All,

Just moved closer to work (~15 miles away) and am interested in commuting by bike. I think I've got everything figured out except the dress code at work (business suit, tie and all). I've got showers at work, but no locker. Would be interested in hearing from those of you that bike to work and then "suit up" upon arrival. Please share any experiences, tips, tricks, etc on how you make it happen.

Thanks in advance.

DP

First and foremost, if you think that people don't see you when you are on your regular rides, wait until you start commuting. It is like people are blind to cyclists. I read about it over and over again, but never believed it until I started commuting. Almost every day I need to swerve around some idiot on a cell phone or pulling way out into the shoulder to turn out of a parking lot, or cutting me off pulling into a gas station. And I have shinny, bright, flashy blinky lights.

now, onto your actual question:D

I don't wear a suit, but I do wear dress pants, shirt and tie every day (work at a bank) and all I do is put my clothes in a backpack before I leave in the morning and ride in, then change in the bathroom. I keep my shoes and belts there (and a spare tie or two just in case I forgt) As long as they were pressed before I put them in the pack, they are fine when I pull them out. I also have some deodorant, a razor, gel, a towel and baby wipes here at the office and those get me clean and nice smelling for the rest of the day.

The other thing I noticed is that after a few days, people stopped making fun of me in my spandex clad glory and started telling me how much that they respected me for commuting in on the bike. It was a neet feeling.

Good luck with it, you'll be glad once you get into the routine of it.

that boil down to creatively storing clothing at work to avoid carrying it by bike. My office environment allows me to get by with a tie and slacks / sport coat most of the time. When I need a suit, I either drive or bring in the suit coat ahead of time (I have an acceptable place to hang it.) In a pinch I could bring a suit the day I need it, but probably with a bit more wrinkle factor. I also leave shoes, toiletries and towel at work (creatively stored in my desk, etc.)

Otherwise, I bring folded clothes in one of two pannier bags hung from my rack. They fare no worse than in a suitcase. I use the other pannier bags for other things that need to go to work, like clean towels, lunch, etc. Usually, that space is used to bring home dirty towels and a jacket or long sleeve jersey at night as the pm commute temperatures are usually warmer than the am temps.

I'm not a fan of back packs, but you will see them in use by RBR members.

IMHO, get a bike with eyelets for a rack. If you plan to commute in wet weather, get a bike with eylets for fenders too.

Keep us posted.

I just bought one of these huge waterproof Ortlieb messenger bags. They are comfy and you can fit all the clothes you want in there, including extra shorts/tights for the ride home (it's no fun putting on wet clothes at the end of the day for the ride home).

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/images/large/MessengerBag.jpg

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/prod-53.htm

I would keep your nice suits and pressed shirts at work. Take your socks and undies with you but always have an extra pair at work to. Nothing is worse than getting to work and realizing you forgot a pair of socks or underware. This would certainly lighten the load you are carrying in every day, plus it will keep your stuff neat and pressed. Also keep a toiletry bag with all they supplies you need stocked.

I keep about half my suit, shoes, shirts, ties, etc., wardrobe at work. I'm lucky to have a small armoire in my office to keep things in, but I'd imagine you could find something, even some hooks on the back of a door, if you look.

Then, I have a dry cleaning service pick up and deliver at the office, so I never have to cart anything back and forth from home except underwear and socks. Those easily fit in the rear trunk bag I use.

I shower at home in the morning, then I use a spray bottle of water to spritz off and towel down when I get to work. No problem at all.


All,

Just moved closer to work (~15 miles away) and am interested in commuting by bike. I think I've got everything figured out except the dress code at work (business suit, tie and all). I've got showers at work, but no locker. Would be interested in hearing from those of you that bike to work and then "suit up" upon arrival. Please share any experiences, tips, tricks, etc on how you make it happen.

Thanks in advance.

DP

Five day per week commuting and wearing a suit would be hard unless you can find a way to have your suits dry cleaned and shirts laundered near your office. I commute 2-4 days per week. On my non-riding days, I bring in clean clothes and take the dirty ones home. Right now I have clothes stashed in a number of places around the office -- my suits and dress pants are on hangers in the coat closet near the receptionist; my clean underwear, shirts (I get them folded from the shirt laundry) and socks are in drawers in my desk; my shoes, belts and used clothing are in a file cabinet in the file room across from my office. I have been thinking about investing in an armoire or chest of drawers for my office so that I can consolidate all of the things I have at the office.

Thanks for the tips everyone. More than likely I'll start out commuting by bike 2-3/week and shuttling my clothes the other 2-3 days by car. See how it works, then hopefully be a full-time bike commuter (I know, I'm such a wannabe). Anyhoo, I appreciate all your advice.

Thanks for the tips everyone. More than likely I'll start out commuting by bike 2-3/week and shuttling my clothes the other 2-3 days by car. See how it works, then hopefully be a full-time bike commuter (I know, I'm such a wannabe). Anyhoo, I appreciate all your advice.


