My morning routine

Last Thursday, Justin Chappell from Link filmed me as I rode to work. From the shots on the road and some interview footage that he filmed in my driveway, he put together a short video titled “A bike commuter's morning routine.” His idea with the video was to briefly explain the logistics of a typical bicycle commute to those who are interested, but have not yet tried riding to work. I really like the way the clip turned out; nice work Justin.

A few of my coworkers watched the video today and immediately started poking fun at me for saying that a shower isn’t always necessary in the morning and that I often just “clean up with deodorant.” Yeah, I admit it was a little funny the way I phrased it. Maybe I should have been clear and said that it isn’t always necessary to shower at work (for the record, I do shower at home before I leave). All jokes aside though, I think it was an important point to mention because I have heard people use the “lack of shower facilities at the workplace” excuse as a reason for not commuting by bicycle. In many cases with a short commute, a pre-ride shower followed by a post-ride cool down and clean-up in the sink is sufficient. Showers at work are nice if you have them, but as with most other obstacles to bike commuting, there are viable alternatives. If you are interested in bike commuting, I suggest you give it a try before deciding whether or not it works for you. I think you will find that the benefits outweigh any minor inconveniences that you have to overcome.