Don't bother changing your cycle clothes - cycling tip du jour, Tuesday

Nicole Jackson at the office in her cycling clothes
Photograph: Martin Godwin/guardian.co.uk
Source - article about forgetting clothes

I've done this by mistake today, but quite like it. If you're not too stinky and not too wet from your ride into work, why not just keep your cycling clothes on all day? Today I had a few informal meetings and no-one seemed to mind my get-up. In fact it triggered off a few conversations about cycling and how we should set a work-place trend to wear cycling gear. Make all those people in smart clothes look out of place!

If nothing else, the impression you leave is that you're rather sporty. Useful for closing that deal?

The creators of this blog accept no liability in the event of employee dismissal, clients deciding to go with alternative offers, being laughed at during meetings, having noses held during workplace encounters, or generally any other ill effects associated with wearing of aforementioned clothes in the workplace.

But go on - give it a go. And tell us how you get on.

Smart clothes ... In your backpack?

Slightly worried - have to wear jacket and tie at lunch tomorrow - is it possible to get all your smart clothes in a backpack without looking crumpled and scruffy? Don't really want to tube it. Any tips? Otherwise will let you know what happens tomorrow. KC

Neck cagoule - the answer to the cold

It's got cold on the mean streets of London. Cycling is more challenging. The best item I think I've ever bought for the cold (apart from the obvious - gloves, something to go on your legs, waterproof jacket) - is a neck cagoule from Mountain Equipment Co-Op in Canada. It's cheap but it just keeps your neck brilliantly cosy.

Just spotted that they're sometimes called neck gaitors, or neck warmers. This is the kind of thing I mean:

What the hell do you wear on a bike in this London weather?

I spent about half the journey this morning wishing I had worn just a T-Shirt (and shorts of course), then the rest wondering why on earth I didn't put on more waterproofs. It's always a bad sign when you're cycling along, clad in full winter regalia (waterproof jacket, several layers, a wooly neck thing to stop the wind getting in etc) and you spot a large group of travellers wearing shorts and T-Shirts and looking very comfortable. Then you notice that you're sweating rather more than you expected.

Then, as I approached Notting Hill Gate, the heavens opened and I was glad of my heavy wear, but wishing I had a bit more of it.

I'm not sure quite what the answer is. There's a secret part of me that actually rather likes getting a good soaking (I think it must be related to my days running around school playing fields in my youth) so I'm the type who likes wearing less as getting too hot is about my worst state.  I suspect there are some "miracle" materials which allow you to wear the minimum yet stay dry and warm. And I suspect that a few of you out there are going to recommend some of them. And I suspect I'll be quite pleased and really want to buy them but then be put off by the price.

Is there a "Sunday biking" syndrome?

I don't normally cycle on a Sunday. But I had occasion this weekend to travel to the Fulham Road from East London. In a slightly rose-tinted way, I was imagining clear empty streets, what little traffic there was pottering about as if in the countryside. I was imagining a throw-back to a more polite, easy-going society where drivers nodded and waved at each other and cyclists politely waited at the lights without that stressed look you see on weekdays.

Then I hit Brick Lane and the remnants of the Columbia Road flower market. If anything, there seemed to be more people and cars around than usual. Carrying things. Like flowers, and trees. And it didn't change for most of the rest of my journey (admittedly I did get rather lost and took a few bigger roads than I wanted to). It seems that London is not a city which has a rest on its roads on a Sunday.

The only observation I would make is - there was a slightly more leisurely attitude among cyclists - and more couples doing a bit more ambling along in pairs.

Oh - and how nice not to be wearing silly cycling clothes for once.