Had kind of a weird morning. The wife had to leave early, so the routine got mixed up. Standing at my desk in my dress shirt and wet athletic shorts (rainy morning).

Could be worse... I don't ride in spandex!

Just one of the advantages of riding in street clothes. Haven't left home yet without my pants.

A couple of years ago my wife told me about their having a fire alarm in her building and one gal came running out of the women's restroom wearing lycra shorts and a dress blouse. She said it almost worked from a fashion standpoint but the chamois ruined the overall effect. :-)

I didn't forget my pants but because I wanted to try out a new backpack, I did forget my comb.... not the end of the world but annoying...

I was really hoping you weren't from the UK where "pants" means "underwear" Wearing lycra under jeans/trousers all day is very uncomfortable. Things don't like to be squished all day...

Ha, didn't even think of that. Perhaps I should edit the title to say trousers...

In other news, I now have a nice new pair of slightly ill fighting Old Navy trousers because the management around here are worried that any potential customers may be offended by the sight of hair man legs. Thankfully Old Navy is a quick ride away.

I once forgot shoes. This was when I was using Look cleats. Walking in those shoes was dangerous, so I walked around work wearing socks.

And that's the advantage of using platform pedals. Then again, I have mountain bike pedals with the studs, and often wear Crocs with them, especially if it is going to rain, so walking around in Crocs all day probably doesn't look so hot either.

This is why I leave clothes at work. I never take home an article of clothing for washing unless I've got one at work.

Riding in street clothes is not an option for some of us, myself included. I have found that non cycling clothes are extremely uncomfortable on the bike and I have gotten away from wearing them. When I ride to work, I ride, and by that I mean that I don't lollygag along at 7 mph. I have an 8.5 mile commute and I tend to ride in the 18-19mph range on average. Arriving to work in clothes that I intend to wear for the next 8 hours simply is not going to work. I get cleaned up in the bathroom and after cooling down, fresh clothes go on.

+1

Like the OP, I've had mornings where my routine gets interrupted and I forget something important (like my pants!)

I keep a pair of shoes, pants, sweater and light jacket at work. I often have a clean shirt & socks there, too but that's not guaranteed.

This is my big fear now that I'm riding in shorts in the warmer months, and packing my trousers in a backpack.

I do have the security of knowing that there is a Meijers less than a mile from me that sells pants.

Still, I like scroca's idea of leaving a pair of pants at work. I'll start doing that.

That's your choice and that's fine. Don't exaggerate the options though. I average about 13 mph on my 11 mile commute sitting upright on my Dutch bike wearing regular street clothes without odor problems. I think the average speed of all riders in The Netherlands is about 11-12 mph.

I usually keep a spare set of under garments, as well as shoes, at work. I never would have thought that I'd forget pants or a dress shirt, and I typically do a mental double check before rolling out, but apparently I need to think "pants - check, shirt - check", rather than "clothes - check".

I ended up getting an extra dress shirt while at Old Navy getting the pants and plan to leave them both in my desk. This way I could ride to work naked and still have a full outfit to wear when arriving.

I would like to compare your environment and temperature to the United States. That would be interesting. Not everyone needs or wants an upright Dutch bike, which is YOUR choice. I ride for fitness and for fun. An upright full fendered heavy bike has 0 appeal to me.

Agreed.

That's why I say my check list out loud while packing in the morning. My cats are usually watching this and helping me along so they get their treats faster.

Especially in the Mid-West humidity. That's not even to mention if it is raining, like it was this morning for me, in which case I'd have to change anyway (or be drench for half the day).

Agreed. If it was sunny and low 60's every day, commuting in normal clothes would be fine. Michigan doesn't see that though, with the humidity that we get. It has been a heck of a year so far and we are only into July.

I used to work within a 5 minute walk to Dick's Sporting Goods. That was heaven.

maybe not heaven but that would be so tempting in so many ways

I've done that, too.
My wife and I had the same reaction: surprised that it hadn't happened before.
Fortunately, I have my own office and access through a rear freight elevator. I worked with the door closed for a couple hours then made a beeline home and back, just 11 miles RT.
No one ever knew unless I told the story on myself, which I did frequently.

While I have forgotten various things while commuting my biggest mistake was forgetting my office keys. I always arrived wicked early giving me time to shower, shave, cool off, down a small custom replenishment shake, change & dry off, etc. Fortunately the owner's Dad was also an early riser and I was able to get in and through my routine before "the others" showed up. But it was a close call.

This. I leave a couple of pairs of pants at work and just swap them out every few days or once a week. I also leave shoes. Those are the bulkiest clothing items and not having to carry them back and forth allows me to commute pretty light.

I don't have enough room to keep spare clothes in my work area. I do the out loud checklist like no motor. It's worked out pretty well so far. I did forget my work boots once. Had to wear my sandals for about an hour before my wife showed up with them. No one asked, so I didn't have to try to tell them that they were steel toed sandals.

I currently live in Naples FL and Minneapolis MN. Plenty of heat and humidity.

I agree, not everyone wants an upright Dutch bike and yes that is my choice of bike for transportation riding. There is nothing wrong with either of our choices. We both made the choices that we think are best for each of us. But you said "Riding in street clothes is not an option for some of us, myself included." and that is not true. Just as I and probably 99% of the world's population who ride bicycles to work, you can choose to ride a bicycle that would allow you to comfortably ride in whatever clothes you wear to work. Riding in street clothes is indeed an option for you but you've chosen to do something different.