commuting every day

joeyhalloran

My current commute is 25 miles each way which means I don't like doing it by bike every day. This gives me a chance to leave things like breakfast, towel, work clothes and a spare set of lycras for the return journey the day before (when I drive). However, there has been talk of relocating the office to a new premises 10 miles away, which is great but does leave me with a dilemma. I want to cycle every day to get the mile in and as a good way of getting to work, but how then do I get all the stuff I mentioned above to work? Do people just put it in bags? Seems like a lot to carry all on a bike.


How much do you commute with and how do you handle the logistics?

sharky1029

Surely one set of lycra is enough as you will get smelly anyway so you may as well save yourself the effort and a towel could probably be left there for a bit of time before changing it assuming there is a radiator somewhere.
A suit could probably be left there for long enough (assuming you work in a suit) and only need changing when you do an occasional drive which only leaves a shirt.
If you have a wardrobe/ cupboard/ large locker you could take a weeks worth of them and then you just have 2 journeys with a bag.
Also with a shorter journey you can leave later and get breakfast in before you leave.
If the above is not easy, get a decent bag with some rain protection and use the lightest weight stuff to work in if you can and leave as much at the office as possible.
You can also drive once a week in the worst case scenario.

peat

I have a similar dillema. I always drive in on a Monday bring shirts and a week's worth of snacks/lunchbox stuff so that i can pack light for the ride. I try to ride at least 3 times a week.

If i had to/wanted to ride everyday, i would probably get a touring/hybrid fully pannier'ed up.

Revdarny

I have a 10 mile commute, I use a camelbak HAWG and place my work shirt in where the bladder should be. If you fold the shirt well, you get hardly any creases and those that are there are gone within an hour from you wearing the shirt. My work shoes are always at work and I leave a pair of trousers there during the week. But if you need a fresh pair you can always change them.

I don't worry about a spare pair of lycra as you can change them for a fresh set the next day if needed. But if you wanted to take some they don't weigh much really.

Essentially all that comes with me during the week is a fresh pair of underwear for the day, breakfast and lunch. Plus trousers at the beginning and end of the week. The only really heavy day is dress down Friday when you have to take a completely different set of clothes and shoes.

chris_bass

can you leave stuff at work?

I leave, towel, wash kit, shoes, food and lock at work.

then all i take in is my clothes for the day and my lunch. have a couple of spare tubs and a pump in a water bottle in my second holder. seems to do me fine for commuting everyday.

if you are able to drive in you could also take clothes for the week in and that would cut down a lot of what you'd need to take in.

rubertoe

I commute everyday, 15 mile round trip.

I carry a rucksack in it I carry clothes (shoes are left at work), towel, Change of Kit and wash stuff as well as lunch on a daily basis.

I dont have any problems with it.

I would recomend getting a couple of travel towels if there is no where for you to leave a towel at work

cookeeemonster

I use a Carradice saddlebag (13 litre I think - you can get bigger and smaller sizes) which carries all my clothes plus tools/spare tube/wallet/phone etc etc. I prefer it to panniers personally...

...but do you wear a suit and tie at work? Things might be a bit more complicated if so as you wouldn't normally carry a suit jacket in a saddlebag or pannier (though you could)...

katiebob

rubertoe wrote:

I commute everyday, 15 mile round trip.

I carry a rucksack in it I carry clothes (shoes are left at work), towel, Change of Kit and wash stuff as well as lunch on a daily basis.

I dont have any problems with it.

I would recomend getting a couple of travel towels if there is no where for you to leave a towel at work

This. I leave my towel and wash stuff at work though and bring towel home at weekends to wash. I'm the only girl who uses the ladies shower though so it's like having a personal dressing room! I don't feel guilty about clogging it up with all my crap!

joeyhalloran

Thanks for all the replies so far! Its been very encouraging. Think I'm just going to have to load up with stuff Monday and Friday and leave it at work through the week (which will be fine). I wear a shirt and jeans at work so no problem with suits or anything like that. Really looking forward to it now!

How do those that commute that kind of distance find it? A bit to much? Does it take to e to get used to it? What impact does it have on your training/fitness?

Initialised

I do 25-30 miles a day, 15 mile round trip and a 10-15 mile hilly ride at lunch time.

I wear baggies and SPD shoes to minimise the need to change, just dry off with fans when needed.

I take all my food in on Monday in a stuffed back pack and bring it packed with wet weather gear if rain is scheduled, the rest of the week I only need the saddlebag with tools and a spare tube .

I have emergency clothes and shoes at work in case I get caught out by the weather.

You could take a bigger bag or panniers full of everything you need for a week on Monday and Bring it back to wash on Friday.

I ramped up to where I am now fairly gradually but if you're already doing alternate 25 mile days you'll be fine.

Impact on training and fitness, yes, immense, I get around two hours of cycling a day which I can use as part of a training plan.