Although I'd been thinking about it for some time, last night on a whim I decided that I would ride my Trek mtn bike (with slicks) in to work today. I recently traded a 45 mi commute to Dallas to a much shorter one in my hometown of Fort Worth. It's about a 10 mile commute from my house to office, and I would guess 3 miles are quiet neighborhood streets, 6 miles are MUT, and 1 mile downtown side streets. Not bad at all from a traffic standpoint. I hadn't commuted before b/c I often need my car to go out for meetings and the like, and my schedule varies from day to day depending on level of activity. However, the stars aligned, and I knew I was going to be downtown all day today, and I could be business casual.

2 nice surprises: (1) my biggest hesitancy in commuting was trying to figure out how to get my clothes to work without looking like I slept in them. I work in the finance industry, and although I don't wear suit/tie all the time, I generally have to be in at least nice business casual. My solution today was that I already had a jacket up at work, so I didn't need to worry about that. I also found that if you leave a laundered shirt in the plastic bag (sans hanger), and carefully fold it up with your slacks inside of it (almost like folding a letter) the plastic keeps the clothing from wrinkling. I folded it up small enough to fit into a good sized backpack, and along with shoes and other accessories, I had everything I needed. Upon getting to the club, I hung my clothes up to let the few creases fall out, and after showering, they were ready to go.

(2) surprise: I knew I could shower at my health club which is one block from my office. What I wasn't sure of was where I was going to put my bike. I knew I had a few choices...parking garage (secured), or my office if I had to. Fortunately, I figured out that my club offers bike storage. My bike found its way into a storage room with about six or seven others.

The commute was great...fantastic weather, most of the ride through tree-lined park along the Trinity River. Fort Worth is already a nice biking town along the Trinity Trails, but it will become a fantastic one with the planned expansion of MUT, and the Trinity River project which will add miles of recreational trails and other areas to the downtown river. I have my ride home tonight, which should be more relaxing since I know what to expect. I will definitely do this again, as getting my workout, being outdoors, and feeling I did something good my leaving the fossil fuel vehicle at home today made it a good start to the day.

I am in the military, so my work clothes are pretty much standard on a daily basis but I have learned a few tricks over the last several years. When I had to use a separate location to shower, I would keep a pair of baggy running shorts and a t shirt to wear over to my office after cleaning up. In my office, I keep a large locker that is almost armoire sized full of work clothes. I would make a weekend trip to restock my locker and would bring home the dirty clothes on a daily basis. Might be more difficult with suits, but if you can wear sportcoats and slacks, you can make it work. Is there a drycleaner within walking distance? The other suggestion is fenders for the bike. They keep you and your bike cleaner and you are less likely to get some mystery black stuff on your good clothes. I grew up in the DFW area and still have family in Lancaster and South Lake.

Although I'd been thinking about it for some time, last night on a whim I decided that I would ride my Trek mtn bike (with slicks) in to work today. I recently traded a 45 mi commute to Dallas to a much shorter one in my hometown of Fort Worth. It's about a 10 mile commute from my house to office, and I would guess 3 miles are quiet neighborhood streets, 6 miles are MUT, and 1 mile downtown side streets. Not bad at all from a traffic standpoint. I hadn't commuted before b/c I often need my car to go out for meetings and the like, and my schedule varies from day to day depending on level of activity. However, the stars aligned, and I knew I was going to be downtown all day today, and I could be business casual.

2 nice surprises: (1) my biggest hesitancy in commuting was trying to figure out how to get my clothes to work without looking like I slept in them. I work in the finance industry, and although I don't wear suit/tie all the time, I generally have to be in at least nice business casual. My solution today was that I already had a jacket up at work, so I didn't need to worry about that. I also found that if you leave a laundered shirt in the plastic bag (sans hanger), and carefully fold it up with your slacks inside of it (almost like folding a letter) the plastic keeps the clothing from wrinkling. I folded it up small enough to fit into a good sized backpack, and along with shoes and other accessories, I had everything I needed. Upon getting to the club, I hung my clothes up to let the few creases fall out, and after showering, they were ready to go.

