Most experienced roadies, eventually arrive at a place where it's no longer necessary to ride in full kit when commuting. Personally, I've never seen the need to wear spandex or lycra when commuting to work or to school. However, I have witnessed more than my share of die-hard roadies wearing full kit to work and to school. They come to class wearing both their polyester jerseys and their spandex shorts. When I worked at a bank in downtown Cleveland, my boss would sometimes arrive in full kit and it would take him an entire hour to suit up.

Well, the point is that this is so very unnecessary! Just relax...Take your morning shower, get ready to go to work or to school, as you normally would by tradition. Make certain that you have all of your commuting safety gear, either with your person, or attached to your bike. Wear your normal work clothing (with perhaps something reflective to cover it up). Equip your bike with both rack and fenders, in order to arrive unscathed at your destination, with all of your supportive amenities that will assist you throughout the day.

Grant Peterson, an ex-roadie and bicycle guru has more pointers, as he instructs all cycling commuters as to how to prepare for commute cycling on NPR talk radio.

Listen To Grant Petersen:
www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/05/18/152945439/bike-to-work-day-your-photos-and-riding-advice-from-brent-petersen

When Grant or Brent have spent a summer commuting in 90 to 100+ temps and a winter of riding in below 0 weather, I might give more credence to their advice on how to dress. And if they prefer ride at a slower, more comfortable pace, that is fine by me. But I *want* my commute to be more high-intensity. I like that my last BP reading was 106/70 even though I'm pushing 50.

Here's my advice: Wear what works for you and ignore those that are trying to sell you on certain products or on a point of view.

Many, many people have success wearing just whatever they'd wear to work. Others prefer to wear athletic or even cycling specific clothing. Neither is "wrong".

Neither myself nor Grant is saying it's "wrong" (I'm unsure about the source of that "wrong" quote). It's just that for the average commute of ten miles or less it's unnecessary for most of us to dress in full kit...

I wear my dress clothes except I keep the collared shirt in my bag. My ride to work shirt is a white t-shirt I've wet before I leave. Go into a rest room and change when I get there. 3 minutes. It's been 103+ degrees here in KY and no problem. When my commute was longer, I'd put some wintergreen alcohol in my bag and rub down with that. Part of my advocacy effort is to make commuting look fun and easy to people who might be on the fence. There seems to be a preconception that you need all kinds of specialized equipment or routine. Keeping stuff simple and inexpensive is a good way to do that, in my opinion.

Kudos to you, -=(8)=-!

I think that's the entire point that Grant was trying to make here. Cycling should not only be the means to an end, in terms of successful commuting by bicycle, it should also be fun, simple, and efficient.

Thank you for your brilliant contribution!

Most people I see here and back in Canuckistan are riding to and from work and school in pretty regular clothes and that most of the people doing this do not have rides that are of any excessive distance.

You do see folks that are kitted out but then they also tend to be riding sportier machines and may be riding longer distances or getting in some training time before and after work.

If you see me riding I look like a pretty regular guy and most of the time I can handle a few pounds of brocolli and even when the riding is more demanding I have kit that can still be used off the bike.

The temperature here passed 100f yesterday and had I been out on the road would have been wearing the full kit to stay as cool and dry as possible but for pootling around the city, my sportkilt and a technical shirt made with bamboo made for some cool wearing kit.

Grant lives in Walnut Creek where it rarely breaks 90 degrees. Just over the hill and across the Delta, it's been 102F when I leave the office at 5:30. I would much rather wash my bibs than have to take my wool dress pants to the dry cleaner every couple wearings.

The word "wrong" may not have been used but I grew up Catholic. I recognize preaching when I hear it.

Glad that worked for you. It wouldn't for me.

I'm not sure where this preconception that you need all kinds of specialized equipment comes from. I never had that preconception and when I only commuted on "nice" days, I wore my work clothes.

Let me put it this way. My office is climate controlled and my work involves sitting at a desk. For me, long pants are part of the dress code and they're perfectly comfortable at 75 degrees while sitting on my ass. My guess is that if the temp inside climbed to 90+ degrees and the humidity climbed along with it, it would no longer be comfortable, - even if I was still just sitting on my butt.

Pedaling a bike when it's 20 or more degrees warmer and under the sun is a completely different environment than my office. Fortunately, there is no dress code while on my bike. I can wear what I want.

In the winter, all the extra layers are a pain. In the summer, changing is not a big deal. For a guy at least, it shouldn't take an hour.

My morning routine looks like this:

Shave at home
Ride to work
Take a 5 to 10 minute shower at work
Dry off
Put on my work clothes.

