Bike commuting advice wanted

[Lewis Moon]

I commute 28 miles to work 3 - 5 days a week. I use an Osprey Syncro 15 backpack to carry my clothes. I leave a pair of shoes at work and have a brick of baby wipes for morning "cat baths" in the employee restroom.
I use my commuter time as workout time so I usually arrive pretty sweaty (it IS Arizona, after all). I have a fan at my desk and hang my clothes to dry behind me.
Caveat: I'm a field biologist working among the same. I've spent 15 day river trips on the Colorado with the people around me so...we may have a different measure of "office decorum".

[benb]

The hardest thing is staying motivated...

I can't give you any advice there. My commute is easy and yet I have a hard time motivating myself to do it.

Riding is supposed to be fun, commuting for me generally has not been the most fun kind of riding. The roads are more crowded, more likely to have a dangerous interaction with a driver while I'm commuting, and because I have to actually arrive at the office I have to go through a zillion busy intersections. And it's not really long enough to be a great workout. Lots of logistics in terms of carrying stuff.

A longer commute might actually be easier that way.. if you have to go 20+ miles you have more opportunity to ride through some areas that are better for cycling.

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by DreaminJohn

A question I have that is hopefully relevant to the OP:

What do y'all do about the dirty clothing that may accumulate? As someone who sweats profusely there's NO way I could use the same clothes to ride home unless there was some sort of washing involved.

Thanks.

For riding clothes, I hang my shorts and shirt in the closet, chamois side out, and they dry during the day. One of the advantages of living in Denver is that everything drys out quickly. I keep my dirty work clothes in a box under my desk and take them home on car days...I'm about to pack up a load right now.

Another tip, mountain shoes and pedals. I use Frogs, but any mountain set up will work. In my experience, work buildings have lots of tile and eventually you will slip and fall wearing road shoes.

And while we are talking about shoes...winter boots are mandatory for winter riding, you don't want to be messing with covers. I have three sets of shoes, one summer, one winter, and one shoulder. The shoulder season shoes are low cut, but big enough for thicker socks because in Denver, the morning ride is in the 40s but the ride home is in the 70s or 80s; summer shoes are too cold for the mornings and winter shoes are too hot for the afternoons.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by benb

The hardest thing is staying motivated...

I can't give you any advice there. My commute is easy and yet I have a hard time motivating myself to do it.

Riding is supposed to be fun, commuting for me generally has not been the most fun kind of riding. The roads are more crowded, more likely to have a dangerous interaction with a driver while I'm commuting, and because I have to actually arrive at the office I have to go through a zillion busy intersections. And it's not really long enough to be a great workout. Lots of logistics in terms of carrying stuff.

A longer commute might actually be easier that way.. if you have to go 20+ miles you have more opportunity to ride through some areas that are better for cycling.

On this theme, when I used to bike commute more, I lived 3 miles from my job. In the mornings, I would usually take the long way to work, typically doing a 12 mile route, and regularly going 15-25 miles. At the end of the day, however, I just wanted to be done, and would usually ride straight home. I could imagine after a hard day of work, it could be rough some times to work up the motivation for 20-30 miles.

This could depend on the job--I was working consulting at the time, which meant that people were pretty lax about when I showed up in the morning, but it was also very unpredictable when I would leave. If I had been working a job with more regular hours, I might have preferred to go the short and predictable way in, and then meander my way home at the end of the day.

[KidWok]

I've used a bike for year-round commuting and primary transportation for most of my adult life. Previously used a disc brake equipped cross bike and now using a class 3 e-bike. Some great tips already here...here's mine:

- Helmet mounted lights: Amazing to me how many motorists look "past" cyclists and just don't see them. A bright helmet mounted light allows you to point the light right into someone's windshield and really get their attention. A handlebar light isn't visible for someone coming out of a side street/parking lot if there is also cars parked on the street going the same direction as the cyclist. I don't know how many times I've had a car edge forward into the road and jerk to a stop when I've pointed the light on my head in their direction. It's a lifesaver and a must have for me. I have a Cateye Volt 400, which comes with the helmet mount, and I use it day and night. I also use a Orfos Pro amber light zip-tied to the back of my helmet with a small USB battery.

