Bathroom break before commute
 

Just curious if anyone else has this 'problem' with having to use the bathroom (#2) before the ride home. Usually in the morning it's a given for most people to do their business before heading out. But I find I have to do the same thing prior to leaving work. The sensation hits me after I'm already almost in full gear, usually when I'm putting on my shoes. Then it's like, f$$@, I gotta walk all the way to the bathroom in the other side of the building. I don't know if it's the anxiety or excitement of the ride I have ahead of me, but it almost never fails.

This never happens when I drive to work. Go figure.

It's your body's reaction to the upcoming exercise. For me, it's not nearly as bad on the bike as it is when I go running. Running... jostles things up in there.

Ouch! Flashbacks of forced runs in boot camp. 7 miles across the golf course and back. And one sad runner came back without his underpants...that runner was me

Got people spending big bucks shaving grams off of their bikes with Titanium and other exotic materials...

Least we forget the cheapest way to lighten our load...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh TMI

I generally change clothes before the ride home in a bathroom. End of personal info-sharing.

I never understood people pooping on a schedule. That blows my friggin' mind, LOL. (Better than blowing my colon, I suppose). When I used to smoke pot, I could count on the urge, but otherwise it's a totally random, chaotic event.

I pee all day anyway. Every couple hours anyway. And before I go ride.

Poor golf course!:lol:

I go before leaving home, but don't have the same issue before leaving work.

Back in 2008 was a thread on this subject, Missed my commute... :(. I remember it because it contained just about the funniest post I have read on Bike Forums:

I don't have IBS but I occasionally have problems if my diet changes so I don't have breakfast before I go because that seems to speed things up. I also add Benefibre to my morning protein shake (prepared and drunk at work soon after I get to my cube) which seems to help too.

On a side note, I was thinking about bike touring last night when I remembered that, for the last year or two, I get up in the middle of the night for a P, I need to consider that when I find a place to setup camp.

You can train your body to go on a schedule. And if if your body is already on a schedule but you don't like it, you can change it, with a little effort.

OMG this happens to me all the time!!! And it sucks because I'm trying to get out the door so I'm not real late getting home, or these days so I have as much daylight left as possible. Yesterday luckily I was able "lighten the load" about an hour before I left.

I'm on the schedule of going in the morning. Every single day, without fail. But sometimes I get the urge while at work, sometimes not. Sometimes I do when I bike commute or drive, but it only happens just before leaving if I brought the bike. Then sometimes again before going to bed, but sometimes not. It's weird. Morning is the only definite time every single day.

try eating less fiber. I hear the atkins diet might be a good start.

Ok, i gotta say, this thread made me belly laugh fully out loud.

Second...... i will say that i've learned to get the ride in first. I used to be a tour guide in NYC and lets just say one time i had some "less than ideal food". By the time the "less than ideal food" was causing a "less than ideal GI situation", i had to go from grand centra main concoursel, to the 7 train, to the 1 train, to the NJT train, to SEPTA (trenton to levittown), then a ride 25 minutes home from there. It felt like that 3 hour trip lasted 4 days. If i could stave off the results of the "less than ideal GI situation", then you'd figure correctly that a 10 minute ride to a known clean working bathroom is nothing. I have no alternative, i have to use the bike. I think 90% of the "less than ideal GI situations" is mental, so just block it out mentally.

If it's too cold to ride and i stupidly dressed wrong for trip back once i'm out, then i do suffer all the way home, and guess what, i just block most of it out. Thankfully with the iPhone i'm rarely caught like that anymore. :D

- Andy

Plan ahead and use the toilet pre-emptively. Honestly, it's possible. Don't wait for the urge.

It happens to me sometimes. It's definitely the anxiety because it happens before other situations too.

Chug a glass of water 30 min - hour before your commute. Always gets the guts moving for me.

I thought I saved it, but can't find it. Awhile back I saw a photo of the Dos Equis guy with the text "I don't always have to poop, but when I do, it's right after I put my bibs and jersey on."

Yeah my life story. I am as regular as the German train system. Usually two in the morning, occasionally one before I go home.

I eat a lot of dried fruit so that keeps me regular.

The most bizarre thing I experience is the urge whenever I cook my oatmeal. Put my oats on to boil my body puts my bowels on to boil.

It sounds as though you want to prevent needing to P on the way home? I just pull over and P without dismounting. Quick and easy. I used to worry that somebody would see me. Either they don't, or they don't care. It helps that I have a big handlebar bag that's in the line of sight for cars approaching head-on. Ping freely is how I cope with having an enlarged prostate. If I'm outdoors I can find a spot almost anywhere.

I've done this! It actually impressed a buddy of mine one time when we were on a ride together. He thought I was just standing there reading a road sign. When I came back he said, " I thought you had to pee?".

"Just did!".

All right. I can rest easy now that I know I"m not the only one! For me the 'urge' only comes when I'm about to put on my cleats. Hmm. Wonder if I can ride barefoot.

Golfers, avoid replacing the steaming divot