In thinking about this a little more, there's a lot about your routine that just doesn't add up. I'm not saying you're being dishonest in describing how you plan your mornings. I do think though that reality might be something different.

The hour you set aside for shave/shower/getting dressed is probably more like 3 snooze button/sleep cycles then shave, shower, and get dressed. Likewise, the 15 minutes you set aside to "check over the bike" is really 14 minutes of browsing craigslist and ebay for bike stuff and one minute of rolling the bike out the garage isn't it ?

Think about it. If you really allow 15 minutes to check over your bike every morning that's enough time to change the flat on either your main or backup bikes. Even if it takes a little longer, like 25 minutes, that still leaves you 40 minutes to ride to work with 10 minutes left over to get dressed.

I guess that's something else I'm struggling with a little bit. You claim that if you ride all out you can cover your 7.5 mile commute in 20 minutes. Umm, that's pretty damn fast for a 7.5 mile commute. That's averaging over 22 mph. I guess it's possible if you have pretty much a straight shot and don't have to stop for anything, but a headwind doubles your time?

There's a few things I'd recommend:

1. like everyone else is saying, have the bike ready the night before.

2. practice changing tubes. You should be able to do it in the time you allow for checking over your bike.

3. Take an honest look at how you spend your mornings and see if there's a way to speed things up, or alternatively, enjoy a leisurely morning pace, but go to bed early enough to make that possible.