Nope. Never. I get my errand bike and go. I don't even put on cycling specific clothing, and no helmet either (even though I have 3 expensive helmets specifically for road and mountain).

The only thing I plan is the stuff I carry towards my destination. They go into my basket in the back.

12km commute is pretty normal. Just like anywere else in the Western World, lots of "suburbanisation" happened in the 60-70's. Large numbers of people moved out of the cities to smaller communities. Most of them have jobs in the city. All in all i'd say commutes up to 20km one way are very common. There are ppl who do more but they are a relatively small minority.

As for the wife of the future king, can't you take her off our hands, together with the whole royal family? ;)

For the weather i'd suggest you move to South of France, ideal biking climate. Dutch weather, while deffinitely not the worst is not that great. Typical humid sea climate with lots of rain, with occasional hail and snow in the winter.

I fill my water bottle up before I leave home and work. Plenty hot here in the desert.Aside from that, minimal planning. I bring a change of clothes into work and have a towel here too, so I can dry off if I've had a particularly sweaty ride. Every week I cycle the work clothes, so that takes some planning but not much. And I try to make sure I've got minimal repair tools (multi-tool, wrench, pump, etc.) in the event that I need them.

I pack my clothes and keep deodorant at work. and just wear shorts and a shirt on the bike. Sometimes bike shorts if I know i am going to take the long way home.

Nothing extravagant. It hasn't been warm enough for me to get a "bath kit" to use at work in the bathroom. But then again I get to work fairly early when the sun isn't crushing us yet.

No planning, just routine 8.5mi

Of course before I started cycle commuting I had to plan/prepare for it.

Al

40-mile R/T commute. The water at work tastes... unusual, so I bring 5 or 6 20oz bottles of water from home. And whatever books I need to work on homework during downtime. No real planning, just 10 seconds of thought before I go.

In four weeks when I switch to the day shift I'll be planning dress clothes/shoes and shower supplies. It'll be a PITA.

I too started commuting in the 2nd grade. The distance was just under half a mile, but it did involve riding on the side of the largest road in that side of the state, though there was a crossing-guard when we crossed over the highway to school.

Children commuting to school by bike is very rare these days. Tell us about your daughter's commute. How long is it? Do you escort her? Is it done as part of the safe routes to school program?

Of course you need to plan. Each day's commute is different. I keep the basic tools in my backpack. If I am riding my recumbent, I add the locks, tubes and safety vest for it. Then I consider whether I will have to meet and greet clients that day, or have to bring a certain disk or data stick with me, or whether it will rain or snow. But it's all pretty easy.

Actually right now, I'm working out of home as of a couple of weeks ago. Till the company collapses or gets its act together my commute is either recreational and I ride for 1-2 hours for exercise or utilitarian where I go shopping and run errands on my bike. Before that it was 3 miles each way.