Riding to Work: A look at my daily carry

Being a gear, gadget, and a lots of stuff kind of guy I carry a lot of "essentials" with me from day to day.

Trying to keep my riding items to a minimum, I left the house today with what I considered to be necessary for the day. Those items break up into 3 categories: cold weather riding gear, clothing/accessories, and work related items. Here is the basic break down.

Cold Weather Riding Gear

• Boots
• Smartwool Socks
• Riding pants with thermal liner
• Wicking Shirt
• Wicking long sleeve base layer
• Riding jacket with thermal liner
• Balaclava
• Ear plugs
• Heated riding gloves
• Helmet
• Sena SMH-10

Clothing/Accessories

• Shoes
• Jeans
• Shirt
• Jacket
• Hair gel 
• Phone
• Wallet
• Charging cable
• Large duffle bag

Work Items

• Misc Papers
• Notebook

Items that always stay on the bike include, disc lock, cable lock, tools, rain gear, extra ear plugs, and rain covers for all soft bags.

I park my bike in a large public lot outside my work. Being that I only have soft bags, it is impossible for me to properly secure something on the bike. As a result I carry almost all of my items into work. Slipping into a bathroom stall, a lackluster superman interpretation, I change and pack all my items into two bags. A large duffle and my tank bag. The duffle contains my boots, jacket, and helmet. My tank bag holds my pants and other smaller gear items.

Though not ideal, this method has so far been the most compact way to  carry my gear into work. I'm hoping that some hard cases will remedy this situation but for now I'll make due.

If anyone has another suggestion please feel free to leave a comment below.