week on average - 7 miles each way.
I’m lucky in that I can leave a couple of suits and shoes in the office - I’ve got mud guards and panniers on my commuter bike - makes life so much easier. I either have a shower or a quick wash in the office and bring in a new shirt, boxers and socks every day.
Always love the ride in the morning - it’s not always so great going home.
I’m obviously in a minority here: shower at home, ride in cycle clothing (8m e/way), change into work clothes at work.
And no, I don’t stink the office out.
The tricks are: (a) get yourself clean before the ride; (b) wear clean cycling kit every day (this means having a lot of kit - I tried to tot up the number of bibs I have at lost count around 25); (c) get out of your cycling kit as soon as you arrive.
The stink is the waste product of bacteria breaking down stuff in your sweat. So either don’t get, or don’t stay sweaty. In summer I will get in, get out of my bike stuff immediately, slip a shirt and trousers on and sit in front of a fan for 10 mins with the AC on full blast. I find with riding the airflow keeps you pretty dry, and it is only when you stop moving and stand in still air (eg indoors) when you’re hot that the sweat will start to flow - so that’s fan and AC time. I will sometimes hit the shower when I get home, almost inevitably in summer.
In winter it is very rare to work up a sweat.
If I run in, I will shower. My running speed is not good enough to provide the necessary airflow to keep me dry.
I have a 12 mile trip and change at work. No showers. I just kind of air out for a bit and then change.
10mi each way for me. I stockpile clothes in the office (leave shoes there, few shirts/pants/etc), ride in kit or street clothes and then grab a quick shower and change into work clothes. Swap back out in the afternoon for the ride home. If I didn’t have a shower I’d do what others said and shower before and then wet-wipe upon arrival. I always leave my car at home though, mostly in case its a crap day out or something so I like having it there vs left at work for the week. Can’t imagine riding in work clothes unless it was casual attire. Once you find the logistics that work for you it is simply awesome riding to work.
45 miler one way for me, so I pack a change of clothes for next day in car with bike/gear and drive to work. Bike home and then back in the morning; get to work, pack bike and drive to gym (5 minutes) to shower and get ready for work. I generally ride home at moderate pace on TT bike and hammer the ride the following morning on road bike (uphill). If training for event I will do this twice a week for 8 weeks during peak volume; otherwise I could never get the mileage in during the week.
I’m definitely one of the lucky ones. I have a place to keep my bike indoors with a security camera in that area, a locker to keep toiletries, suits, shirts, etc, a shower, and just recently we installed a washer/dryer.
I appreciate the feedback. I’m probably going to shower at work and bring clothes to/from in a backpack while riding. I’m surprised at the effort many of you put into this…separate trips to/from work to stock up clothes, etc.
I used to run to work (combined running with a short train ride in the middle). I used a daypack with a belly strap (that is essential) to carry what I needed clothing wise. But I would leave a few larger clothing items (dress shoes, coat, sometimes pants) at work for longer stretches of time. I had a shower available at work, but I could easily do it without a shower if I took a shower at home in the am (before starting off on the run commute) plus a baby wipe job in the work restroom. Give it a try, it is not that hard.