Originally Posted by
Pugs
There are two things giving me pause. The first is sweat! I sweat a lot, even when I'm not doing anything. And I know after biking for 15 miles, I'll be a sweaty mess. How do you deal with the sweat when you bike? Do you just take a towel and a change of clothes? Do you take a shower when you get to work? Do you just not care?
I'd recommend to carry your work clothes in a backpack or bag on the bike (seat bag, frame bag, pannier, etc). Then you can just change from your cycling clothes to your work clothes when you arrive at work. I don't have access to a shower at work so I just wash my hair and face in the sink and use baby wipes for the rest. Leave two pairs of shoes at work so you don't have to carry them. I also leave my lock on the bike rack so I also don't have to carry it either. Also important is to hang your cycling clothes somewhere at work. I use an open coat rack on the other side of my floor that's not used much.
Originally Posted by
Pugs
On the other hand, my second concern is cold. I live in the Chicago area, and the snow will start to fall soon. I know there are people that still commute via bike during the winter, but I don't think I'm quite ready for that. Do you commute during the winter? Do you only bike to work half the year?
Yes, I commute to NYC all year round. You can set a no go point for bad weather. For me its less than 20F or roads not clear is a no go. Otherwise, its been ok for me so far. In my area, that pretty much carries me through most months except February depending on how much snowfall we get that winter. I'm sure that Chicago can get colder and more windy than NYC. So just be realistic with what you can do. If you have the proper winter cycling clothing, then you should be able to layer up and be comfy in fairly cold weather. When it gets windy, I use the "one gear lower" rule. Whatever gear I feel comfortable in at the time, I tell myself to shift down one. It will usually save you from getting too tired from the headwind and promote you to spin a bit more.
Some other things I would do are:
- Park and ride to a half way point. I park in a county park and then ride from there. This would help to break up riding 30 miles every day.
- If you feel crappy on Monday (even though you took the weekend off), then do an "easy week." Park and ride all week. Or take the train if bad weather, etc.
- Keep my backpack light. Only carry work clothes and bike tools needed. Try to leave out the shoes, laptop, tablet, unused tools, loose change, deoderant, bike lock, etc. Leave most of those items at home (or both home and work in the case of deoderant and shoes). If you use a computer, then try to get a desktop instead of a laptop at work.