Just wondering... I have a 7.5mi commute. Takes 20 minutes if I go all out and 25 to 30 if I don't. Last week there was a steady headwind and it took 40min. I have to be at work by 8:00am. I get up at 5:30am and am shaved and showered and dressed for the ride by 6:30am. Breakfast is a double portion of Optimum Nutrition Protein Powder in milk/water. 15 minutes to mix it up and drink it down and 15 minutes to check over the bike. Leave at 7:00 and arrive at 7:30. Towel off and dress for work in the men's room.

Today I got a surprise when I checked my back-up bike. It had a flat. My main bike got a flat that I was too lazy to fix so I got my back-up bike out for today's ride. I have a 3rd bike but it had no seat. I had to do a seat swap with the stoker seat off one of the tandems because I was not going to have enough time to put a new inner tube in either of the regular commuters in 15 min. Bringing over lights and flashers took another 10 minutes. I was 15 minutes late for work and had to start out in my riding clothes before I got a chance to duck into the men's and change. Got some strange looks. I'm new on this job so I am trying not to attract attention.

All this is a roundabout way of asking how long you guys allow for morning prep for your commute. Do I need to get up a 5:00? Yikes... as it is I was getting up at 6:00. I find it hard to make myself go to bed at 11:00 let alone 10:00... let alone 9:00!! My wife says to shower the night before. Maybe, but I am hoping not. Showering is one thing but shaving the night before doesn't really work for me. After a shave a shower seems logical.

How close do you guys (gals) cut things (pun intended) timewise, in the morning?

H

My two primary bikes are set up very similar to one another, which means that I can swap parts from one to the other to make things faster. If I ever had a flat, I could just swap wheels. One other thing is to prevent these sorts of mishaps. I use Schwalbe Marathon + tires, and have not had a flat in over 15,000 miles now. I do routine maintenance on the weekends and rarely have failures come up as a surprise.

Out of bed at 6:00; shave, shower & dress by 6:20; load bike by 6:25; toast with peanut butter and a couple of glasses of water by 6:30; arrive at work by 7:00; cool down, stretch and dress by 7:15; head to the front office and wait for the boss come through the door at 7:29.

Sounds like you just need to make sure your back up is a back up. What do you need to check over before heading out? Seems to me that you can ensure the tires have air the night before and a quick thump on the tire tells you if there's enough and you go. What's involved in that 15minutes?

15 minutes to make and drink a protein shake?

I'm fortunate to have a flexible schedule and can get in as early as 6:00, but no later than 9:00.

I'm an early bird by nature, so I try and be out the door by 5:30 or so. My wife is up at 4:50 and usually the shower gets me up.

Everything is setup the night before. Cloths is layed out, food (lunch) is ready to grab, bike inspection is complete, pre-ride meal is a couple of minutes in the microwave and my recovery drink just requires the addition of the powder. I have to start the day with a shower (15min tops) and shave. Even if I shower the night before, I don't feel "clean" if I don't take a shower first and it also just doesn't seem to start the day off right.

Getting out the door is quick, the prep work is all done the night before so there aren't any surprises the day of. Worst case scenario, I just drive to work (no back-up bike.....yet).

I always prep my bike before I go to bed the night before. I don't want to be surprised with something that I could have prevented. I've avoided early morning mechanical issues many times this way. When it's time to leave, I simply grab my bike & head out.

You guys put in way more effort in the morning than I do! I get up, dressed, brush my teeth, chug some water and give the bike a once over. (typically do bike maintenance and packing the night before)

I have a a 35-45 minute commute. I'm up by 6:30 aiming to be out the door by 6:45, and at work by 7:30. Gives me enough time to grab some coffee, oatmeal/banana at the cafe, and a shower after I've cooled down.

If something does fail between packing the bike at night and the next morning, my backup bike has everything except fenders. Quick pump of the tires and it's usually good.

I always make sure my plan B, C, D ,E and F bikes are ready to go just in case bike A is inoperable. Plus it's another reason to have more bikes is what I say to my wife!

To me the bike should be ready to roll before you go to bed and I think you need to allow time for dealing with any flat that may occur during your commute.