It's probably less than 20 minutes for me to get ready once I arrive. Since I skip the shower at home, it's probably a 5 or 10 minute difference from if I were to wear my work clothes.

Even up here in the tundra, where it rarely goes above 80F, wearing my work clothes on my commute doesn't work for me because I treat my commute like a time trial. Heck, I sweat too much to wear work clothes on my bike even when it's only 60. That said, for only 10 miles each way, I don't bother kitting up either. Cotton shorts and t-shirt work just fine for me. Ride how you want, wear what you want, and don't worry what someone else is doing.

If it doesn't work for you, it just doesn't work for you! Nobody is saying that it's "wrong". It's just that some people feel as though there's some expectation to dress "accordingly", just because they're riding a road bike. Some people feel that if they're going to be riding over a certain distance, that they should be riding a road bike, instead of a hybrid or cruiser or something. Many people who do feel this way, also feel the compunction to wear what they consider to be the "appropriate attire" for such cycling. They have been unduly subjected to a mental indoctrination, not too unlike your religious exposure.

All we're saying is, you don't have to do the lycra/spandex routine just because you feel that it goes with the bike. I personally wouldn't break a sweat leisurely cycling to work for half an hour. Certainly then, I shouldn't be expected to do the full kit thing. Nor should anyone else with a short commute.

Sometimes we feel under the gun and in the crosshairs for no good reason. I might try to preach when it comes to a few topics, but not many...And most certainly, not this one. It's by far, too trivial!

I like you, TJ!

I wouldn't try to pull your leg...Honest!

Last week it was 104-105 when I got off work most of the days I rode. I'm not doing that in my office clothes. Even when the weather is nicer, I'm still going to be changing clothes when I get to work because I'm going to sweat, so I might as well wear something that's comfortable and dries fast for the ride home. Why not make that a jersey and bike shorts? From walking in the door, to sitting at my desk is usually less than 15min, and that includes putting on a pot of coffee.

Now, for pub crawls and such, its normal shorts and t shirts...

People generally wear bike clothes because they work well for riding a bike. Obviously, they arent always required, so do whatever fits the situation.

I got to skim his book a few weeks ago; he said you shouldn't commute if climate or roads are unfriendly, or really if you're going more than 3-5 miles if I remember right.

Meh. I agree w/ him on some things, disagree on others.

Ride what you want. Wear what you want. Heck, if it tickles your funny bone, scream "Whhhheeeeeeeeeeee" for the entirety of your commute.

I'm pretty sure he feels the same way.

Funny how preaching "non-compliance" with roadie-style clothing ends up giving suggestions for a uniform style anyway.

I'd wear something different if my commute wasn't so ridiculously short. For that matter, when I do ride longer, I wear more bike-specific clothing. You wouldn't recognize me as the same rider if it weren't for my helmet.

I have no point of view to sell but I want to share some info about my commute. 4.5 miles one-way; I ride balls-to-the-wall when I'm not slowed by a traffic light or traffic. Typical time is around 15 min, if I'm not too unlucky with traffic lights or a headwind. In the summer, I wear road shorts and road shoes, nothing else (besides socks and gitch). At the end of my ride, I'm sweating profusely, which is a byproduct of getting a good workout (which is the main reason I commute by bike).

BarracksSi says:

.

And....What uniform would that be, sir?

I'm with you on that one, Skippy!

I certainly do agree with that, and I'm pretty sure that Grant would too!

That's right!...Agreed!

That's right, Sixty! "Dress for the occasion"...That's what I always say!

Darn!!! ...102...That reminds me of Tempe, Arizona. I think I cycled for only ten minutes and about a bucket of sweat poured outta me.

Welp! That's understood for sure!

That's kind of funny. Depending on what you would consider an unfriendly climate, that would eliminate about 1/2 of the days of the year in Minneapolis (between rain, snow, ice, cold, and heat). Minneapolis ranks #2 behind Portland in the U.S. for the number of bike commuters. Good thing some of us are willing to ignore him.

For several months of the year, I go full Copenhagen; dress shoes, slacks, shirt and bow tie. No jacket, I wear a lab coat most days at work. Funny, though, there's only one of my bikes that I feel "right" doing that on; my rehabbed 70s 10-speed that now sports 559 wheels (the practical man's 650B), Brooks saddle and moustache handlebars.

During the winter, I leave all of my dress clothes at work and wear layers + soft shell, and because the road conditions are often dodgy, I ride my trike or mtb.

I agree! There's far too much fretting about other people's styles in the cycling community. I don't ride in cycling gear personally but I don't care if people do, and nobody should care about what I wear.