I have my first ever big boy job with a desk and an office and junk for the summer, and it’s quite neat. I’m also pleased that my boss is out in the burbs, relatively close to my house. It’s about equal time by bike or by car to get there, given the different paths, flow of traffic, etc.
This article made me start thinking about it again. But I always wondered about the perils of a) biking in a suit/sports coat; b) sweating like a pig; and c) getting crushed by a semi.
To the extent that my commute doesn’t involve busy roads or the freeway, I think ‘C’ is mitigated. How do bike commuters handle A and B? Any advice from Dopers?
You deal with (a.) by changing when you get to work. You deal with (b.) by hoping your building has a shower in it somewhere or that your co-workers are too polite to say anything.
If it’s close enough that the bike trip takes about the same time as the car trip, how sweaty are you really going to get? You don’t have to ride hell-for-leather, after all.
I cycle anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes to get to work, depending what site I go to. I am lazy so I wear whatever trousers/bottoms I’ll wear all day, and just change my shirt/top. Doesn’t get super sweaty until it’s the height of summer. Which in the UK lasts for a week, so no bother!
I’m in London, and it took a bit of getting used to cycling here, but I just remember I can stop the bike any time and calm down if I need to and it’s fine.
If you were cycling for ten minutes or less, you won’t sweat too much and could probably get away without changing a shirt.
As said, it really depends how hard you’re cycling. I bike commute on my road bike, but I ride relatively hard (generally 30 - 40 km/hr) and have to shower and change when I get to work. Does your new workplace have showering facilities?
That’s what bags like this are for. Do you have a rear rack on your bike? You’ll need that to hang the panniers from. Using panniers instead of a backpack will also cut down on back sweat (in that it will evaporate rather than getting trapped under the backpack and soaking your shirt).
How long is your commute? A 10 minute commute I wouldn’t even worry about sweating. A 45 minute commute, I would. I was never totally comfortable after a long commute without a shower, mostly because if I really sweat in my hair it feels greasy until I wash it. At the same time, I’ve done it, and just brought a washcloth and small towel so I could sponge off in the bathroom before changing into work clothes. It wasn’t ideal but it did the job.
I wear jeans and a button down shirt at the office. When I bike in, I place the shirt on the bed, place the jeans on top of them, and then roll it up. This keeps my shirt from getting wrinkled.
If you’re wearing a suit, it may be more difficult. Can you get away with keeping some jackets at the office, so you don’t need to carry them back and forth? I’ve never tried to roll an entire suit up, but it’s worth a try.
There are bags for bikes designed for a suit. A quick search for “bike bag for suit” shows some options.
When I was biking to work, I used to drive once a week or so, and bring in several changes of clothes with me. Usually, it rained often enough that I could just do the clothes thing on rainy days without even missing an opportunity to ride in nice weather. Clothes in place, I could bike in and change until I ran out of things to change into. It helped that we had showers and a changing room, though.
How funny you should post this just now. I’m getting ready to also start commuting to work, and I just did a round trip tonight (to check out how hard it would be for me, see if/how much I sweat, etc). I’ll be putting my work clothes in a back pack and then changing at work.
Our dress code is SUPER casual, but because I only have field clothes and business casual, what I wear ranges from business casual to just short of business fancy (nothing formal). Luckily there’s a shower at work in case I get too icky on the way to work.
I second rolling your outfit, I do that for packing for trips and it works pretty well.
I cycle a bunch…tip…carry some baby powder, when you change sprinkle some of that around your chest and shoulders if you do not have access to shower…everybody likes the smell of a little baby powder…just do not over do it
The suit thing is much more difficult than the sweating. As runner pat said, if you shower and use deodorant before you leave, body odor shouldn’t be a problem. Having a shower would be a nice way to cool down but when I ride to work (13 miles with significant inclines) I show up drenched with sweat and just towel off and cool down at my desk for ten minutes before changing into work clothes.
My office is business casual, so I just toss a pair of khakis, button down shirt, undershirt, socks and shorts into a dry bag with my wallet and phone. I wear bicycle shoes with cleats so I leave a pair of shoes in the office. Wearing a suit and tie every day, I would definitely transport clothing by car as Kyrie Eleison suggests, but I wouldn’t (and don’t) let a lack of shower stop me from riding.
I would definitely suggest getting a rack and panniers. Carrying a backpack on a bike sucks. Even if you’re not carrying clothing, I recommend getting a dry bag. I use a 20L Seal Line but for just wallet, phone and other small items, the 5L is probably sufficient. The 20L fills up a full bag on my panniers. You can opt to drive in on rainy mornings but there’s not much you can do on a rainy evening after you’ve already biked in. Which also reminds me to recommend a blinking headlight and tail light. Even if you don’t plan to ride after dark, they’re a necessity in the rain and even wise to use in overcast conditions. I don’t use mine in bright daylight, but I wear jerseys with the word “screaming” in their color description, so consider using them all the time if you prefer more subdued bicycle clothing.
I forgot to mention, don’t even consider commuting by bike if you’re not willing and able to change a flat tube out on the sidewalk or side of the road. Carry at least one spare tube (I carry two) a patch kit that you know how to use, hand pump and/or CO[sub]2[/sub] cartridges with a valve adapter. I carry a pump and two CO[sub]2[/sub] cartridges. Also know how to check the tire and wheel for cause of the flat so you don’t wind up with another one a few miles down the road.
Flat tires. It’s not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when?” You will get dirty repairing a flat tire. Another argument against even attempting to commute by bike in work clothing.
I live in the Netherlands, where everyone wears a suit on their bike to work. We make fun of people who need to wear silly costumes to get on a bicycle. Chill out and hop on your bike. Our prime ministers do, business execs do, everyone. Just cycle whatever speed is comfortable. Wear deodorant, and if you sweated a tiny bit you’ll be fine. The last few minutes, go slow to cool down so you arrive all nice and relaxed.
Here is what Dutch people look like. If a whole country manages to do it, I’m sure you can too