You probably don't need to get up any earlier, just make sure your bike is ready to go the night before. It's highly unlikely that something is going to break while it's just sitting there.

Does it really take an hour to shave, shower, and dress? That process probably takes me 30 minutes. Unless I'm dawdling I'm on the road about an hour after I get up and that includes getting breakfast ready for the kids and packing a lunch for myself.

Work starts at 6:30 am. I'm up between 4 and 4:15. Shave, shower and get dressed (all gear is washed and ready from the previous day). Leave no later than 5:15. 10.8 mile ride will have me at work sometime between 6:05 and 6:10. I'll spend a few minutes cooling down with a clean towel and cold water from my bottle. I'm dry and dressed by 6:30.

+1

In thinking about this a little more, there's a lot about your routine that just doesn't add up. I'm not saying you're being dishonest in describing how you plan your mornings. I do think though that reality might be something different.

The hour you set aside for shave/shower/getting dressed is probably more like 3 snooze button/sleep cycles then shave, shower, and get dressed. Likewise, the 15 minutes you set aside to "check over the bike" is really 14 minutes of browsing craigslist and ebay for bike stuff and one minute of rolling the bike out the garage isn't it ?

Think about it. If you really allow 15 minutes to check over your bike every morning that's enough time to change the flat on either your main or backup bikes. Even if it takes a little longer, like 25 minutes, that still leaves you 40 minutes to ride to work with 10 minutes left over to get dressed.

I guess that's something else I'm struggling with a little bit. You claim that if you ride all out you can cover your 7.5 mile commute in 20 minutes. Umm, that's pretty damn fast for a 7.5 mile commute. That's averaging over 22 mph. I guess it's possible if you have pretty much a straight shot and don't have to stop for anything, but a headwind doubles your time?

There's a few things I'd recommend:

1. like everyone else is saying, have the bike ready the night before.

2. practice changing tubes. You should be able to do it in the time you allow for checking over your bike.

3. Take an honest look at how you spend your mornings and see if there's a way to speed things up, or alternatively, enjoy a leisurely morning pace, but go to bed early enough to make that possible.

I start work at 06:30. To get there by 06:00 to have a shower and make coffee, I need to leave by 05:00 if I plan on averaging 15mph; so call it 04:45 for a safe leave time. That means up by 03:45 to get the dog walked, my lunch, self and bike prepped, and out the door on time.

i limit myself to 20 minutes from wakeup to out the door (s**t, shave and shower - thank goodness for regularity). to get that time, i have to spend time the night before getting everything ready.

part of the preparation i will load my panniers and backpack the night before, and also usually do a quick once over of the bike - so no surprises in the morning when i am out the door. depending on the weather forecast i will have my riding clothes arranged the night before so i don't waste any time thinking or finding what to wear.

a hot coffee in the thermos (1 cup coffee maker is setup at night), check for bus pass, meds and money, kiss the missus, pet the dogs, and good to go.

I get out of bed 5.45 am, crepe, shower and on the road 6.45. Ride is 8 miles and takes about 45 minutes. Get to work and shower up (only in summer), then at my desk well before 8am. Start time is 8.30am so no rush there. I go to bed about 8.30pm. Watch telly in bed maybe an hour. Bottom line is get up earlier if you want less stress. I see people all the time in their cages rushing and weaving through traffic, endangering cyclists, because they can't get their date out of bed earlier.

I'm generally on the road about 20 minutes after I get up, unless I am in a hurry in which case it's 10 to 15 minutes.

I only have one bike, and I can only remember one time in the last 5 years of riding that there was a problem with it in the morning, flat tire. I changed the tube and was out the door with about an 8 minute delay (a little faster than my normal tire change because I have an air compressor in the garage). Generally I pull the bike out, cram my bag into the pannier, clip on my helmet, turn on the lights, adjust the mirror and go.

Make your shake at night and keep it in the fridge. I have all my food for the next day ready the night before. As others said: you gotta have everything ready the night before if you don't have flexible hours. It's a pain since you're tired and don't want to, but that's just the best way to deal with the unexpected.

