This discussion was created from comments split from: COVID 19.

Not really sure we have a forum dedicated to this, but my office (on the corner of 40th and Lex) is opening again and rather than take the subway or taxi to and from, I'm thinking about riding to and from.

Any suggestions on the best routes to take, gear choices (using an old cannonade super six at the moment since it's what I have), how to dress for the ride/pack clothes for the day, not be a sweaty gross mess once I get to the office, etc.? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated since I'm very new to the commute on two wheels game!

@Nathaniel Picard Busky thanks for the tips. I was thinking of doing a t-shirt ride in and changing at the office, but not sure what to do about bottoms. Do you wear bibs and just change at work or just wear shorts/pants? 

Matt
i basically have a complete wardrobe in my office , which I dry clean close by , I don’t bring those clothes Home .

I’m brining the bike up and putting it in my office so not worried about that aspect and definitely no workout in the commute itself. 

You will not be going back to the subway ...trust me ,the sun coming up while heading in over the manhattan bridge will start your day right 
I'd sooner ride into work in the rain that take the train ,

If you sweat profusely like me no matter how easy you ride and have access to a changing room, just straight up ride in old kit and change at work. I use paper towels and super cold water to help to mop up + stop sweating as quickly as possible (trying not to use disposable wipes). Freezing cold office space air conditioning and a desk fan helps with that.

Not an option currently, but heard of people taking out cheap gym memberships near their office to gain access to showers...

I did it for two years; there was a shower at work so I just brought a full set of clothes and left a pair of shoes at the office. As a lot of people have pointed out, if it's a spirited ride in it may take longer than your shower for your body temp to return to normal.

I took this video of my daily commute in 2016

https://roazen.smugmug.com/Family/2016/i-3qrWGHj/A

While I enjoy commuting discussions, I think this should be moved to a commuting thread.  

A few other things...

while I agree with the idea of panniers, I've never executed those, save for actual bike touring.  I do have a few good bike backpacks, both from Deuter.  One has a mesh panel that sits on your back.  That is good for small loads.  One has two mesh pads that sit on your back and raise the rest of the pack off it.  That works decently for sweat evaporation, but it's a big bag and can carry heavy loads, so it's never sweat-free.

I have a vest I love for commuting.  It has a windproof front panel and a standard fleece back.  Layer it over a wool t-shirt and wool zip cardigan and it works from the low 50s until about 40--take it off after warming up on the warmer days and partially unzip after warming up on the colder days.  If the rain jacket has a stuff sack, that can ride in the bag and be deployed for colder mornings/evenings, walking at lunch, and rain.

I've been commuting by bike almost exclusively for decades.

I just wear my regular work clothes. I used to keep changes of clothes in the office or carry them in my bag but its just one more thing to think about. My commute is not a race or a workout. I have a mantra - "this ride is no-sweat". I think that as I lift my head and enjoy the scenery and the feel of the air on my face.

Sure, I get a bit sweaty on hot days but usually not sweatier than I would be on a subway platform in mid-summer. Do you change clothes on those days? I bet not. You just dry off and that's it. You might get sweatier in the afternoon on your way home when its hotter but who cares, you will be home soon.

Panniers are awesome. I have a great Ortleib commuter one that holds my laptop, lock, lunch, etc... You only need one if your not carrying clothes.

I also blow through the crotch of pants at a good clip. Usually a pair is not around for more than 6 months. But I'm not a fancy dresser and I only have a couple pairs anyway. My pants are from Dave's on 6th Ave. 

My office is right near yours. Bruce's suggestion is the fastest but this one is much nicer:

https://www.strava.com/activities/3937762795

About 1.5 miles longer, but there are no lights or cars on the east side so it takes only about 2 minutes longer time wise.

Like Mark said, once you start you won't go back. The days that you have to take the subway for some reason (my reasons are ice on the ground, hard morning rain, a meeting in the morning at a job site that is more than 15 miles away) will feel like purgatory. You will get depressed looking at the faces of the fellow riders. The next day, as a train passes you on the Manhattan Bridge, you will look up at those same faces and feel very sorry for them.

jim_nelson said:

Like Mark said, once you start you won't go back. The days that you have to take the subway for some reason (my reasons are ice on the ground, hard morning rain, a meeting in the morning at a job site that is more than 15 miles away) will feel like purgatory. You will get depressed looking at the faces of the fellow riders. The next day, as a train passes you on the Manhattan Bridge, you will look up at those same faces and feel very sorry for them.

This. So much this. Also, nothing is quite as special and running into a teammate on a bike commute. NYC is the biggest small town I've ever known.

Jules said:

jim_nelson said:

Like Mark said, once you start you won't go back. The days that you have to take the subway for some reason (my reasons are ice on the ground, hard morning rain, a meeting in the morning at a job site that is more than 15 miles away) will feel like purgatory. You will get depressed looking at the faces of the fellow riders. The next day, as a train passes you on the Manhattan Bridge, you will look up at those same faces and feel very sorry for them.

This. So much this. Also, nothing is quite as special and running into a teammate on a bike commute. NYC is the biggest small town I've ever known.

While riding errands, I've seen Jim commuting to/from a job site at least once.  

I have 5 or 6 different routes I use depending on weather,time,energy ,what time of day/year. Same route everyday is really boring and gets me complacent which is dangerous 

ShaneMurphy said:

I have 5 or 6 different routes I use depending on weather,time,energy ,what time of day/year. Same route everyday is really boring and gets me complacent which is dangerous 

When I worked in an office, I usually took the fastest way to work and then varied the trip home.  Getting to work on time was the priority and then variety for the trip home as you wrote.

