zacster

I have a one hour ride, and I need at least 10 minutes to change once I get there, and it takes about 15-20 minutes to get my clothes and all the other bits together, pump the tires, get the bag positioned on the bike, helmet, gloves, shoes... To get to the office at 9, I have start at about 7:20. And that's if I take the direct route. If I take the East River Greenway, I need another 10 minutes or so. If I take the subway I can leave my house at 8:05 and still have time to get coffee, plus getting ready is easier. All in all, I'd say biking adds about 30-45 minutes to my routine. And it is well worth it!

rumrunn6

lol sounds like me just add pet care, garbage & recycling. I just get up earlier cuz I hate to rush. on days I drive I give myself 2 hrs. days I bike 1.5 hrs

ThermionicScott 

For a 1 mile commute, I'd put on my work clothes and just walk it.

Johnny Mullet

I look forward to my commute and make it happen. Highlight of the day, everyday!

Gresp15C

Prepping stuff the night before.

For me, having a specific place for my commuting stuff helps too, so I know it's all there, and don't have to rush around in the morning, looking for everything. During the summer, I leave everything on the bike. During the winter, I have a place to hang up my cold weather gear.

Not getting a flat is important if you're on a tight schedule. My bike has puncture resistant tires, plus I carry all of the things needed to repair a flat.

kuroba

My morning routine has gotten very short since I started leaving clothes and stuff at work. I just have to dress (now in winter that takes a while with all the layers lol), grab the handlebar bag, refill my bottle and off I go. I have breakfast when I get to the office.

When I started commuting and carried everything back and forth I left the panniers prepared the night before so I didn't have to get up so early. I'm not really a morning person.

locolobo13 

Mine is similar to others here.

First pack my backpack as much as possible the night before. Lay out my clothes.

When the alarm goes off, dress, shave, check the cat's food, get my bike and go. While putting on my shoes I check the weather and listen to traffic reports. Total process time is 15-20min.

My ride in is around 30-40min counting time at McDs to buy a cup of coffee. I leave a full hour before I need to be at work just in case. Personally I think that's the real secret to getting to work on time. Allow yourself a margin for problems.

wphamilton

Ha you guys are right! I'd been thinking "I don't prep anything the night before, just grab stuff and go" but that's not entirely true. If I'm leaving early on Monday, or expecting extreme weather, or really anything unusual I do pull out whatever I'm going to wear the night before, get it all organized and planned out. Belt, badge/card, plastic bags, anything extra and anything that doesn't wrinkle already packed. Bikes ready to go, rain gear selected and located if needed. It's just automatic and I don't really think about it

rhm

Get up, use the bathroom, get dressed, make a cup of tea. Ten minutes.

Drink tea while eating a bowl of dry cheerios or granola and checking the contents of my messenger bag; fifteen minutes.

Use the bathroom again, put on helmet and jacket, make sure I have keys, wallet, cell phone, handkerchief, messenger bag. Five minutes.

Assuming no more than 30 minutes have elapsed at this point, I leave.

Ride 5.5 miles to station. Twenty minutes.

Get on train. The train leaves 58 minutes after my alarm goes off. If I miss it, I'll be waiting 17 minutes for the next one.

dcole300

I'll probably walk on snowy winter days, but I use my bike for work as well so that's a large reason why I ride in. My office is split into two buildings a couple miles apart so I often courier documents between buildings. It's a fun way to break up the office life.

ThermionicScott 

Ahhh!

pdlamb

I should try the night before pre sometime. Monday morning takes me and extra 5 minutes to find cell phone, billfold, etc. When it turns cold it takes me an extra 15 minutes to dig out long gloves, base layer, etc. Lucky for me nobody's watching the clock.

Darth Lefty 

Awake, fill dishwasher, make breakfast. As soon as I have a nice hot breakfast sitting in front of me with a nice cup of coffee, the 2yo wakes up so I abandon it and go get him up for his morning change and toothbrush. We have our breakfast together. Mom gets up and takes over the kid. I change into my bike costume, load an engineer costume in the backpack, and head out to the garage to disentangle a bike.

Then I go back in the house to get my badge. This one step can take half an hour depending on whether I can remember where I left it.

Then I go back in the house to get my pills.

Then I go back in the house to get my lunch.

Then I close the garage door.

Then I open it again to get my helmet.

Then I open it again to find my earbuds.

Then I start out.

