Commuting - Men, what do you do to prepare and ride to work?

I ride to college 4 days a week. I am pretty minimalist and luckily no one gives a hoot what I look like or if I smell like roses or not. To get to school I generally ride with a jersey stuffed with a bag containing phone, wallet, keys, pens, a few tools, tube, and pump. A t-shirt goes in another pocket I prefer not having a saddle bag because it is likely to get mucked with during the day even if I only leave non-personal items in it. I leave about two hours before my first class.

At school I will just throw my jersey into a locker and pull out the books I need for the day. Switch the shirt, apply some deodorant, dry off with a towel if I need to, and I'm good to go for the day. My lower body doesn't really sweat at all in the early-morning rides.

You???

I change. I put my backpack in the milk crate and head into school. The end?

I only live about 4 miles out from school, so not a big deal.

Pants. The one time I forgot them was pretty embarrassing.

change of shirt. comb stashed in my messenger bag. change shirt, comb hair, deodorant, that's it.

we are so simple folk. :D

Living in 95-100 degree temps combined with humidity you can cut with a knife isn't conducive to the deodorant/cologne shower. (Although tomorrow is forecast at 87 degrees, but that is only because we will be inundated by a tropical storm...)

I ride ten miles to work, and despite leaving at a quarter to six I arrive plenty sweaty. Of course, I do try my best to get a solid workout in while traveling to and from work. I wear cycling shorts and a wicking jersey, and use pannier bags to carry my stuff.

Once I get to work, I cool off outside for a few minutes, then move into the A/C and cool off for another ten while stretching. Then I head to the restroom, where I get a quick sponge bath followed by Chlorox antibacterial wipes. Air dry, deodorant goes on and then all I need are clothes (which I have yet to forget, luckily).

My commute is about about 15 miles, so I need more than a change of shirt. I usuallly shower before hand and then do the bird bath thing to take care of accumulated sweat. Sometimes I just leave the hair if it looks cool and rockstar. If it looks helmet, I dowse it and start fresh.

the company just built a shower into one of the bathrooms so I'll probably start taking advantage of that.

Ive got a 9 mile commute but i work 2nd shift so i'm riding in the heat of the day so i've got my backpack with the work laptop and then trunk bag with built in panniers for my lunch / snacks / work clothes / and other bike basics. I wear some Zoik mtb shorts and a tech. workout shirt for my ride in/out. Luckly for me work has a locker room with a shower, cant say enough about how nice it is to jump into it after my ride.

Once a week I will drive and bring a weeks worth of clothes to work.

I ride 8 miles each way. When I get to work, I go up to my cube and get all of my shower gear and clothes. Then I go down to the gym (there are 2 gyms in our building) to stretch and shower. I leave my stuff in my locker all day to dry.

After work I change back into my riding gear (mesh shorts and a dry-fit type shirt). Then I bring all of my shower gear back up to my cube. Finally I ride home and shower again.

Once a week I will drive and bring a weeks worth of clothes to work.


I am thinking of putting a weeks worth of shirts in my locker at school this year. It's going to be a nice balancing act.

Get dressed shave with the electric wrap a bandanna aound my head of a Underarmor gangster beanie to keep the sweat off my glasses and out of my eyes and go.

I take a shower before I go to bed. Work in a 20k warehouse so even if I didn't ride my bike I am sweat covered by 9am anyway so not much of a point to shower for that in the summer. Fall and winter will be a little different.

I get up, eat, bike to work, lock up my bike in the bike cage in the parking ramp. I then take my trunk-rack off my bike, go inside, get clean scrubs and a towel, hit the showers, throw my riding cloths in my locker, change into my work shoes, and get to work.

Shower. Eat. Ride

don't really sweat much during the winter (winter in Australia atm), so i just ride in what i'm going to wear. I always bring a spare tube + pump + tire levers, not only for myself but also for fellow commuters. I now also bring a spare 700cc as well as my 26" tube to help out those poor roadies who bring nothing with them but a water bottle and bike.

Hate the sight of being helpless when someone is walking their bike with a flat.

pack the night before, eat, ride, hit the showers, get to work...lay out my stink, nasty clothes to dry before the afternoon ride. I leave my shoes at work so I dont have to carry them - yes, I only ever wear one pair (minus my Keens)

I take three showers a day. It's kind of ridiculous actually. I take a shower when I get up in the morning, a shower when I get to work, and a shower when I get home. The obvious solution would be to skip the shower when I first get up, but I just can't help but feel gross if I don't take a shower first thing in the morning.

I know it doesn't make sense.

get to work, wipe off sweat, deodorant, change, no need to comb(dreads)

I ride to college 4 days a week. I am pretty minimalist and luckily no one gives a hoot what I look like or if I smell like roses or not. To get to school I generally ride with a jersey stuffed with a bag containing phone, wallet, keys, pens, a few tools, tube, and pump. A t-shirt goes in another pocket I prefer not having a saddle bag because it is likely to get mucked with during the day even if I only leave non-personal items in it. I leave about two hours before my first class.

