I have never washed a bike with a hose even when I lived in houses with yards and a couple outdoor water spigots. Perhaps I'm missing something?

I clean my bike with a soft rag and/or paper towels, using either a small bowl of soapy water (dishwashing detergent) or a spray bottle of Simple Green. Now that I live in an apartment, I do it in the middle of the dining room, which admittedly kind of sucks, but it beats having to drag the bike into the bathtub. When the weather is nice I'll do it outdoors on the sidewalk, but I'm not convinced my neighbors appreciate this.