Commuting - Where to Begin

This spring I bought a Trek 3700 MB. I rode that to work once. I have recently purchased a Trek 7100 hybrid bike since most of my riding is done on roads or bike paths. I want to start to really start biking to work alot more. One problem is that right now it is starting to be dark in the morning when I would be heading in. The other issue I have is that I have to wear business casual clothing while at work. Dockers and polo shirts are not my idea of biking clothes. Also is there a good way to wear a bike helmet without messing up your hair. Just looking to see what people do to bypass the negatives of commuting.

buy a headlight.
buy a tail light.
buy a back pack, put your work clothes in it.
Get a short hair cut.

It's a start.

CSCman, how long is your commute? Mine's only 4 miles by direct route so on casual Fridays I'm usually in docker/polo garb. Other days when I have to wear a tie or if I'm combining my commute with a training ride, I'll dress when I get to the office.

Do a search in the commuting section. This has been covered many times before.

And welcome!

The headlight and the tail light are musts. When I ride in the winter it's dark when I go to work and dark when I leave. You get used to it. I keep my clothes in a pannier, used to keep them in a backpack.

As for the hair, well, I shave all mine off. But that's not gonna help you. I suppose it depends on what your hair preperation regimen includes. If you can, just shift your hair prep time to the workplace rather than at home. That way you're not taking extra time, you're just doing it at a different place. If you require a lot of hardware to do your hair, this might not be very easy.

I just pull my hair back into a ponytail - I don't have the "helmet hair" problem.

As for the hair, well, I shave all mine off. But that's not gonna help you. I suppose it depends on what your hair preperation regimen includes. If you can, just shift your hair prep time to the workplace rather than at home. That way you're not taking extra time, you're just doing it at a different place. If you require a lot of hardware to do your hair, this might not be very easy.

If I may step in with a little advice for the preservation of hair... I currently have somewhat long hair which I sometimes spike up with gel. My commute is anywhere from 4 to 25 km's, depending on where I'm going (school/work/friends), and I always wear a helmet. I find that my hair is not really all that messed up by the helmet. In fact, a helmet actually prevents the "aerodynamic" backwards folding of the hair caused by riding helmetless into the wind. ;) Sure, I spend an extra 15 seconds putting the finishing touches on my 'fro once I arrive, but it's worth it! If your hair is more complicated than this, then thechrisproject's suggestion of leaving your hair fixing stuff at work is a great idea.

I ride 6-7 miles in the sweltering FL humidity. When I get to work I dry off, change, and fix the helmet hair with a bit of water and my fingers. Works for me, but then I'm not into too much styling. . . And short hair probably helps.

My commute is anywhere from 6 to 8 miles depends on which way I chose to come to work. My hair is short most of the time but right before time for a haircut I do seem to get helmet hair. Guess I could always just save the time and fix it once here.

Keep work shoes, belt, trousers at work. Only bring in a clean shirt, undies, and socks every day to work. Or, for an even lighter trip, get shirts laundered near your office (if you're lucky enough to have a laundry within walking/biking distance), and only bring undies and socks.

Don't lug a laptop, keep work to do at home on a USB drive. Carry a PDA instead of a laptop or bulky paper planner.

Keep a comb and brush at work. Use styling mousse.

Don't carry lunch to work, buy it at a nearby grocery store during lunch hour once a week and keep it at the office. I keep frozen entrees in the freezer. Or, use an Internet grocery delivery service to deliver it to the office.





buy a headlight.
buy a tail light.
buy a back pack, put your work clothes in it.
Get a short hair cut.

It's a start.

Don't lug a laptop, keep work to do at home on a USB drive. Carry a PDA instead of a laptop or bulky paper planner.

But I need my laptop's processing power more than I need what's on the hard drive. I gotta lug it!

But I need my laptop's processing power more than I need what's on the hard drive. I gotta lug it!

Can you e-mail the files you need from the office to your home? That way you could leave the laptop where you don't have a decent computer (home or office). If the laptop is your only computer, think about buying a PC for your home, then leave the laptop at work. A fantastic PC costs as much as a mid-level bike.

I agree with those who say buy head and taillights. Like a helmet, these are MUST-HAVES for winter commuting. Your life is at stake here.

Can you e-mail the files you need from the office to your home? That way you could leave the laptop where you don't have a decent computer (home or office). If the laptop is your only computer, think about buying a PC for your home, then leave the laptop at work. A fantastic PC costs as much as a mid-level bike.
I can email 'em, but 'em on a server somewhere... I'm pretty computer adept (I'm a programmer). I was just kinda screwin' around. I have a good, fast computer at home, but I only use it for audio work and wouldn't use it for programming, so I bring my laptop home when I have to work on some code. Eventually I'd like to have a fast computer at work and a fast laptop at home. But I need a new bike first!