2-3 days a week is a great start. See how things go and I am sure that you will figure out ways to make it five days a week in no time at all. I have been commuting everyday for more than two years, and the process is constantly evolving. You quickly figure out what works and what doesn't. I don't know what your whole work situation is like so I can't help you there, but for your bike I can offer some advice. Get a decent steel or aluminum frame with single eyelets on the fork and double on the rear dropouts. I started using a cyclocross frame about three months ago and really like it. I can use a larger tire and still have fenders. Don't try to save money on lights. Get something obnoxiously bright and at least one tail light. Put hiviz yellow or orange reflective tape on your fenders or seat stays and helmet. Be seen. Better Fred than Dead.

5 days a week I'm a besuited monkey at work - we have showers and (now) a locker/changing area - all of my suits / shoes stay at work - I shuttle in my dress shirts in a Carradice Longflap Camper Bag

when I did not have a locker I would arrive, grab my work clothes and head to the shower - I was able to leave 3 suits (coat and pants) hanging on a coat rack / closet - these were rotated as necessary

it's not difficult to do just takes organisation

my top tip - always leave a spare set of underwear / socks and one pressed shirt at work for when you forget...

starting with 2-3 days per week is a great way to start - starting in the winter may be tougher than the summer

I guess I might have the best of both worlds. In my office the "dress code" is very relaxed and casual, jeans are acceptable. My commute is a 25 mile roundtrip and I don't use any kind of backpack or panniers. What I do is usually over the weekend I'll drop off enough clothes in a large gym bag for the upcoming week. My employer offers membership in the health club in our office complex as an employee benefit. I ride to work, stow the bike inside and get my clothes and toiletries and put them in a backpack I leave in my cubicle, then walk the few hundred yards to the gym, have a short workout, shave and shower and walk back to the office. I usually try and ride Mon. through Thurs. and drive Fri. to bring home the clothes I've worn during the week. I leave a laundry bag there so the dirty stuff is kept seperate from the unworn clen clothes. Most of my co-workers have nice things to say about my effort to help the enviornment, of course I always get the "Hey Lance have a nice ride" comment when they see me leave at the end of the day in my kit. The most important thing to have as a commuter is a good lighting system. Very few of us don't ride into or home from work in the dark.

I work out of a cubicle. While I have space in it to stash foldables such as towels, underwear, socks, etc, I can't really hang up suits or pressed shirts.

Instead I brought in my trusty old American Tourister suit bag, which I keep permanently hung up in a nearby coat closet. The suit bag allows me to keep my pressed clothes clean and neat, without parading my laundry in plain sight.

Hope this helps.

Not sure what others do with shoes, but I leave a pair of dress shoes under my desk so I don't have to lug those back and forth.

Leaving spare clean underwear and socks at the office is essential as others have said........unfortunately some of us had to learn that the hard way...LOL.

The other thing I would add, is it's important to get stripped out of your bike clothes ASAP when you get to work. While you're on the bike you have a cooling breeze on your skin. When you get off you really start to sweat. I get in my office, lock the door and strip down post haste when I get to work.

Godd luck and enjoy.

Before I began to work from my home, I commuted to work, 30 miles round trip for over 5 years, and wore a suit every day. I carried everything, suit, shirt, tie, shoes, socks, towell, etc. in a back pack. It's possible. I had no showers, no locker, and changed in an unheated utility closet. Not fun, but possible.

Now the hints:

If you can't shower, a good, clean towel will do the trick. Stale sweat stinks. Don't let your clothing or towel get stale, and you won't stink.

Store your cycling clothing someplace where it will dry quickly. Nothing worse than putting on wet, cold, stinky cycling gear at the end of the day.

I commuted on my race bike. It was the only bike I had at the time. It worked, but a good commuter specific setup would be better. Fenders and lights are sometimes necessary, and durable tires are a must. Get reflective everything. In addition to lights fixed to the bike, you might want to consider a headlamp. The advantage is that the beam goes right where you're looking, and you can easily get the attention of drivers by looking directly at them. A bell and/or horn are pretty much useless. Yelling is much better.

Ride like you drive your automobile, especially in heavy traffic. Drivers are blind to bikes, mainly because bikes don't behave like cars. Don't run lights or stop signs, don't ride on the sidewalk, and don't be affraid to take the center of a lane when necessary. Behave like you belong on the road, obey traffic laws, and you'll get lots more respect. (a snot rocket over your shoulder will definitely keep cars from following too closely)

Bring your bike inside and keep it in a secure location. Locks are worthless against a determined thief who has all day, and locks are heavy and cumbersome. Inside will also keep your bike dry and cleaner.

You can ride when it's freezing, but watch out for ice patches. Freezing rain or lots of clear ice at night is very dangerous. Get a ride on those days.

Plan on needing a nap in mid afternoon. Coffee might be a cure, but snoozing at your desk is a hazard of bike commuting.

I have been commuting for about two months now and I am learning the hard way what works and doesn't. The one thing that I can add here is that I do leave my Kyrptonite Lock and cable at work so I don't have to carry it back and forth. It is just too much weight in my courier bag. I also leave a set of keys for this lock at work in case I accidently leave home without my lock keys. I don't have the luxury of bring my bike in to work so outside it stays.

