I stretch and take a shower before actually going into my office - usually when I get to work, the gym is empty, so I don't have to deal with it.

After training rides, my wife sometimes tries to converse with me, and I just mumble incoherently. It takes a couple minutes for the world to stop moving so fast.

Typically I sit at my desk for a few minutes (or an hour) and "decompress". I shut my door and no one bothers me. I like to take the time to unwind before I change into my work clothes.

Pretty much my whole day. Has nothing to do with riding.

Bob: Don't... don't care?
Peter: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now.

Wow, some of you guys must ride HARD!

I've gotten to work plenty of times out of breath, huffing and puffing, but I'm rarely incoherent. Most folks recognize that I'm breathing heavy, and don't try to engage me in conversation. My co-workers are observant that way.

Some of them, though, come up with the dumbly obvious conversation starters, and I always have a wise answer for them.

Since English is not my first language, I discovered a trick to help tuning the muscle around my mouth: Practice talking/reading an article with a boxing mouth guard in your mouth for 3 to 5 minutes, than remove the mouth guard. you'll talk crystal clear after that.

I think it is more than hard riding... as the OP also alluded to avoiding ice patches on the road... so no doubt part of the issue comes from huffing cold air.

Heck I've had "dumb mouth" after eating a few ice chips from a soda...

And even around here some of the canyons can be rather brisk on a clear morning.

I aim to get to work 45 minitues early, but it's usually 30 minitues. i put the bike in a closet, then walk back outside to stretch and look at birds, read a book, put on headphones, whatever. anything less than 20 minitues to cool down is no bueno.

my commute is a flat 6.5 miles, but i haul ass. i can't afford a gym so i treat like a workout that just so happens to get me to work.

Decompression takes place when I lock up my baby.

Some snappy comebacks for ya woody:


Originally Posted by woodway
I have no problem talking when I arrive at work. It's the stupid questions that drive me crazy:

1. Rode your bike today, huh? (As I am in full biking gear and pushing my bike towards my office).

No, I'm pretending that I'm Spiderman today."

2. Cold out there today? (asked on a day where the forecast low was 10F and the forecast high was 25F).

"Only if you're NAKED."

3. You riding home in the dark? (Asked at 6:00PM as I am in full biking gear with lights on pushing my bike towards the door on a day when the sun went down at 4:20PM).

"Hell no! I'm gonna wait here in the lobby 'til morning."

I mean if you want to have a conversation, at least start with a non-obvious opening question/statement!

Maybe I am just getting old...