Commuting: How do you transition between ride and desk?
 

I have been reading commuting threads for a few weeks and one question always seems to pop up in my mind. How in the world would I commute by bike to work and then transition to work? I am assuming that many of you are leaving early enough to shower at work or at least have some type of cool down period. Right? OR, am I not understanding the type of riding being done? I don't care how slow or easy I ride in South Carolina, I would be a soaking mess by the time I would finish a short 7 mile commute.

When I get to work I put my bike in a trainer and spin pointlessly for 15 minutes. I find this helps me transition from a purposeful, goal oriented behavior to a pointless, repetitve one more easily ;)

Seriously, I think you will find that after an initial break in period you do not get as sweaty as you think you will. If you search on this forum you will find many threads filled with great ideas for cleaning up pre-work (even without a shower). It is not as daunting a task as it seems. So do a little pre-planning and then hop on that bike and join the rest of us crazy people biking to work.

Wet wipes or a towel

Carefully considered use of bathroom facilities

Keep clothes, shoes, and toiletries at work

Get to work. Turn on computer. Make coffee. Start work.

I get to work, have a shower, eat some breakfast, then sit down at my desk.

I roll the last 200m without pedalling and catch the breeze, stroll into work taking the stairs slowly, change my T shirt, pants and put on a shirt and I'm ready to work. I find it more effective to ride at an easy pace rather than ride hard and spend 5 mins cooling down.
If sweating (ie cooling) is a problem, wear a synthetic, wicking T shirt or cycling jersey. Start the ride with a wet shirt and hair and pour a bottle of water over your head and shirt about 5mins from work. The cooling action of evaporation may lower your sweating.

Arrive at parking garage. Lock bike in locker. Walk into building, take elevator to basement locker room. Take shower, change into office clothes (I bring these in Sunday nights), walk to office, start work. Total transition time: 20 minutes.

When I get to work I sit in in the locker room and play a game of solitare on my phone. By the time I am done, I am sufficiently cooled down and ready to put on my dress clothes.

I take it easy the last few blocks before the office, helps to cool down. Once I get up to my studio I strip down and walk around naked while turning on the 'puter and stuff (I'm serious, advantages of being a one-person office). Then I get dressed in dry clothes and start my workday.

I bring a fresh t-shirt and underwear to the office every day, I keep the same shorts/pants as I commuted in, but keep extras at work for rain or killer-humidex days.

We are lucky enough to have showers. I ride in bike clothes, shower, change into clean underwear and work clothes, hang up my bike clothes to dry, and go to my desk. Sometime the bike clothes are still a little moist as I start my ride home, but in a few minutes they're soaked anyway.

I carry fresh clothes and lunch every day, and have shoes that I just leave at work in my locker.

BTW, I've just started commuting this summer, and absolutely love it! I miss the days I don't get to ride to work, which are fewer and fewer lately.

I usually get to work around 30 minutes early, cool down, wipe off with some baby wipes, reapply deodorant, change and get ready to work. I keep my clothes and food for the week at work (carrying fresh supplies to the office over the weekend when i run errands by car...at least, until I get more bike storage)

My problem is that I'm never content with doing the bare minimum to keep the bike moving forward, so I push my pace and end up a soaked, sweaty mess when I show up anyway. So 30 minutes gives me a nice cooldown and lets me leave early enough so I'm not fighting as much traffic.

I arrive at work, and spend a few minutes cooling down, in my bike garb, powering up computer, checking e-mails, cleaning bike, etc. Then I go take a shower, get dressed, fix breakfast and dive into work.

Definitely a cool down period when it's warm. Seattle doesn't get as humid as the South, but on warm mornings I try to make sure I get to work 20 minutes early so I can stand around outside and chug ice water from my bottle to cool down. On really warm and/or humid mornings I can easily drain the whole bottle.

My commute is only 3.5 miles, but I tend to push myself to go as hard and fast as I can. If I get to work and I'm not sweaty I did it wrong.

i wipe my head and neck with a cool damp paper towel. if i don't have a dress shirt on, i wipe my arms as well. it does wonders in helping me cool down.

then i apply fresh deordorant and chill out for a few minutes before starting work.