Or, I eat breakfast at work, so that's an idea: invest in a shaker bottle, and just throw the protein powder in there. When you get to work put water in it and shake it up and drink it while you're working. Or even better, I keep my shaker bottle at work and protein at work, if you can do that.

I never prep my bike. Not sure what that is--pumping up tires? Cleaning? Oiling?

I don't generally do those things, and I especially avoid doing them in the winter. But I've got fat tire with studs and I've got a chain guard.

The extra time I take when I bike is to pack my trunk bag with clothes, and check the weather, too. Also, putting on my cold weather gear takes a bit more time. I think I might waste 10 minutes when I bike than when I drive. But it's a labor of love.

11pm-Bedtime
5:20-Wake, drink a glass of water
5:23-Meditation/Prayer
5:35-Sledgehammer workout
5:50-Glass of milk and oatmeal.
6:15-Shower (shave in shower)
6:25-Dress for ride, pack office clothing and lunch in pannier
6:35-Feed, water dogs and cats, play with puppy, check lights/tires, hang pannier on bike, final layers (gloves, beanie, helmet)
6:45-(:55, at latest, later than 6:55, I'll miss my train) walk bike through house out front door, and ride away.
*ride 10.2 miles*
7:30-:35 Arrive at train station, buy ticket, board train
7:40-Train departs (extra time built in here to ensure a seat and to allow time to repair a flat on the ride in)
8:15-Detrain, ride to office
8:20-Roll bike into office, change, get coffee
8:25-Check BikeForums....

LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that was impressively fast. I average only half his speed (but to be fair do have hills, wind, hangover).

UPDATE: Just home after putting the boot down out of curiosity, minimal traffic, no wind, highest gear whole way even on hills, near 20mph on straightaways: 3 miles in 15 minutes = 12mph average. Boo!

As far as how long it takes to get going in the morning, not all of us are single guys who can whip on a pair of boxers and go. It take 90 minutes just getting the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door then another 15 to gear up and go. My backup is the car.

All my stuff is ready the night before. I got my timing down where I can get out within 15-20 minutes of waking up which is not too bad and possibly a record timing for a female stand point. Only time when it takes longer is if I do get a morning mess where nature calls and I do more sitting in the bathroom than on my bike

Yes, I guess you don't stop or slow down for red lights, stops signs, pedestrians, cars anything. But maybe you have a straight MUP from home to work. My commute is about the same length, and it takes me twice as long. But I ride in work clothes and -especially between Sept and May- don't have to change or towel off. Maybe that could be a time safer for you as well. A big routine once you get in may take you longer than slowing down while you ride and not having a big clean-up routine once you get in.

I always shower in the evening when I get home from work, so I normally don't shower in the AM. That saves me some time.

If I don't laze around watching Mike and Mike or BBC News in the morning, it takes me maybe 30 minutes of actual time getting dressed, eating breakfast, making lunch, and getting out the door. Of course, I do laze around, so I wake up around 7:30 with the goal of being on the road by around 8:30-8:45. Most days, I don't need to be to work until 9 or 9:30, so this leaves me time for my 7.5 mile commute route. When I need to be in earlier, I just shift my morning routine earlier.

I'm also not sure what you're checking on your bike for 15 minutes. It takes me less than 60 seconds to put on my rack trunk and make sure neither tire is flat and the brakes still work. I usually do other regular maintenance on weekends or evenings, or I allot a couple extra minutes in the morning routine (e.g., Monday morning tire inflation).

Well, I've Googled it and the commute definitely is 7.5mi. True I don't always hit the shower at 5:30:30 but it is rarely later than 5:36:00. The Internet is not to blame :-). Dry ingredients of protein drink are made night before. Dry ingredients of brown bag lunch are made night before. Clothes are laid out night before. Maybe it isn't 15 minutes to make breakfast and lunch but that is what it seems like.

The back-up bike with the flat tire had been used to get pizza the night before and was put to bed ready to roll. In the morning mix is also taking care of the litter box. But, yes, I am a bit of a slowpoke in the morning. The 15 minute bike check is not an exact figure but it includes taking the battery pack off the charger and putting it on the bike and chain lubing.

I've only been doing this since the 4th of this year and the morning routine is still evolving. Thanks for the insights into how others do it.

H