Then I go back because my tires seem soft.

Then I go back because the air is too chill, so I go back for a sweater and gloves.

Then I go back because I forgot my pills or badge or lunch...

Really it's amazing I ever manage to leave home.

bmthom.gis

For awhile there I was doing pretty darn good at getting up around 5:45/6 am. Lately that's been a lot later and I haven't been commuting by bike much. Really, I just haven't wanted to. I have been doing a lot more club rides/long training rides working on getting my mileage and speed up. I have a feeling once fall hits I'll want to be back on the commuter.

Anyway, my routine lately has been wake up whenever I feel like it - usually around 7:30, get up and sit on the toilet and check things like facebook, instagram, read news headlines, etc. Go downstairs, drink coffee, drink smoothie, go shower, do a short walk with the dogs and roll out. In my very lackadaisical pace it's 9:30 or a little later by the time I get into the office. I have no f#cks to give lately. Kind of between projects and am just doing busy work, that while needs to get done, is busy work.

Usual routine:
Up by 6 at the latest, downstairs by about 6:20, walk the dogs for a mile (really it's been a little too hot to take them that long this summer), drink coffee while watching the news, get ready for the day and be out the door by 7:45/8 am. I'll get into work around 8:30 this way. I just pull out some stretchy bike clothes, pull out some normal clothes, roll up the normal stuff and stick it in mesh bag and that's the only difference in my getting ready routine. That, and I shower at work instead of at home.

I should get back to getting into work early. The hours I work are flexible. I've been staying up late (around midnight) so it's been hard with little motivation to be on a set schedule to want to be up.

Moe Zhoost

Just decide on your routine and stick with it. Build in some flexibility so you can adjust for leaving home late. I have a variety of routes so I can take a longer one if out of the door early, or a shorter one if running late. To me, early/late is plus or minus 10 minutes max though.

ItsJustMe

I ride about 13 miles one way, have for > 10 years now.

My prep? Bathroom, throw on seasonally appropriate cycling clothing, chuck breakfast and lunch into the bag, probably already has wallet and work ID and whatever tools I want in there, strap on shoes and helmet and go. Less than half an hour, and that's only because I tend to catch up on twitter in the bathroom in the morning (maybe TMI but I need 10 minutes in there anyway after waking up or my digestion will catch up on me mid-ride).

I generally just keep a pair of jeans, a few changes of socks and underwear, several shirts and a pair of shoes in my drawer at work. Every 2 or 3 weeks I change them out when I'm driving to work.

rmfnla

Figure out how long it takes to get ready and have an easy ride and establish a cut-off time to accomplish it.

I can get into the office when I want but I like an early start.

I read and have coffee in the morning but I know at 7:15 it's time to get crackin'...

Moondoggy

My morning routine is to grab my "riding home" clothes and strap them onto my rack, grab my eyewear and pedal off. I wear my "work" clothes on the ride in. I'm finding that my lower back has been tight, lately. Probably because I sit most of the day and then ride home. I am going to try stretching to see if this helps. My commute is sometimes my only activity during the workday, I try to walk on lunch, but even with that, still sitting much of the day.

revcp 

I wake up, make coffee for my wife, drink a cup with her, shower, pick up around the house a bit, let the dog out, then back in, eat, put on biking clothes, pack my bike with work clothes and get on the bike. I do basically the same thing if I drive in (which I do when I have an offsite meeting during the day), but don't wear the bike clothes.

Tiniest jorts

I like to be at work at 8, and my commute is 20-25 mins to downtown depending on lights. I wake up at 7ish, fill the water kettle, feed the cat, and jump in the shower. Shave on odd days. Put on bike shorts, running shirt, socks and shoes. Grab underwear, undershirt, and std. issue black socks. Make the coffee, pack the cereal, into the backpack, clothes on top, out the door and on the bike around 7:25.

I'm very fortunate that I have an office with a door, behind which on the wall I have two adhesive hooks with a bunch of shirts and a couple pairs of pants. I change those out every 2 weeks or so. My mornings are reviewing yesterday and I don't generally have meetings until 9. I let myself cool off while putting on the news or music and change.

exile

My commute is about 5 miles each way. I don't do anything differently then if I were driving except wake up 20 minutes earlier. I make my lunch and snacks the night before and make my coffee in the morning. I usually get to work 15-20 minutes early. This allows me to cool down and clean up before other people arrive.

ascherer 

I'm a fair weather commuter, and it takes me about the same time to travel the 4.5 miles by bike or by subway so my routines are very similar.