(2) surprise: I knew I could shower at my health club which is one block from my office. What I wasn't sure of was where I was going to put my bike. I knew I had a few choices...parking garage (secured), or my office if I had to. Fortunately, I figured out that my club offers bike storage. My bike found its way into a storage room with about six or seven others.

The commute was great...fantastic weather, most of the ride through tree-lined park along the Trinity River. Fort Worth is already a nice biking town along the Trinity Trails, but it will become a fantastic one with the planned expansion of MUT, and the Trinity River project which will add miles of recreational trails and other areas to the downtown river. I have my ride home tonight, which should be more relaxing since I know what to expect. I will definitely do this again, as getting my workout, being outdoors, and feeling I did something good my leaving the fossil fuel vehicle at home today made it a good start to the day.

Good stuff. 12-14 years ago, I worked downtown at the Tandy Center, right after the Tandy Technology Center had opened. I commuted 3x/week from SW FW. There's still, I believe, a bike rack in the parking garage across the street from the Technology Center. I happened to know the guy who was creating plans for it, and simply asked him whether we could get a bike rack in there. He realized it was minimal cost, and said, "Sure." I used to ride the 12 miles in, shower at the Y, then ride ride the last half-mile or so in my work clothes, trying to keep chain grease off my khakis.

I'm in Bedford now, but still ride down in FW fairly often. There are several RBRers in the area: me in Bedford, Dave Hickey in NRH, JimP in Southlake (haven't seen him post much lately), rriddle is down in SouthWest FW. May be others as well.

Although I'd been thinking about it for some time, last night on a whim I decided that I would ride my Trek mtn bike (with slicks) in to work today. I recently traded a 45 mi commute to Dallas to a much shorter one in my hometown of Fort Worth. It's about a 10 mile commute from my house to office, and I would guess 3 miles are quiet neighborhood streets, 6 miles are MUT, and 1 mile downtown side streets. Not bad at all from a traffic standpoint. I hadn't commuted before b/c I often need my car to go out for meetings and the like, and my schedule varies from day to day depending on level of activity. However, the stars aligned, and I knew I was going to be downtown all day today, and I could be business casual.

2 nice surprises: (1) my biggest hesitancy in commuting was trying to figure out how to get my clothes to work without looking like I slept in them. I work in the finance industry, and although I don't wear suit/tie all the time, I generally have to be in at least nice business casual. My solution today was that I already had a jacket up at work, so I didn't need to worry about that. I also found that if you leave a laundered shirt in the plastic bag (sans hanger), and carefully fold it up with your slacks inside of it (almost like folding a letter) the plastic keeps the clothing from wrinkling. I folded it up small enough to fit into a good sized backpack, and along with shoes and other accessories, I had everything I needed. Upon getting to the club, I hung my clothes up to let the few creases fall out, and after showering, they were ready to go.

(2) surprise: I knew I could shower at my health club which is one block from my office. What I wasn't sure of was where I was going to put my bike. I knew I had a few choices...parking garage (secured), or my office if I had to. Fortunately, I figured out that my club offers bike storage. My bike found its way into a storage room with about six or seven others.

The commute was great...fantastic weather, most of the ride through tree-lined park along the Trinity River. Fort Worth is already a nice biking town along the Trinity Trails, but it will become a fantastic one with the planned expansion of MUT, and the Trinity River project which will add miles of recreational trails and other areas to the downtown river. I have my ride home tonight, which should be more relaxing since I know what to expect. I will definitely do this again, as getting my workout, being outdoors, and feeling I did something good my leaving the fossil fuel vehicle at home today made it a good start to the day.

Hey frogsuit. Just wanted to say good job from a former horned frog class of '96. If you get a chance stop by Kincaid's, Good Time Charley's, Jon's Grill, Uncle Julio's, and The Blue Oyster Bar (on University just north of the cultural district if I remember correctly) for me. Mmmmm...