At school I will just throw my jersey into a locker and pull out the books I need for the day. Switch the shirt, apply some deodorant, dry off with a towel if I need to, and I'm good to go for the day. My lower body doesn't really sweat at all in the early-morning rides.

You???


If you are at college then you should be out impressing the womenfolk, (or menfolk), girlies don't like smelly men. :50:

I take all clean clothes and then I have shower facilities at work which is cool. Would hate the idea of being smelly around colleagues.

I also stash my locker with spare, underpants, socks, t-shirt and a pair of jeans. In case I forget something one day. I mostly lend my t-shirt out to colleagues who have spilled coffee or water down themselves. Its weird though seeing someone come along in a Yehuda Moon t-shirt then I go "oh yeah its mine!"

If you are at college then you should be out impressing the womenfolk, (or menfolk), girlies don't like smelly men. :50:


No interest, I lived at college last year and had my fair share of the dating/messing around game at my school. Would rather focus on both mental and physical work this year and wait for the girls in my class to mature a bit more. :D

I have a 15 miles commute 5 days a week. I leave about an hour before I need to be there. I have a single pannier that usually contains a bike lock, deodorant, and a good book (my job is easy!). I arrive at work with about 10 mins to spare and change into my uniform that I leave at work, including shoes. Once a week, usually at the end of the week, I bring the uniform home to clean. I have purchased a second uniform so that I now only have to carry them home one every two weeks :) im lazy. If you wipe yourself down and change into clothes that you just keep at work/school then it makes life easier and you can re-ware them several time because its only for 6-8 hours at a time rather than all day long.

- take a shower
- dress in cycling shorts, wool socks, wool shirt
- ride to work
- stand in front of fan in my "changing room" until I cool off
- change into dress clothes stored at work

Phone, sunglasses, thumb drive and camera live in the bag. I get up, use the bathroom, make a PB&J (sugar, carbs, and protein recovery snack and breakfast), pack up some leftovers for lunch, toss them in the bag with some kind of drink, put on whatever clothes are appropriate for the temp, and go.

Shower and eat breakfast 12 miles later at work. If it's over 80*F or so I put water in the bottle.

I shower again when I get home, unless I'm going to TKD that day, in which case I put down some snack like a yogurt and just change into last night's clothes (they're dirty anyway) and shower when I get back from that.

My job requires me to look at least a little professional, so I don't ride in work clothes. Once a week, I take my work clothes with me, and store them in a closet. I use panniers every day, so it's not a problem. I ride to work, arrive a few minutes early (that's the ideal, anyway), go to the faculty bathroom, towel off, change clothes, and go to work. After work, back to the riding clothes, and off I go. It's easy. (Sometimes, I arrive too late to change, and have to teach my first class in my riding clothes. That's a bit embarrassing, but so far no one's complained.)

It doesn't get stupid hot/humid here.

Summer time-shower, eat, ride, 6-miles, sorta flat, no change of clothes.
Winter time-same except I usually have a change of clothes because of warmth issues (legs) and my winter gear does not 'breathe' so I actually sweat in the winter.

I'm in an office, so I have to be presentable. Along with clothes, I bring a wash cloth and a small towel, along with deodorant, small container of witch hazel and a small container of talcum powder. When I get to work, I pull a bum shower in the men'sroom -- towel off with a wet wash cloth with a few cap fulls of witch hazel (fresh sweat doesn't yet stink and witch hazel obliterates the sweat), dry off, talc and deodorant up and dress. Ready for a stench-free day of avoiding work.

I have a job in which looking gritty adds to street cred

...Ready for a stench-free day of avoiding work.

LOL! Love it. Unfortunately, work is unavoidable for me these days.

I have it pretty damned easy compared to some here. The office is about 5 miles away and has full exercise/locker room facilities. Bike commuters--both of us regulars--get to keep a locker overnight, so on Saturday mornings I load up the rucksack with clean jeans, underwear, socks, and towels for the week and start my Sat errands by criusing to the office and stocking up the locker.

M-F I just throw a clean shirt and a bit of food into my smallish Camelbak and jet on in. Showered up and refreshed, I'm ready to dodge the day's bullets...

I bring the dirty clothes home daily, and by Friday I have enough to run a load of work/riding clothes and am ready to start again.

I do remind myself fairly often how easy I have it compared to many. This thread is yet another reminder of it.

Pack my work clothes in my panniers the night before. Day of ride: eat breakfast; shower; put on cycling clothes (yes, I wear spandex shorts and look damn good in them :lol:); ride to work. At work: grab my clothes pannier and my "toiletries" bag (unscented baby wipes, towel, comb, body powder) I keep at work and head to the men's room (I'm there well before anyone else, except the housekeeping worker); cool off, freshen up, comb hair, and change clothes.

I have a 15 mile commute - I floss, brush teeth and shave at home, pack clothes and lunch in a pannier, and ride in. At work I spend 15-20 mins cooling off, checking messages and emails etc. before I shower, dress, have breakfast and then start my day. At the end of the day, change again, ride home, shower and dress again.