Wake, bathroom chores, brew coffee (my other passion), finish dressing (I wear my work clothes), have a little of the coffee and vitamins. Most of the coffee goes to the office in a Kleen Kanteen along with a premade breakfast. If I didn't make something I'll get a bagel and egg at a deli. I get in earlier than most so I eat at my desk while I catch up on email and news and figure out my priorities.

I have a compact shoulder bag that slides easily into one side of a Linus rollup saddlebag pannier so switching between commuter modes is simple. Tools, pump, tubes and locks are in the other side. If I'm really present, I'll squeeze the tires the night before and top off if necessary.

Roll out of our apartment, put on sunglasses, helmet, turn on Ride With GPS on my phone and roll downtown.

Jim from Boston

How do you prep for your morning commute?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcole300

Ihave a very short commute (1 mile) compared to most of you. With that beingsaid, I am cutting it close to being late into the office most days. My issueis that I enjoy my mornings and get busy reading, cooking breakfast, sipping coffee, watering th e lawn, etc. By the time I am ready to leave for work it's afast paced ride in and I arrive flustered and sweaty. Maybe a longer commutewould be more beneficial because I know I can't race down the road for a fewminutes trying to beat the clock.

So, how do you guys and gals prep for your morning commute to arrive at the office on time? Also, do you enjoy the commute in or are you also racing the clock?

I cycle-commute year-round for fitness, at least 14 miles or more. My work schedule is long, but flexible and as a natural early riser, my usual goal in the morning is to leave by 5 AM. However, I often get home after 9 PM,and mess around until after 11, and then get up by about 4:30 AM (I can get in a nap or two in late afternoon or early evening.)

My basic preparations are pretty perfunctory. I shower either the night before or that morning. My gear is usually in place from the night before, and dressing time is variable depending on the time of year, up to about 20 minutes in the dead of winter.

I always check the weather, including Doppler to decide what to wear and which bike – pristine carbon fiber road bike if dry, or heavy-duty beater mountain bike otherwise. (I just bought, but haven't picked up yet an aluminum road bike to use as my March to December beater, with the mountain bike for winter.)

No breakfast for me since the ride is less than 20 miles, but I do have some coffee usually made the night or two before.

My constant stumbling block for my intended 5 AM departure is that I sit down to drink my coffee, and start reading Bike Forums. Usually I have the TV on, and may get involved in a TV show or movie, and time flies by. Usually I wind up leaving at about 5:30 to 6. If it’s a movie that restrains me, I will look it up on Wikipedia to find out how it ends.

The downside of leaving “later” is that even though I commute in the reverse direction, from downtown to a suburb, the ride is less pleasant as traffic notably increases all along the route, almost precisely at 6 AM. Sun glare also becomes more of a problem, and I lose that golden time at work when no one is around, and there are no interruptions.

RidingMatthew

I usually prepare by laying my gps, glasses, gloves, mirror, and sometimes my halo (sweatband) on the table. I have my panniers in the living room and usually lay fresh clothes plus whatever I am taking in on the couch they lean against the night before. My wife makes my lunch and coffee in the morning and then helps me secure the bags while I am getting the bike from the shed.


Some mornings like today I just lay in bed and hope that it is not raining still like my weather app said it was. then I get up and check outside.


pack it all up and go.

wished

I commuted most of last school year (teacher, not student) and loved it. I tried to leave early just to avoid traffic, usually at school by 7:00, my work day starts at 7:30 and students at 8:30. I would get up at 6:00, snooze or check social media about 15 minutes, get dressed, fix breakfast for my wife and I (both of us eat while commuting, her in her SUV and me on the bike), bike 4 miles with my backpack on my back, get to school by 7:00, change shoes from clipless to something else, fix coffee, and play school all day.

Traffic in the afternoon was worse so I would try to be out the door right after my last student to beat the school buses and all those dang moms in their soccer-mobiles that could care less about the teacher on the bike. Once I got away from school it was easy cruising on the way home. Frequently I would stop by grocery store for dinner supplies, wander around the town just for fun, end up at home in time to let my dogs out, play a little catch with them, and fix dinner by the time my wife got home from her school.

I am not commuting this year because I have retired after 40 years. Still intend to ride bike to grocery store often, or anywhere else I need to go in town!