The logistics of riding my bike to work...you know, I think I can do this!

Have you ever "known" something, but at the same time, never really KNOWN something? I'll give you an example. For some reason or another, I've always "known" that there was a shower where I work...

Wait, maybe a little more backstory.

I work in an Advertising Agency. The agency ownership is also in an ownership position of another business that's housed in the same building. That business is a printing business. The Ad Agency sort of holds a "front of house" position in the building, and the printing company is down another hall, and also occupies the large warehouse back end of the building.

So back there, in the back, is a more "industrial" bathroom in the warehouse, and it's got a shower.

And I've known this. I don't know how I know it or why, but I never went back there until today. It's a pretty nice shower, and the bathroom has a pretty good lock on it for a little privacy while you're showerin'.

So think about this for a minute. The "bike route" I mentioned yesterday is about 14 miles. Fourteen miles of fairly flat, straight, medium traffic, secondary roads. The place where I work, I have an office where I can store items that I need, and a shower. I work about a mile from the beach, and my route takes me along the ocean for at least 50% of the ride.

So I guess the question is, what the hell is actually stopping me from riding my bike to work? People would absolutely KILL for the set of conditions I have in my job, life, and home/location. So I've been working out the logistics, and I think I can do it. Here's what I'm thinking:

First off, think odd and even days.

I lay out all my clothes the night before work, I've always done that since the Navy. So, it would be nothing for me to lay out a second set of clothes. Shirt, tie, pants, socks, shoes, etc, and hang the pants and shirt & tie on my office door. So let's call Monday the first odd day, I'll take in clothes for tuesday and leave them there. Then I can drive in on Monday, and ride on Tuesday and there are clothes waiting. Then I ride home Tuesday. Wednesday I'll take clothes for Thursday, and take my Tuesday clothes back home. Odd, Even, Odd, Even. I could ride to work every other day if I started doing that.

That leaves showering. I figure all I need is to run get a cheap bathroom carpet and leave it in the bathroom. Then I put together a bag that has, Shampoo, Soap, Shower Shoes, A Towel (which I can hang up to dry) and some hair care products, and I should be good to go, right? Leave the bag at work, swap out towels every few days.

My only question concerns taking off shorts and shirts and leaving them hanging up for about 8 hours, then putting them back on for the ride at work. I think if you turn the shorts inside out and let them "air out" you should minimize any um...personal problems, if you will. I'm not so concerned about tights and tops. They're "airy" enough and not so "hugged tight" to body parts that are normally susceptible to those "types of problems". I could probably rinse my shorts in the shower, but I'm not sure they'd dry in 7-8 hours. I suppose I could do a dry run and soak a pair and see how long it takes them to dry.

This is all really exciting. Like I said earlier, I really do think a lot of people would kill for my drive to work situation. It's a perfect bicycle commuting route, and when you take into account the shower situation it's a complete no-brainer. I talked to Andy about it this afternoon and not only did he say, "sure you can use it" but he thought it was an awesome idea and was glad someone was doing that and using the shower.

So with the ride up and back being 14 miles one way, I'm looking at being able to get in an easy easy 30 miles or so every other day. Take the long way home and I might be able to stretch it out to 40 or so.

The other issue is going to be clothing and outerwear, but that's a whole 'nother post. I need to really work on putting together a good set of outerwear, but right now I'm completely clueless. The plan now is to make sure it's not scheduled to rain, and if there's a chance I'll be riding in the rain to bail and drive in. Once I figure out what's good to wear and what works, I'll wade into getting some cooler weather riding gear and wind/rain gear. For now I'm just gonna stick to high 50s to low 60s and tights with no chance of rain. Stick to the simple stuff and move on to more advanced outwear decisions once I have a better idea about what I'm gonna need.

So I think I've got the logistics figured out. If anyone thinks I've forgotten something, or I'm missing a potential problem, please let me know!