Commuting - A first: A line at the showers this morning

Once in a great while in the past couple of years I've had to wait for one of the building's four shower rooms to open up. This spring I've had to wait more often. Today, there were actually other people waiting with me.

It's a good sign as far as the popularity of commuting goes but it's not something I've built in to my schedule. I might have to break down and get up... early. :eek:

Another advantage to riding in the winter I guess. I never have to wait for a shower on those -20 days.

It only happens to me once in a blue moon. We have 2 showers in the men's locker room, but there's almost never more than 3 of us in there in the morning. The regulars are pretty quick in and out, so it's not something I have to worry about.

We have plenty of showers at my work but the locker room changing area is pretty small so if there are more than three people in there it gets pretty cramped.

Unfortunately, these aren't locker rooms. There are 4 separate rooms with just a shower stall, a mirror, a small bench and an outlet. If they could have put two showers in each of the bathrooms (one men's, one women's) and a changing area, it would have worked better. I won't complain though. I'm lucky to have showers in the building at all.

There weren't any public showers a few years ago, though the previous tenants of our suite had one. There was a lot of debate over whether or not to keep it but the admin group didn't want to deal with getting it cleaned and frankly I think some of the women in that group were creeped out by the idea of naked people anywhere in the suite. ;)

That's one of those double-edged swords. . .
More folks riding give us a bigger voice. More folks riding means more people using our collective resources. Unfortunately, the resources to handle the increase in popularity of stuff are never in place until AFTER they are needed.

Heh, we have about 8 showers in the men's gym at work and I sometimes have to wait - especially in summer. Mostly it is cyclists. It is good to see, but I find it annoying when the bike racks are full!

Up @ 4:45 a.m., to work an hour early. I own teh showerez. I'm pretty sure I could not work from home as the ride to and from work is the highlight of the day.

It will all go back to normal one the weather starts to change back. In the meantime enjoy the company.

It will all go back to normal one the weather starts to change back. In the meantime enjoy the company.

The extra company could be a lot of fun except that there's signage strictly forbidding the use of the showers by more than one person at a time.

I wouldn't mind waiting for the shower, we don't have them here. I'll have to settle for private indoor parking by an outlet and laundry. Woe is me....

We just got a bike cage (6-8 bikes capacity) about a month ago. I've only seen my bike in it. They are costing out installing a shower in the one-person bathroom beside it.
Our building is 370 metres up and requires a 30-minute ride uphill. That and the wet PNW climate keep the number of bike commuters down.
A nice option is to put the bike on a bus on the way to work. No need for a shower then:)

Once in a great while in the past couple of years I've had to wait for one of the building's four shower rooms to open up. This spring I've had to wait more often. Today, there were actually other people waiting with me.

It's a good sign as far as the popularity of commuting goes but it's not something I've built in to my schedule. I might have to break down and get up... early. :eek:

Another advantage to riding in the winter I guess. I never have to wait for a shower on those -20 days.

I've been dreading this very thing too. Despite working at a large hospital there is only one guys shower specifically designated for bicycle commuters and some doctors use it as well. I never seem to manage to leave quite as early as I'd like so waiting to use the shower means that I'd either have to skip the snack/light meal I usually have before work or clock in late and risk getting in trouble. Even if I've had a breakfast a couple of hours earlier I pretty much need this food, especially since my work may keep me from eating anything for hours.

So far I've been lucky though, not only do I work nights, I (very unusually for my line of medical work) have a schedule different from everyone else's.

The towels have been disappearing at a much greater rate the past few weeks though, so I know more people are rollin'.