How to ride your bike to work

In New Zealand general and in Wellington in particular there is a commuter cycling boom underway. Kiwis are a sporty bunch and the tradition, such as it is, is to ride racing bikes to work, wearing tight polyester clothes upon which advertisements for various products and services are printed.

The tradition incorporates the extensive use of post-ride showers, and a change of clothes in a backpack. Commuters on race bikes are the most common breed of cyclists you'll see in urban areas. To my mind, this is a bit like driving to work in a Formula 1 racing car, with no mudguards, no storage space and sophisticated 7 speed gearbox, then crawling along in first gear getting rained on. Then you get out of your fireproof overalls, have a shower and start work.

However, this breed of racing commuters is being supplanted, thanks to the influence of groups like Frocks on Bikes, by commuters in ordinary street clothes riding sit-up commuter bikes. It's great to see people riding practical bikes, but Wellington is wet, windy and hilly and many commuter bikes are heavy and are not suited to hill climbing. I prefer the middle-ground approach of riding a lightweight sports touring bike, which is quick and nimble yet still has full mudguards and plenty of storage space. Also, I don't change clothes - I ride in what I'm going to be wearing when I reach my destination. I don't get too sweaty and stinky because I don't go hard, I wear merino wool base layers which wick sweat and don't smell and I don't ride (as a commuter) for very long distances. (If I was riding 30 Km or more to and from work I would probably take a spare shirt and treat the commute as exercise, like many Wellington commuters).

Here is a map link showing the route I take. http://goo.gl/C5aKeW

I am still a bit of a novelty on Wellington roads because I am one of the few people who wears a suit to work while riding a bike. Conventional wisdom suggests this is Simply Not Possible so in the interests of broadening your horizons, here are some pix of me ready to ride to work on various days over the past couple of weeks. It's late summer in Wellington and air temperatures are around 15 - 20 degrees. It rains quite a bit here no matter the season. Despite this, I seldom wear any rain protection because I work in an air conditioned office and I'm always dried out after 20 minutes at work. Being wet isn't a problem because I am still warm and comfortable. The worst thing is that the crease in my pants disappears once they get wet, but who cares. (Also, bear in mind that even a Wet Day, where it rains several times over a few hours, usually doesn't mean you'll actually get rained on - waiting a few minutes for the showers to pass means I only ever get genuinely soaked maybe twice a year).

Best of all, I'm quicker than most of the people who ride faster than me because I don't need to change clothes twice a day just to be able to get to and from work, and I can nip around the city during the day without issue.

If it's warm, I roll my jacket up and stick it in my saddlebag. If it's cold, I add a scarf and gloves. The only thing that will stop me riding to work is wind - the kind that causes flooding, knocks trees over and damages power lines. If I think I'm likely to get blown off my bike due to a gust of wind I'll walk to the station and get a train. I've done this once in the past two years.

Because I live up a big hill and because there is no easy, safe and pleasant way to ride up that hill, I stick my bike on a train when I'm coming home. I usually buy a few groceries from the supermarket at the station, like a tray or two of eggs, a bottle of wine, bread, coffee etc. It's surprising what can fit in an old saddlebag and I prefer saddlebags to riding with panniers.

Despite the compulsory bicycle helmet laws in New Zealand, I wear a hat. I am not worried about hitting my head on anything because I have 30+ years experience riding bikes in rush hour traffic and I consider myself 100% responsible for my own safety. However, I am always at risk of sunburn (koz I'm a baldie) and I like to be able to regulate my temperature by removing my hat from time to time when riding. Also, I can tilt it to block the sun when it's near the horizon, or to prevent being blinded by the lights of oncoming motorists at night. I wear Kangol 504s because they are a design classic, go with the rest of what I wear and fold up into a trouser pocket.

In short, you CAN ride to work in a suit. But make sure it's wool, otherwise you won't be comfortable. Fortunately, New Zealand produces huge amounts of high quality Merino wool and most menswear shops, like Munns on Willis St, have regular sales. A good merino wool suit can be had for about NZ$500, or half that on sale. In other words, for the price of a couple of tee shirts and a pair of jeans, you can wear Actual Clothes!

Prince of Wales check two button sports jacket, blue-grey flat fronted trousers, fine check blue cotton shirt with cutaway collar, sky blue pocket square, grey and blue Argyle socks, black monk strap shoes, black Kangol 504 hat. 

Two button chalk stripe charcoal suit, lavender shirt, black and white spotty pocket square, blue/grey cashmere scarf, grey on black hoop stripe socks, black Oxford brogues.  

Navy blue two button suit, hot pink candy stripe shirt with double cuffs, cashmere scarf, black Derby laceups.

Navy two button knit blazer, lavender shirt, pink and blue paisley pocket square, grey flat fronted flannel trousers,  hoop stripe socks, monk straps.