I can email 'em, but 'em on a server somewhere... I'm pretty computer adept (I'm a programmer). I was just kinda screwin' around. I have a good, fast computer at home, but I only use it for audio work and wouldn't use it for programming, so I bring my laptop home when I have to work on some code. Eventually I'd like to have a fast computer at work and a fast laptop at home. But I need a new bike first!

Get a Mac! With a Windows Emulator! Ahahahah!

I think it's pretty amazing how commuting to work by bike involves so much more than just riding the bike.

(Just a thought.)

I think it's pretty obvious that commuting to work by bike would involve more than just riding the bike.

I can email 'em, but 'em on a server somewhere... I'm pretty computer adept (I'm a programmer). I was just kinda screwin' around. I have a good, fast computer at home, but I only use it for audio work and wouldn't use it for programming, so I bring my laptop home when I have to work on some code. Eventually I'd like to have a fast computer at work and a fast laptop at home. But I need a new bike first!

I'd say you have a couple of options:

1. VPN in to the office from your home PC and use Windows Terminal Services to access your laptop. This assumes that you need to use Windows for your programming, and can't just ssh straight to a development server somewhere on the network.

2. If you have to lug the laptop, put a rack on your bike and buy the Briefcase from Arkel (http://www.panniers.com/index.asp). I'm saving up my bike budget to acquire one of these myself.

I lug the laptop every day so I can get some work done on the train (I do the bike-train-bike thing). This means less time at work, more time at home (or riding :D ).

My hair is fairly short, and a helmet liner or do-rag seems to help keep things in place if it's in need of a cut.

I leave shoes at work and bring the rest of my business casual with me. There's even a shower near the bike shed here which I use if I've been caught in the rain (a ratty towel doesn't take much room in your pack).

I picked-up a pretty nice Samsonite laptop backpack at Best Buy for ~$30-$40 which is the perfect size for my stuff, and it's decently cut for riding.

I also transport docs on a USB drive, but if I have to lug the laptop, it goes in a nice Targus backpack.

I'd say you have a couple of options:

1. VPN in to the office from your home PC and use Windows Terminal Services to access your laptop. This assumes that you need to use Windows for your programming, and can't just ssh straight to a development server somewhere on the network.

2. If you have to lug the laptop, put a rack on your bike and buy the Briefcase from Arkel (http://www.panniers.com/index.asp). I'm saving up my bike budget to acquire one of these myself.
I have to VPN in even when I have my laptop, to access the CVS server and various other servers. I have two computers at home that are mine. One's a DAW, like I said, and the other is my beater computer that I use for email, web browsing, etc. It's a 700mhz and couldn't handle development stuff. I might start RDCing into my laptop from that, BUT that computer is currently being redone. The HD crashed and I'm reinstalling windows right now. So, at the moment, lugging my laptop seems to be the best option.

That briefcase is nice! Maybe I can get my company to buy it for me. Otherwise it isn't worth the cost... ain't my computer.

I think we have hijacked this thread. :D

I have to VPN in even when I have my laptop, to access the CVS server and various other servers. I have two computers at home that are mine. One's a DAW, like I said, and the other is my beater computer that I use for email, web browsing, etc. It's a 700mhz and couldn't handle development stuff. I might start RDCing into my laptop from that, BUT that computer is currently being redone. The HD crashed and I'm reinstalling windows right now. So, at the moment, lugging my laptop seems to be the best option.

That briefcase is nice! Maybe I can get my company to buy it for me. Otherwise it isn't worth the cost... ain't my computer.

I think we have hijacked this thread. :D

If your DAW runs windows and has the VPN software installed, you could run RDC from there. Either way, you'll have to keep lugging the laptop around until you can access things remotely.

If you're lucky, they might allow you to expense the briefcase. I'll get one; I consider it a part of why they pay me so much, and it comes from the savings of not using a car to get to work. If I had a car, I'd take the laptop home every day in case I'm paged-out for a system being down. I feel I have a responsiblity to be as effective an employee when commuting by bike as by car.

Plus, you're right, that briefcase is just nice. And yes, we hijacked the thread, but that's human nature. :D If it gets too bad, a bluestar will nudge us in the right direction.

The DAW doesn't have the VPN software installed, and it won't. I don't put anything on there that doesn't need to be there for audio work. I'm just gonna keep using my dell bag to lug my laptop until I get my beater running, and then try VPN/RDCing in from that.

I really don't mind lugging my laptop at all, though. Sometimes my back gets a little sweaty, but it's not that bad. I can always bungee my computer to my rack, but that makes me more nervous.