Just wondering... I have a 7.5mi commute. Takes 20 minutes if I go all out and 25 to 30 if I don't. Last week there was a steady headwind and it took 40min. I have to be at work by 8:00am. I get up at 5:30am and am shaved and showered and dressed for the ride by 6:30am. Breakfast is a double portion of Optimum Nutrition Protein Powder in milk/water. 15 minutes to mix it up and drink it down and 15 minutes to check over the bike. Leave at 7:00 and arrive at 7:30. Towel off and dress for work in the men's room.

Today I got a surprise when I checked my back-up bike. It had a flat. My main bike got a flat that I was too lazy to fix so I got my back-up bike out for today's ride. I have a 3rd bike but it had no seat. I had to do a seat swap with the stoker seat off one of the tandems because I was not going to have enough time to put a new inner tube in either of the regular commuters in 15 min. Bringing over lights and flashers took another 10 minutes. I was 15 minutes late for work and had to start out in my riding clothes before I got a chance to duck into the men's and change. Got some strange looks. I'm new on this job so I am trying not to attract attention.

All this is a roundabout way of asking how long you guys allow for morning prep for your commute. Do I need to get up a 5:00? Yikes... as it is I was getting up at 6:00. I find it hard to make myself go to bed at 11:00 let alone 10:00... let alone 9:00!! My wife says to shower the night before. Maybe, but I am hoping not. Showering is one thing but shaving the night before doesn't really work for me. After a shave a shower seems logical.

How close do you guys (gals) cut things (pun intended) timewise, in the morning?

H