First and foremost, if you think that people don't see you when you are on your regular rides, wait until you start commuting. It is like people are blind to cyclists. I read about it over and over again, but never believed it until I started commuting. Almost every day I need to swerve around some idiot on a cell phone or pulling way out into the shoulder to turn out of a parking lot, or cutting me off pulling into a gas station. And I have shinny, bright, flashy blinky lights.


Do you live in Texas? :)

It is very rare I have any problems with motorists here in Northern Cal.

The best idea is Fixed's - Dry Cleaner who delivers to your office.

- Leave a lock at work. No use carrying it back and forth.
- If you can, take in a weeks worth of clothes at a time. Then you can ride without carrying anything. Take the dirty ones home on the day you bring in new ones.
- Keep a full set of toiletries at work. Razor, Toothbrush.....everything you normally use at home.
- Get a pair or two of work shoes and leave them at work. No need to haul them back and forth either.
- To avoid the smelly towel (and body) get 5 or 6 smaller handtowels (not washclothes). Use one each day. Rotate them with your clothes and underwear. They are big enought to get you dry, but small enough to have several at work.
- Keep a small stock of energy bars or your drink of choice at work. Also an extra waterbottle in the desk doesn't hurt. One 100 degree day when you leave the house asleep and forget and you will think this is a good idea.
- At my office there is a place inside for all bicycles. We bought a community pump and locked it to the bike rack. It's pretty nice to have available.

Have fun and stick with it. It's a great way to start and end the day rather than stuck in traffic.

I have just started the daily commute in and out from Cambridge, MA. and am really enjoying it. Its about 13 miles each way. The trick I haven't figured out is staying warm the whole ride. My problem is I sweat and at a certain point, the sweaty gear gets cold from the wind chill. I have invested in some Under Armour base layer gear as well as some high tech material jerseys and a shell. These seem to breath better than the poly-pro, fleece, running jacket gear I was using, but I still hit that moment when everything has gotten damp and its just a matter of time before I'm cold.

Has anyone tried a fleece windstopper jacket as a regular outer layer when riding? Does this fabric breath well in active excersize? Intuitively I would think it would, but I've never tried it.

Thanks for any insights or experiences here.

If there's not a normal place to keep clothes, toiletries, etc at work... talk to your boss. You'll be surprised how often a boss will be willing to work with you about this kind of thing. Be polite, straight-forward about your request, and mindful of the fact that they can (and might) say no. Also be mindful of the fact that after you start this, people will see you in your "goofy biking clothes." Someone might be uncomfortable seeing you in spandex. At one job, I kept a pair of cotton shorts to cover myself with. My current job, those are unnecessary.

If you have to wear a suit at work, you can often get away with wearing the same pants/coat more than once without getting it cleaned. Shirt, undies, socks. That's what you need on a daily basis. If you've multiple shirts and your suit(s), you can shuttle those back and forth as needed. Keep as much of your stuff at work as you can. Shoes can stay at work. I wear flip-flops from the showers to my desk, where I put my socks/shoes on.

As for sweaty clothes... I have a cubicle at work. Underneath, there's a computer power cord stretched across the corner. I hang all of my clothes up on that. They're clean, so they don't stink. They just need to dry out a little before the ride home.

I keep my toiletries in my panniers and just haul those off to the shower every day. I've never haad a problem with someone stealing my clothes. I keep an extra pair of socks and underwear in my desk(ever since I forgot undies). :blush2: I keep baby wipes in my desk for those days I get to work after the showers are closed for the morning. I keep my lock locked to the bikerack every evening.

No locker? If there is a corner in the basement or wherever, you can bring your own locker in-- or convince building mgt. to do the same. Where I work, the shower room is too small for lockers, so they are located in a few locations scattered throughout the basement.

Boy, you guys are really dedicated! I am impressed. I have a job where I don't have to wear no friggin' suit (I doubt I even own a tie), and that makes it way easier.

i dont have a car, borrow my parents car every sunday and take in my pressed shirts for the week

everything else stays in my office

and building capabilities but...depending on your particular office, parking, etc i've commuted for 7 years in several settings:
showers:
in the bldg I'm in--easy
shower in a gym down the street--a pain
no shower--also in a way easy. for this i layer/dress to not sweat if possible (Easy in winter--although i was sometimes cold) and then use rubbing alcohol at work to wipe down

same for office space--my own with locking door vs a cubicle

so:
1) store clothes at work
2) drive in monday morning, drive home friday afternoon--keep clothes in the car
3) use back pack with wrinkle free stuff--likely that won't work for a true suit/tie setting but for a few months i was assigned to osha and wore the same 7 shirts with 3 different pants--all wrinkle free stuff--people knew i rode to work so no one cared i seemed to wear the same stuff each week

as others have said--get a really good bright light so you will be noticed--i use a HID light i got on ebay--rarely need to to see where i am going, but it lets cars know i am there.

my winter jacket is a neon green windtex shell--easy to spot me a mile away.

good luck
jim