[brnt]

When you wrote 'way better than coffee', I had to think of my favourite morning routine: getting up and going straight to work on my bicycle. In winter this gives me a sort of freshness shock that may be similar to the cold shower. There's nothing quite like it in terms of waking up: indeed it's better than coffee.

[gnarbarian]

I agree except when I bike an hour to work at -10f I actually need a few minutes for my brain to defrost before I'm even capable of having a conversation. I'm not sure why, it's like everything I didn't exercise is stiff and needs to thaw out. Feels fuckin great though do recommend!

[elif]

According to the Wim Hof philosophy, your cold exercise is activating a similar pathway to survival or even fight-or-flight if you approach it correctly. Your blood chemistry and neuro-chemistry are substantially different, and it takes time for your logical, civilized neural pathways to be preferred again.

[Fricken]

As soon as I transition from outdoor winter exercise to an indoor environment my nose runs like a faucet. I keep a hanky handy to deal with it. Otherwise I feel pretty good when I get to work and I'm ready to take on the day.

[brnt]

Like the cold shower, I think the effect is best when its not affecting your body tperature too much. When my commute went from 20 to 45 minutes, insulation became necessary and the pleasant effect was not enhanced.

[Fnoord]

Thing with commuting by bicycle is weather and sweat. I don't wanna be sweaty when I arrive, nor have my clothes all wet. That being said an optional walk (instead of say a bus) of 10-25 min is my preference. Sitting, especially when its humid (summer, rainy/snowy), makes me tired.

[erikpukinskis]

On hot days when I’m going to sweat, I would just bring a change of clothes.

[Invictus0]

My personal experience doesn't agree with this. In college I had a habit of waking up with the exact minimum amount of time necessary to get to class. I would throw myself out of bed, get dressed and brush my teeth as quickly as possible, sprint down the stairs, and then race my bike as quickly as I could to class--only to fall back asleep as soon as I was in my chair.

In fairness, I was rather sleep deprived at that time.

[jasonv]

I think you can commute-as-exercise, and commute-not-as-exercise. They're different engagements.

When I lived in Berlin, I would run in the mornings in the winter... it'd be below freezing. 1st 5 minutes I'd be cold, but once I started running-running, I was warm and the temps didn't bother me.

Then I'd come home, shower, breakfast and ride my bike to the office. I'd be cold.