I commute by bike and likely always will, but it is made to measure for my circumstances - mild climate (UK), I’m bike fit and there is no formal dress code where I work.
Hot climate, needing to look smart for work would put a different complexion on things. Still eminently doable, but you need to be v organised with your clothes portage and change routine.
The linked article in the OP is spot on - people have actually said to me how noble it is to cycle to work (usually the older generation), as if a sacrifice of some kind is being made. You couldn’t pay me to drive to work.
Get signed up to strava for added interest on the commute.
ETA - I also have a bike shed with swipe card access at my workplace - are you sorted for somewhere to keep the bike? This can be a big difference maker, not having to worry about theft, cycling with a big lock etc.
I keep all my work clothing at work except underwear, of which I take in a bagful once a week or so. I have a service that collects all my shirts from work and washes and irons them and brings them back. Only costs me about $15 a week. They do dry cleaning also.
Humidity can make a huge difference. I went out for my ride yesterday and while the temperature was only in the low 80’s F, the humidity was around 85%. I was pouring sweat by the end of the driveway.
Cold tap water on your head and neck for about a minute tricks your body in to stopping sweating much faster, I’ve found. I second the CO2 cartridges for flats. They work great, and fast!
I used to at a previous job.
Take clothes in one one day, leave them & bike on other days. Shower at home before you go; even in the summer, it’s usually not too hot/humid in the morning. Back your pace down the last two miles or so so you’re not too hot & sweaty when you get off the bike. Go into the bathroom, take a quick ‘paper towel bath’ at the sink & get changed in the stall. Remember to keep an extra deodorant in your bag.
A couple more thoughts:
A ‘birdbath’ at the bathroom sink can be enough clean-up for a lot of people. Run a wet washcloth over your face and pits, towel dry, and you’re good to go. (I sweat like a pig, so I shower at work).
You don’t necessarily have to bring a full repair kit every day. If there’s bus or subway between you and work, that can be a flat-tire/breakdown option: when you get a flat, lock your bike up, hop on the bus, and come back after work (either ride the bus out with a patch kit, or take your car there and throw the bike on a rack to bring it home). Heck, in this cell-phone world, you can even just call a cab if you break down. (I’ve put my bike with the front wheel off in the trunk of a cab before, but that was an old-school monster sized cab; probably not an option with the newer ones).
Princhester and Spiderman have your answer. Drive to work Monday and take an extra suit jacket, pants and a couple of shirts with you. Bike in Tuesday - Thursday, changing at the office. Drive in Friday, retrieve clothing. Start all over again the next week. With a good selection of shirts and ties, you can avoid having to store too many suits at the office and won’t look like a drone while you do it.
A couple more tips. Purchase a little desk fan to cool off in the morning. Also, be prepared for a change in mood. Have a bad day at work? Ride hard on the way home. It does wonders. Have a good day at work? Take a scenic route home, or at least take a way you’ve never taken before.
Do any of you commute-to-work-by-bike bikers live in Florida?
Because I live about a half-mile from my office and the reason I don’t walk or ride my bike to work is because it is that bloody hot. This morning, it was 85º on my back porch when I let the dog out – that was at 7:00a.m. Currently (mid-day) it’s 96º. I can’t see riding or walking in this heat without being completely dripping with sweat by the time I got to work. Hell, I get pretty sweaty in my five minutes in the car! Couple that with daily afternoon rain/thunderstorms, and I just don’t understand how Floridians do such things.
There does happen to be a shower stall here at work, in the men’s bathroom (which wouldn’t bother me, but none of the men would be allowed in there while I’m showering), but again, I can’t see the sense of getting up, taking a shower, going for a sweat ride, and then showering again or just showering for the first time *at *work. Doesn’t make sense to me from a practical standpoint. If you live in a more temperate climate than this, it looks really appealing. But I don’t want to get ready for work twice just to save a few pennies on gas.
I’m from a cold climate…if it’s above 75, and I have on more than one layer, I’l be sweating after walking maybe just half a mile, and I’m not out of shape or anything. My body just gets really hot, really fast. I have an ex-girlfriend that called me a human blast furnace when we shared a bed.
I’m here in S. Florida. If I’m biking to work, I don’t shower before I leave the house. I just shower the one time, at the office.
But yeah..I don’t do it when I expect thunderstorms, which rules out most of the summer. Or when I have a broken toe, which also seems to be ruling out a good chunk of the summer.
Did it not occur to you that there are fundamental differences in commuting by bicycle in a place where the “whole country manages to do it” compared to a place where commuting by bicycle is exceedingly rare? I put on a “silly costume” for several reasons related to comfort, efficiency and safety.
If I limited my effort to that of walking it would probably take me 3-4 hours each way. The elevation changes over 13 miles result in a speed range of about 6-30mph with an average speed of roughly 13mph.
In other words, the experience of commuting by bicycle in the Netherlands is nowhere near universal. Also, your bikes look silly.
Yes, yes I do. For about six months of the year, walking more than a few hundred yards (perhaps less) in a suit is highly uncomfortable here. And riding a bike in a suit more so. Brisbane is both hot and hilly.
I have an ex-girlfriend that called me a human blast furnace when we shared a bed.