- EXTRA set of lights. I primarily use my helmet mounted light but I also keep another one on the handlebar. You may find that a) you accidentally forgot to charge your primary light and/or b) there are times when you want a handlebar mounted light dedicated to illuminating the road surface. Same goes for the rear. I see so many people with only one light and it being too dim because it wasn't charged or doesn't have fresh batteries. Don't be that person.

- Definitely yes on full fenders. Don't bother with clip-ons. They're a pretty mediocre solution. Make mud flaps out of milk jugs that touch the ground, at least on the front.

- I would recommend using a front low-rider rack for a long pavement commute. I've tried both backpack and panniers. Prefer backpack for short commutes, but they do get sweaty on hot days and I don't like how stuff shifts around when trying to sprint for a light.

- Don't skimp on tires. I started off commuting on Panaracer Paselas because they had a really durable compound and were cheap. Quickly found that their hard compound also had horrible grip. If you're commuting in the city and/or wet conditions, you'll likely be braking more so get nice tires. I've really liked the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme for this application.

- For your commute, I'd absolutely consider a class 3 e-bike. That kind of distance is pretty significant. A class 3 would make it doable everyday if you wanted to. It would also make hauling the dirty clothes, extra food, laptop, etc much easier. I am a real estate broker and use mine in the Seattle/Bellevue area. My commute to the office is only about 7 miles each way, but I oftentimes need to meet clients or show my listings within a 20 mile radius. Having a class 3 is great because it gets me around faster than a car in the city and I'm still getting a zone 2-3 workout. I can consistently count on a 15-18 mph average travel speed depending on the number of lights along the way. So your 20-30 mile commute will become a 75-90 minute bike commute and you don't have to spend 45 minutes in the car anymore. This assumes that your commute route has the means to handle a class 3 e-bike, which may be more restricted than a class 1. I find that year-round e-biking enhances my non-assisted road biking. I'm leaner and have a solid base fitness year-round. Not hard at all for me to stay committed to using an e-bike for commuting because it's way better than being stuck in a car even on the darkest and rainiest days.

- I keep an extra set of rain gear at the office. So many days that start off with bluebird skies in the morning only to wind up wet on the way home. Always an extra set of jacket, pants, and shoe covers in my desk drawer.

- Flat BMX pedals...especially in the city.

- A recent game changer for me has been the Lazer Anverz helmet. It comes with a removable rain cover and a clear visor. As a year-round commuter in a rainy place, these two things have been a big step up from what I was previously using.

- Reflective gloves. I usually just get them from hardware stores or safety/industrial stores.

- Unfortunate recent addition: I've started using a 3M 6503QL respirator mask on my commutes. It filters out PM2.5 particles from brake dust, tire dust, and diesel exhaust. Originally it was just for wildfire season when AQI hit yellow. My commute is on a fairly major road and I'm frequently driving next to a lot of cars and diesel trucks so I've started it whenever I'm on a major road. The QL model has a quick release lever so that I can have it off my face when not on major roads.

Tai

[BlueFly]

Suggestions regarding lighting, tools, supplies, and additional clothing accessories (shoes, belts, personal items) are noteworthy. I use a backpack to carry daily work clothes and personal items. I also do not have to carry a laptop everyday. Although there have been times I needed to do that.

One technique that i used during one of my projects, since i had to use a 2 lane bridge (w/o a bike/walk lane) was to drive to work Monday with bike.

On the return trip each afternoon, I parked the car, in a safe residential area, on the home side of the bridge.

Ride home and the next morning ride to the car (total ~20+ miles). Pack the bike and drive over the bridge and to the office (~ 8 miles) where I could shower/dress for the day. Friday afternoon I would just drive home and then go for a ride.

YMMV based on route, neighborhoods, etc.....