+1 :thumb:
And I keep my bike in my office.

arrive, lock up bicycle, shower, change into work clothes, hang up cycling clothes to dry, work (20min to 30min if there's a queue for the shower)

We have a shower in one of the buildings bathrooms. Luckily there aren't that many of us who ride to work so I usually don't have to wait.... anyhow after a quick shower I change into works clothes (Shirt and tie) and return to my desk. I store my bike clothes and towel in a supply closet near the bathroom. The towel goes home with me every weekend for washing. As far as sweating goes... I noticed a big drop in how sweaty i get when I switched from a backpack to my home made panniers. If you are willing to spend a little time working on it you can make some panniers just a few dollars out of something like an old laptop bag. Otherwise there are lots of good ones you can buy online or at your LBS.

For me, I get to work at 7:30 AM, so it hasn't gotten particularly warm yet, maybe mid sixties or so. I usually just sit at my desk for a few, check e-mails and so on, and then change, slap on deodorant, and occasionally pat some water on my face if it was particularly warm that morning.

I don't mind sweat or the feeling of dried swear on my skin as long as It doesn't stink, and it doesn't bleed through my clothes. so I change when I have cooled off, and put on deodorant to get rid of the smell. It works pretty well for me.

I arrive at work do some strecthes put my bike in the office and then make coffee if it was not already started by someone else and then I take a shower and start work. 20-25 minutes from the time I arrive at work. On some days I have early meetings and I will attend the meetings in my bike cothes which really cools me off and then I go shower up after the meeting. This is not my preferred method though.

Oh and I always grab something to eat when I am done with my shower or a snack while in the meeting.

I bike 8 km (5 mi) in about 30 or 40 mins, in summer I wear lightweight wool dress slacks and a tee, I keep all my office shirts in my office. The shirts never leave the building, I get them laundered at a dry cleaner under the same roof, and since they're only on my back 8 hrs a day they stay pretty good for a long time. The wool pants (Banana Republic, mostly) are excellent, I swear they're cooler than any cotton pants, even shorts given that they block the sun.

I work in the tee for a variable amount of time (basically, until I have to meet someone dressed better than that) to cool off. Worst case, if I have a 9:00 am meeting, I get in 10 minutes early to catch my breath and let the glow dissipate. Best case, I've been in it all day.

If your office culture demands the very highest level of starched, pressed, coiffed, anchorman-level, just-stepped-out-of-the-limo personal appearance, then you'll need more prep. And some folks just sweat more than others.

Bicycling is (I read this on the internet somewhere) MORE EFFICIENT than walking, which I take to mean, at a given speed a given distance can be covered with less energy. So if you moderate your pace enough, you can reach any desired level of non-sweatiness right down to walking. And if it's one of those living-in-a-dog's-mouth days, well, surely everyone else is a sopping mess too just from walking from their car?

-S, Toronto Ontario.

Too funny :lol:

I lock my bike in a locker, walk into office, flick on fan if warm, change shoes, and get to work.

I sweat my butt off.

I leave for work much earlier than i really need. I get up 1 hour earlier when i ride vs when I'm driving.
This is for two reasons.
1. If I get a flat or something I don't have to worry about being late.
2. Plenty of time to cool down, clean up (quickie shower in my case), eat something, and relax before work begins.

I should leave earlier, I am always cutting it close. But I am not a morning person. :-(

I arrive at my office in full bike gear, turn on my PC, and sign in. Then while it signs in, I remove the helmet, gloves, shoes, vest, open e-mail and read it for 20-25 min. to cool down. Then head to the bathroom with my duffle of cloths, baby wipes, alcohol, and deodorant, removed from my bottom 4" drawer. Strip, wipe off, apply deodorant, dress in my work cloths, head back to my desk. After returning to my office I hang the wet bike gear under by back desk where the fan is, and proceed with the rest of my day.

I'm not a morning person either. But what I have found is that getting up earlier isn't nearly as painful when I'm looking forward to a nice peaceful ride to work. That does wonders for me.