Cycling to work and the office shower

Commuting by bicycle in central London

I have been enjoying cycling to work over the last couple of months but generally only once or twice a week. Did I mention before it's about 43 miles there and back?  Well, it's turning out to be a bit of an adventure and here's a few of the "highlights":

Last week I turned up at the office.  There were already one or two smokers outside shortening their life expectancy and just couldn't be bothered to help open a heavy security door in spite of me struggling to manage that and my bike  Grrrrrrr.

Needless to say my MAMIL status (that's Middle Aged Man In Lycra) has attracted some attention, often along the lines of "oh have you cycled in or something?"  My silent reply is not for this blog.

The office shower is "interesting".  We have only one shower in an office building with 60 odd employees.  Doesn't sound much but I'm the only one who regularly uses it.  It's actually in the unisex disabled toilet room which itself is huge; much bigger than our bathroom at home.  The floor is a wet-room so the shower water drains away from the floor.  Except it doesn't drain very quickly and in fact the puddle grows faster than it can drain away.  This is a hazard to my office clothes as the growing puddle creeps ever closer across the floor and they start to soak up the water.

Once I forgot to take any trousers to work.  It felt a bit odd sitting at my desk wearing cycle shorts and a formal shirt (perhaps even a tie) being worn on my top half.  That day was the day the Chief was introducing the new Board Chairman to employees.  They must have thought I was very rude not to stand up and shake their hands!

Another slight mishap from this morning was taking my clothes out of my pannier bag and wondering why they looked so grubby.  I then realised I last used the bag for a Sainsbury's shop where I bought a leaky bag of flour.  Flour and charcoal grey trousers are not a brilliant combination.  There always seems to be an official visitor to encounter as I pass (wet hair, no shoes, odd looks) from having had a shower on those occasions!

I have also been exploring some different cycle paths in order to avoid the roads.  Some of these routes are "interesting" and a bit daft sometimes.  I ignore about half of the paths; it seems easier to stay on the roads rather than go on stupid diversions or get directed up on to the pavement to avoid a bus top  I'll say one thing, I'm not finding this cycle commuting boring at all!