Originally Posted by Praxis
Interesting. Do other people pack clothes the night before? Seems like they'd be wrinkled, in my flying experience--but I've never tried it biking.
My commute's short, but hilly so I don't wear street clothes and definitely need a shower afterward. Unfortunately, if I shaved the night before I'd be pretty stubbly by the day's end.
I do seem to spend lots of time with little items such as cell phone, wallet, badge, keys (gotta lock up the bike), etc. I've been thinking about a little bag to consolidate these but it seems the most time is spent getting these into the pockets. Keep 'em coming!
I prepack all my clothes, dress slack, polo shirt, socks, etc. It gets a little wrinkled but not that bad. What seems to help is by placing them in a plastic bag the night before and squeeze out all the air as much as I can before placing them in my back pack. I also prepare everything else the night before: breakfast(boiled eggs), lunch, drinks, air up the tires, install the lights, helmet on the handle bars, all the little things like keys, phone, wallet, etc in the back-pack. I also lay out my cycling clothes the night before and try to place them all on one hanger with the socks on a small baggie attached to the hanger so all I have to do is grab the hanger and change.
What really helped me a lot is a list I created of what I need to do and pack for the commute. I laminated it and I religiously check it every night and double check it every morning. It took a few days to get used to trusting the list and getting rid of the
"Did I forget something" syndrome. Once I got the hang of it, my morning routine has been pretty smooth.