What to wear for 4.5 mile commute? General commuting tips?

[fallstoclimb]

I recently moved, bought a house, and started a new job, so the summer has been....hectic. I FINALLY think I figured out a bike commute route to my new job that looks doable (according to Google maps...testing it tonight to be sure!) It's about 4.5 miles, through neighborhood roads. There's a few not-great apartment complexes I'll be cutting through, but I've just decided to be confident that safety is not an issue, since it's not particularly secluded.

My husband used to bike commute, so I have his panniers to use, and a trusty hybrid, and bike parking at my office building. Beyond that, though, I'm a little overwhelmed by the details. Given a 4.5 mile commute and the need to look professional at the office -- would you wear bike shorts and an athletic shirt and just change into office wear at the office? Or wear some of your professional wear and just roll up the leg? I imagine I'd probably need a fresh shirt. I'm hoping I won't get too sweaty during the ride, because there's no shower at work, or even a one-person bathroom -- I'd just need to wipe down with baby wipes in a bathroom stall. Do you just do makeup at work as well?

I'd have to lock up my bike outside, and then walk through a very public area before getting to my desk and the bathroom where I can clean up. I'm pre-emptively a little self-conscious about doing that in bike shorts. And I guess since I'm parking my bike outside I should only ride on days they're not really calling for much rain, for the bike's sake, right?

I'm overwhelmed and nervous about this. I'm worried I'll get a flat and not be able to change it (theoretically I can change flats, but I have more practice on my road bike, and only when my husband is right there). I'm worried I'll show up sweaty and my thighs will look like sausages in my bike shorts (this is not normally something I am self concious about but everyone else looks professional all the time at work). Mostly I'm worried this will end up being too much a pain in the ***, and I'll go back to my 7-minute, 3-mile drive. I just feel like a bit of a clown driving when biking is obviously so doable.

One benefit is I'm a fed in HHS so I can take advantage of this: http://www.hhs.gov/travel/bike2work/index.html

Sorry for this unorganized mess of a post. I don't know where to begin. I welcome any tips you have!

[lph]

Go for the bike commute! You'll never regret it :-) Well, you will maybe, on the days it's pouring, but every bike commuter has to do alternative transport once in a while. The sense of freedom is very hard to give up for a car, once you're used to it.

Personally I'd ride in athletic wear and change. It's more comfortable and saves wear on your nice clothing. I'd probably also take a washcloth and wet it well before wiping down in a bathroom stall. If you take it easy and don't over-dress you needn't get too sweaty, depending on the weather of course. If you want to look a little less bikey you could wear a skort, and take off helmet, sunglasses and any hi-viz gear after locking up. I bet hardly anyone will notice, if anything they'll be impressed, and a little curious :-)

Another good reason to not get too sweaty is that you'll probably want to bike home in the same clothes. A good tip I read here for drying clothes without hanging them up is rolling them inside a large towel, and then putting it into a paper bag.

Do try out your route first, and leave plenty of time for your first commute. I can almost guarantee that you'll enjoy it! You'll need to practice changing a flat at some point, but the chance of that happening on the first few commutes is rather small if your tires are in good shape.

[Crankin]

My first bike commute was 6.5 miles, so just a little longer. I wore full bike clothes, as the way there had a pretty good climb that produced sweat, even if I went slowly. I showered before work and washed my hair. When I got to work, I used baby wipes and plain old soap and water in the important parts. I did my make up, too. My hair, at that point was wash and go, so I just re-wet it and put some gel in. I changed/cleaned up in the bathroom, which had an outer waiting area and a lockable toilet/sink area. My work clothes were brought to work on Mondays and home on Fridays, when I drove.
Nobody cares what you are wearing and all I got was admiration, especially from the school janitor, who saw me carrying my bike up the stairs.

[shootingstar]

If you wore clothing just for cycling, (it doesn't have to be bike lycra shorts, even walking shorts is fine if you don't need padded shorts. I don't, but everyone is different.), it would lessen the worry for you on bike commuting for awhile. Bring facecloth, soap water,etc. If you can, start work earlier (?) and end work day earlier. I've always negotiated this one for the last 15 yrs. when bike commuting. And it works for me...meaning I finish work at 4:00 pm.

Lay out your business clothing for packing night before, if you are too worried/nervous. Pack very light jacket and super light wind pants in case it rains. Scrunch them up into your pannier and don't worry about them until you need to wear them. I store at least 1-2 dress shoe pairs at work so I don't have to haul around extra weight.

I've never had a flat commuting to and from work...in last 20 years by bike. I've had bike commuting trips ranging from 30 km. round trip daily (for ten years) to 8 km. other years, on a combination of road pavement, ravine park packed dirt/gravel trails, etc. Yes, I've bike commuted through downtown cores for 3 major Canadian cities....and I've never had a flat while commuting to and from work.

My bike flats have always occurred on bike rides outside of work commutes. You learn to know every foot or metre of your favourite bike commuting route, see the debris or non-debris ahead.

You'll get the hang of it.

[ZenBiker]

I have a 4 mile commute (if I go by the most direct route) and a somewhat similar office situation. I'm a fed employee but in an office with a more relaxed dress code on most days - though I do have days when I need to look more professional for a meeting, so it's a mixed bag. Here are my strategies:

We only have an outdoor bike rack, with no overhead cover. I will haul my bike upstairs to my office in really bad weather, but generally leave it outside on days with light, scattered rain. I just cover the seat with plastic (one of those flexible plastic bowl covers with elastic around the edges works well).
I leave a couple pairs of shoes and basic toiletries stashed in my office. Weeks when especially nice clothes are called for, I'll either just drive on the dress-up day or I'll drop clothes off in advance when I'm running other car errands and know I'll be going by the office. It does take a bit of planning but isn't hard once you get in the habit of thinking ahead. As far as what to wear, it depends on the terrain on your route. I can generally get to work in the cool of the morning without working too hard, and almost any clothing will do. I tend to wear the same shirt I plan to work in but with shorts, though not necessarily bike shorts. Depends on whether I want to take the long way around or not. Then I change into slacks at the office.
Having clothes that are comfortable for riding home, when it's hot out and also slightly uphill most of the way, is trickier. I generally stuff a tank top or cycling jersey into my messenger bag and wear that with shorts going home. Hot weather riding clothes compress well so that's easy to do. I either leave my work clothes at the office til I can swing by with the car and get them (once a week), or I bring panniers to stuff them into (they have to be washed anyway so a few more wrinkles won't matter).
And as others have said, your coworkers are more likely to be interested and possibly impressed than anything else if they see you arrive in riding clothes. In fact I ran into my boss as I was leaving today and he told me I was his inspiration to get back on his bike. Of course he was loading said bike into the back of his pickup, after calling his wife to come get him, as he said it. But at least he rode TO work today, and that's a start!

P.S. I second shooting star's advice about starting work early if you have that option. I go in about 7 and am usually done by 4. Not only is the traffic lighter during my commute times, things are fairly quiet when I get to the office and it's easy to manage the transition from biking to office mode.

[lph]

Actually, even my 2 bosses, who don't regularly bike to work, have a suit jacket hanging permanently on the inside of their office door, for sudden meetings with the Powers that Be. We call it the "snakkejakke", which means "talking jacket", as in "ah, I see you have the talking jacket on. Going somewhere?" ;-)

I'm lucky and have my own locker at work, containing everything except food

That's another final tip, actually, keep a little food at work if you can. Riding home on an empty stomach because you got a late phone call is very uncomfortable, and can even be a bit dangerous in traffic.