Do you eventually become a faster rider by commuting on your bike a lot? Do all these hours in zone 1/2 finally build up your engine like an endurance block would or do you have to throw in some intensity somewhere?

Commuting daily in the past added a lot of fatigue for me and not much fitness gain. Often leaving too tired for a long ride in the weekend.

But I do love it and it sometimes is the only way I can free some time to be on the bike.

Remy Forgues said:

Do you eventually become a faster rider by commuting on your bike a lot? Do all these hours in zone 1/2 finally build up your engine like an endurance block would or do you have to throw in some intensity somewhere?

Commuting daily in the past added a lot of fatigue for me and not much fitness gain. Often leaving too tired for a long ride in the weekend.

But I do love it and it sometimes is the only way I can free some time to be on the bike.

tldr; "No. But..."

Unless you are riding an absolutely immense amount you just won't be able to accumulate enough stress to make you faster in those super low-intensity zones.

What commuting does do is keep your fitness at a level that is not "rock bottom" so that when you do start to train again properly you aren't starting from scratch. Even a few short hard efforts commuting will help.

As an athletes we are always in flux. Some seasons we will be fast, some we will be slow. Some fatter, some thinner, some great fitness, some bad fitness, some injured, some not.

The key is trying to keep the valleys from going super deep. Avoid those two months on the sofa. Regular commuting is great for that. 

My commute's not long enough at 4 miles to matter 

Jules said:

Remy Forgues said:

Do you eventually become a faster rider by commuting on your bike a lot? Do all these hours in zone 1/2 finally build up your engine like an endurance block would or do you have to throw in some intensity somewhere?

Commuting daily in the past added a lot of fatigue for me and not much fitness gain. Often leaving too tired for a long ride in the weekend.

But I do love it and it sometimes is the only way I can free some time to be on the bike.

tldr; "No. But..."

Unless you are riding an absolutely immense amount you just won't be able to accumulate enough stress to make you faster in those super low-intensity zones.

What commuting does do is keep your fitness at a level that is not "rock bottom" so that when you do start to train again properly you aren't starting from scratch. Even a few short hard efforts commuting will help.

As an athletes we are always in flux. Some seasons we will be fast, some we will be slow. Some fatter, some thinner, some great fitness, some bad fitness, some injured, some not.

The key is trying to keep the valleys from going super deep. Avoid those two months on the sofa. Regular commuting is great for that. 

Thanks for clarifying that,

That was my feeling. Commuting has been a huge help to prevent me from getting the extra pounds.

I have been shooting for 2 solid sessions on the trainer a week, a longish ride and the rest being commute. The total puts me at 10 hours a week, an amount of hours i would never be able to free otherwise.

I think I posted something earlier (can't find it right now) on how much just a little bit of work does to raise the floor of detraining and speed the return to form.

Two real-deal interval sessions a week is fantastic.

Also depends on how your body responds to exercise and training. Some people might see much higher gains right off the bat with even a little activity vs some will get very little but will have a much higher ceiling

While I've only been a sort-of commuter recently, I think the biggest thing to write is "it depends."

For example, until the pandemic, I was riding my daughter to school and back in the morning, for a total of five miles (25-30 minutes depending on traffic and effort).  And then I was walking to my son's school and back every evening (about 20 minutes of walking on total).  For me, that total has proven too small to make a difference in my ability to handle intensity in focused training. 

OTOH, a long time ago, I was riding 50 miles a day commuting for a few months.  And not doing it every day.  That was all the training I needed.  Wasn't super explosive at the races, but had a pretty deep well.  

In-between, I've had 6-, 10- and 14-mile round trips.  At those ages and stages, I could get in two solid days of intensity a week, roll around for two more, and take one morning off.  

My feeling is that if you can get in two solid one-hour intensity rides, maybe work on form (like riding rollers or doing pedaling drills) or just tool around, you should be ok or even really good.

Or, you could take a version of Nathaniel's 'plan' and train on the way to work twice a week.  Some folks during race season would just make FBF their intensity for the week.  

I commuted for a few years to my office on 49th st @ Times Sq. This is close enough to Central Park that i would go up the east side - across and into the park - some hard laps of the park - and then down broadway to my office.

I had to be suited and booted so that made my choice of attire easy. I had suits, ties, shoes, underwear, shirts in my office and had them dry cleaned local to work. 

I rode in normal kit with a small courier bag that contained fresh bib-shorts for the ride home as well as breakfast. 

I had a gym with shower and locker-room on site so getting cleaned up and changed was easy and I would leave my cycle kit in the locker.

The bike was not fancy - an old steel road bike that I converted to fixed-wheel (with front and rear brakes !) and most importantly - full fenders. I locked it up in the parking garage under the office.

I think this is the wrong thread, but I'll post here and hope someone corrects me.

I WAS DOORED on my commute home from taking my daughter to school.  Destroyed my front wheel.  No police around, and the guy moved quickly, and I'm feeling bad that I didn't call the cops right away.  Was surprised they weren't around, I was on Lenox by 125th, and there usually are police.

Anyways, want to make sure the guy pays.  He promised he would.  I've got his mobile and his license plate

Is there a way to get his name and address from those things?

License Plate, NJ 787 KFD, a blue Hyundai Sedan

phone 201 948 9979

@mugwump I think you have to contact the dmv but explain that it's for a legal dispute after getting hit by him while on a bike. In the future, best thing you can do is take his insurance down no matter what, a picture or writing of all info. That way it's in his best interest to deal with you directly since you can always submit an insurance claim against him.