Yes, after my big back recovery (not quite there yet but an awful lot better!), it was back on the bike today (too wet for Fuzzy but took the Raleigh – which I’m thinking of calling “Walter” – to work).
My routine for cycling is quite complicated. I need to get all the right things to the right places. This means I:
1) Wake up
2) Have breakfast and stuff and put cycling gear on.
3) Pack clean clothes (underwear and shirt) – my jumper and jeans/trousers having previously been taken there and stored in a locker.
4) Remember to pack gadgets (phones, organiser, etc) in bag.
5) Remember to pack security pass in bag.
6) Remember to take keys.
7) Pack lunch/snacks in bag.
8) Get keys, wallet and change from my “home” jeans.
9) Get bike from shed.
10) Put helmet, gloves, shoes, jacket, etc on.
11) Go to work.
Then…at work:
1) Lock bike
2) Put lights in bag
3) Put computer in bag
4) Put saddle pack in bag
5) Take helmet and gloves off
6) Enter office.
7) Shower and change, taking trousers and jumper out of the locker and replacing them with bike stuff.
8) Remembering to take keys and computer into the office.
And then reverse the whole process when I get home.
It’s not simple and, inevitably, goes wrong occasionally. Usually something simple like leaving my keys in my jeans or putting my lights in the wrong place when I get to the office. It’s such a complicated routine that the slightest little thing throws me and risks the whole thing imploding a mess of clothing, gadgets and bike stuff.
Today, I made a slightly more embarassing boo boo, which I blame fairly an squarely on not having done the routine for a week…I forgot to pack a shirt!!! Which left me with the tricky dilemma of choosing between wearing a jumper with no shirt underneath – and hoping nobody notices. Or wearing a long-sleeved, and not particularly attractive-looking, orange and black cycle jersey all day under the jumper – and hoping nobody notices.
What would YOU do?