acorn54

do you have a checklist of things before you head out of the house on your commute?
or do you do certain things before you start your commute such as have a cigarette or mentally map out the segments of your commute.
i seem to need to psych myself out and map the commute in my head and stop for breaks at certain junctions on my commute.

Treespeed

Layout everything the night before, and keep a change of clothes at work. I can't think of anything I do before the ride except for get on the bike and go. Sometimes it seems like I'm only half awake and come to out on the road.

BA Commuter

No checklist... I have my single pannier ready. I add the morning paper and my lunch. I have my helmet, gloves and glasses in the shed right next to my bike. It helps me to not forget anything and I'm off in a few minutes. Some mornings, when it's especially cold I need to motivate myself to ride, but it's all good once I start peddling.

JPprivate

I check my panniers (even though I pack the night before) briefly, check the weather online, download and then recharge my ipod with the latest podcasts, check tire pressure and brakes very quickly

DX-MAN

Check the weather -- temp, forecast for the next 12 hours; dress accordingly. Gather helmet, gloves, headwrap, backpack. Put any necessary extra clothing in the pack.

As I gear up, I think about what particular route (I have several to choose from, from 4 to 9 miles distance) I'm in the mood for, and have time for.

Then I get the bike out, get on, and ride.

ItsJustMe

"Mentally map out segments of my commute?"

I've ridden the same route every day for 5 years now, and it's exactly the same route I drove every day for 10 years before that. I don't think I really have to think about it much anymore.

As for pre-ride ritual, I get up, go to the bathroom, put on clothes, get my lunch ready and leave. I check the current temp to see what kind of clothes to put on. I don't really much bother to look at the weather anymore, except in the fall when sometimes it might be a lot colder in the afternoon so I'll need a jacket. Other than that, I just put on clothes and go out. I don't really care if it's raining or not.

funbob

Hit snooze button, hit snooze button again, stumble out to coffee maker, check email while I slowly wake up, get in shower, realize I'm running late, toss everything I need in my bag, fill up water bottles, do a quick mental inventory of everything I should have before I walk out the door, get items I forgot, realize I'm not wearing helmet and gloves, go get helmet and gloves, make it halfway down the block and realize I still forgot something, turn back and get it, ride to work.

BianchiDave

While eating breakfast and trying to keep my 4 year old from waking up my 1 year old, I logon and check the weather. The weather forecast helps me decide what bike to ride into work that day.

Yes I’m a bike snob

eshvanu

Ritual? No.

Checklist? No.

missile meister

Checklist? Not really (which feels kind of unnatural for an ICBM operator). Pack the bag the night before with T-shirt, boot socks, and boxer briefs (keep my uniform and boots at the office). In the morning add planner, office keys, wallet, cell phone and lunch. Get up, shower, and dress for the ride. After breakfast (usually steel cut oats, fruit and coffee) while watching Morning Joe (if up early enough) and Morning Meeting, I make my side of the bed, kiss the wife and hit the road. Usually after my brief 4.5 mile commute the oats and coffee catch up to me... after that I crawl into my flight suit and head downstairs to the daily production meeting so I can sit there and wait for my turn to say "Nothing, sir."

Doohickie

I just grab everything and throw it in my pannier as I'm going out the door.

BrooklyntoNYC

Making sure I have my metrocard on me, in case of flat and checking my front/rear lights. Making sure I am carrying my clean shirt on me so I can change at work.

Amani576

I give myself something like 25 minutes to get up and out the door. I'm so not a morning person it's ridiculous. I wake up, check the weather, get dressed, drink something, if it's supposed to be raining I pop my head out the front door to check if it is, cut my lights on, and go.
I really need to give myself more time, but having to be at work at 7am everyday is rough when you love to sleep and it literally takes you an hour and a half to become completely coherent.
-Gene-

aharris

I need a cup of coffee. Not really a ritual, and usually not a big problem, but I'm getting up early enough that I need it set up the night before or I fall victim to the coffee conundrum: I need a cup to be sufficiently coherent to make a pot.

Last Thurs I apparently forgot to set up the pot so when I pushed it on and went about my dressing and getting breakfast ready nothing was there when I returned. Hmm.

Carefully rinse out the pot and fill it up. Press go and run to get the paper from the tube. Return, apparently you need to put in fresh grounds.

Fill up the grounds and remember the water. Frantically go to check weather and the time. Cutting really close to a late start when I come back and ...

push the button on.

(I figured it was a sign and wound up driving).

Bezohh

My (morning) afternoon ritual is:

1) Turn off the alarm at noon.
2) Get a shower.
3) Get dressed.
4) Gather keys, wallet, employee badge.
5) Make sure lights, pump, etc are in the panner that's already on the bike.
6) Take bike outside and lock up the house.
7) Envision the panning camera effect at the beginning of an F-Zero race. (Like 0:15 - 0:35 on this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYtN4poigAs ) Dunno why but that's what I'm always thinking when I hop on the bike. Mainly the 3-2-1-go count down part.
8) Start peddeling to work.

crhilton

1. Put shoes on
2. Double check that I have pants on
3. Grab stuff
4. Go

#2 is like super important.

making

I pack all my stuff the night before and keep a spare everything at work just in case. I go out to the garage and turn on the weather, I have a TV in the garage. I wear my house slippers to the garage and put on bike shoes, gloves andd helmet. Unplug the light, and I am off. Oh yea, usually I turn off the TV, but not always.

nkfrench 

I try to stage everything the night before but I always double check that I have clean undies in the pannier and my work badge before I dress out, load up the bike and leave. Long day if I forget those.

I do check the weather temps online first thing and if it looks like I'll have bad weather, I regroup and head to the pool to swim instead of bike -- or sleep in.

Coffee is for post-ride; I slam Diet Coke before departing to tide me over. Sometimes I'll take cold espresso+milk in a waterbottle to nuke in a mug at the office, pretty tasty to me. I eat breakfast and caffeinate during the 10 minutes it takes my work laptop to boot up.

CFXMarauder

My normal shift is 10:30am-7pm so I'm up about 7am to get the girls to school and ride back home..Set around for a bit then start making sure I have everything about 9..I usually pack the night before but I always check my kit before leaving..No later than 9:30 I'm out the door..Check GPS, lights, brakes, tires and chain..I usually end up humming the theme from Last of the Mohicans..wierd..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygNuR...eature=related

formerly RE

Check the stuff that I'm carrying in the basket over and over.

imi

^^^EXACTLY! All of this plus :check stove is turned off, lock door, shake door to check that door is locked... worry if stove is turned off, open door again... repeat a few times:

... ain't the doing it, it's the remembering half way into my commute that I did it :/

mrbrown

i sacrifice a small animal to appease the gods of the weather.

lil brown bat

Dammit, mrbrown, you beat me to it. I was going to say, "I light candles and incense and sacrifice a live chicken." Ritual indeed.

As for a checklist, I don't see a need for this any more than I would need a checklist to get ready and go to work by any other means. Shower, put on clothes, pick up bag, walk out the door -- that's about it.

Kevin666

I like to say a little prayer that God will protect me from all the maniacs and idiots on the road...Then I realize that He created all those maniacs and idiots, and wonder if He might be offended.

I_bRAD

How do you make half a bed?