due to complicated circumstances at home been toying with the idea of bike commuting 5 days next week. cycling (44 miles round trip) is the easy part. the hard stuff is the planning & execution. meaning: what to stock at the office & what to carry daily. no shower at work either. I know the drill, cuz I've been in this situation before (but diff. office & I was approx 10 yrs younger). will be confirming actual needs w/ my adult kids before final commitment on my part. but the potential for a really long week is real. & 220 miles would be a big jump for me. kinda excited about it. wutz wrong w/ me?

Where would you find the time?

That's my biggest drawback to riding more. I have the legs. I don't have the time.

Boston is an interesting location because the temp swings are so high. I remember waiting for the school bus with -20F in the winter and it being 100F in the summer.

My commutes are never this long, but one option is a gym/locker membership near work. I'd really consider that if I was riding 1.5 each way.

edit: 1.5 hours each way

lol you know you could have just actually edited that text right? but I understood anyway. you're right about the temp swings. nice thing about warm temps, mean fewer clothes & shoes! I do have a gym membership really close & I use it when I do a half commute when I leave a car at the office. but I'm not likely to bike to the gym only to bike to the office after the shower. in a car yes, but not back on the bike. be nice if it was right next door tho. I can rig a locker box in my private office with enough pants socks shirts shoes underwear, toiletries & small towel etc for the week. so the things I'd be transporting back & forth every day would be minimal, probably just fresh cycling shorts & shirt for the ride home. I'd re-use the socks but the top & bottom would go in a plastic bag for washing at night. I can walk for lunch & snacks but I would likely carry some edibles too

oh drats! just checked the forecast

true that. I'd have to get up early & crash right after dinner. & call out sick at my night job Tues/Wed. for just 1 week, I can do that

Where's 25mi NW of Boston?

Stowish ... lower left end of the route. my office is the upper right end of the route. it's actually closer to Boston than 25 miles. by bike anyway. I've ridden to Fenway & the coast a cpl times. wasn't bad actually

Doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with you; if cycling is a hobby then commuting is a great way to fill in volume. 44 miles is quite a commute though; I'm guessing anywhere from 70-90 minutes each way. IMO, I don't think the shower is really needed; I'm in one of the hotter places in the US and its still too cold for me to actually sweat enough to justify it (I'm assuming you shower prior to leaving). Just a washcloth works and I really only need that if I'm burying myself.

I use panniers or a backpack daily and leave this stuff at work:

• Shoes
• Belt
• Jacket

Those are big items and probably halves the content of your bags.

yes, I would, so the sink style freshening would be diluted shampoo & large cups of water for the hair & a washcloth w liquid soap for face, under arms & private parts. I have hyperhidrosis so I sweat a lot, no matter what. but I don't ever smell cuz I'm always showering. I try to keep the vitamins to a minimum too. cuz whatever I eat comes out my pores. I made the mistake of eating a can of tuna before photo'ing a wedding, one time. my sweat towel smelled like fish

cool. looks well connected to the 93 and 495. been by it many times.

There's nothing wrong with you. People all over the world commute that far by bicycle. I do 30 mi round trip, 44 is absolutely doable.

I was thinking something similar this morning, but not with that kind of mileage. Between the packing, unpacking, changing clothes etc... the pedaling is the easiest part of my commute. When it was just over 2 miles it seemed like I was just getting warmed up when I arrived, and would take me longer with the prep. My latest ride is around 7 miles and the extra pedaling time makes it feel more like an actual trip now even when I loaf to keep from sweating too much. But even a one way commute like that would be a huge change for me, kudos to you for being able to do that.

For camping trips my wife gets dry shampoo that sprays into her hair.

The only downside to commuting is the planning. Charging batteries, preparing meals, checking the bike long before leaving home in case a tire went flat overnight.

Is this a job you've been going to for a while? Do you already have alternative transportation?

How many miles have you been doing lately?

I'd encourage you to ease into this slowly. Maybe 2 or 3 days a week. Park & Ride? Bus & Ride? Fridays are always good days as you can recuperate over the weekend.

Then, once you get your riding legs under you, expand to 5 days a week if you feel up to it. 6 or 7 days a week?

You may come to like 64 degrees and scattered showers rather than 80 degrees and no showers.

Time for better rain gear?

Are there restrooms you can use along the way? My commute is roughly an hour each way with no place to stop. This requires careful monitoring of food/drink intake before I leave, or else "roughing it".

William Shakespeare once said, 'All the world's a urinal'

Maybe not all the world, but definitely all the bushes are!

Agreed! I spend about 20 minutes the night before so I don't have to wake up 20 minutes earlier.

Check the forecast by hour and don't put a lot of stock in rain forecasts more than a day or two out... unless it's showing like 100% chance of more than 0.1 inches. Right now Tuesday morning looks like the only rainy ride for you... maybe Tuesday night too depending how soon the storm ends.

lol, yeah I got a spot behind a shed behind a commercial bldg I've used when I did my previous one-way, 1/2 commutes

lol ... women ... go figure ... I'll be soaked so I'll be rinsing w fresh water & diluted shampoo. I don't have much hair anymore so it's not a big problem

I've got the legs for a one-week demand like this. I've got the rain gear. it's only next week that is an issue.

texted my 2 kids to get some details. son says he's willing to do some carpooling w/ daughter, but he stinks at making commitments, & he's in Boston for the weekend w/ his girlfriend, so that means we'll be hammering this out Sunday night, ugh. so it seems to be less likely to be a full week ... I'm possibly disappointed

You can do this [MENTION=198544]rum[/MENTION]runner6! Keep us posted!

Remind him who fed and clothed and sheltered him for 18 years.

Tell him to do what you want now and all debts are paid.

(Until you need something else...then bring up wiping baby butts and cleaning up spit up for the next guilt trip)

Mine still live at home. But I'm making a list for future debt repayment needs.

Ahhh... so just a short 1 week commitment, or change in normal destination.

I'd be all-in.

Have fun seeing some alternative sights.

Google came up with 2 or 3 alternative routes to try... perhaps in the evenings if you are still alive, and don't mind adding a couple extra miles.