no1mad 

Whether it's car/bike or bike/bus, do you:

-Pack/prep the night before, or do you do it just before hitting the door?
-And while the bike is not being ridden during transport, do you take your trunk/pannier(s) off, or just leave it/them attached?

Bioflamingo

I ride the full distance so I don't know how much my opinion is worth on this topic, but leaving a trunk/panniers on while your bike is on a rack outside the car/bus seems like a bad idea. Whenever I happen to load my bike on a car rack I remove the light, trunk, and minipump.

kegoguinness

Prep the night before so I don't wake my wife for too long. I ditched the panniers at the moment as I am currently commuting on my Bike Friday, and the fold drags my Nashbar pannier more than I like. I currently strap my backpack to the rack for the longer portion of my multimode commute and just sling it on my back for the last mile from bus stop to office, and again at the end of the day from MetroRail office to my house which is only about 1/2 mile. My commute:
house-->bike to Metro Rail---> rail to bus transfer/throw bike on bus rack, take express bus ---> back on bike to office. Stash bike in small closet at work

woodenidol

I commute 15 miles, put my bike in a locker at the transit center and then take the train another ten miles or so. I use only a messenger bag, but drive a couple days a week, so I bring my heavier clothing items in Monday. We have showers and drying room for my gear. Nice setup.

I load my messenger bag the night before with my shirt,socks and underwear. I prep my bike the night before, checking air pressure and putting my recharged bike light batteries on the bike.

In my perfect world I would have a 5-10 mile commute to my work location.

jeffpoulin

I prep the night before so I'm ready to roll by 6am.

I remove the trunk bag in the train even though my bike is only a few feet away. It's a topeak bag so it slides on and off the rack in about 1 second.

rhm

If prep is needed, I try to do it the night before; I very rarely do anything to the bike in the morning. I get up, have a cup of tea and some granola bars (home made), and get on the bike.

No panniers; this bike won't take 'em. I use a messenger bag.

On the train, the bike is folded up and stashed in an out-of-the-way place. Seat&post is removed completely and placed next to the bike. If I'm carrying a lot of stuff, which is unusual, I may have a seatpost rack and rack trunk, which will stay on the seatpost on the train. Today I have the little bag that goes on the Nashbar front rack, and it stayed on the bike while it was folded.

In the office, bike sits in the next room, with baker's trays under the wheels to catch the drippings if necessary.

truman

Bike/train/bike. I take my bike with me on the train and hold it for the duration of the ride. The panniers stay on the whole time (usually just the one, but lately I'm carrying an extra, weighted pannier to acclimate to the weight for an upcoming tour).

I generally pack just before leaving to avoid undue wrinkling of my work togs and/or letting my lunch go bad.

unixpro

I drive/ride. I drive 5 miles to a Park & Ride, then ride 18 miles from there. I keep the bike on the carrier during the week and remove both the bike and carrier (it's a hitch carrier) on the weekends. I remove everything from the bike except my water bottles when it's on the carrier. I prep for the next day as soon as I get home in the evening. In the morning I just get into whatever I'm wearing that day (varies depending on the weather), grab my gear , and go. When I get to the P&R I get the bike down, throw on the bags, and head out.

rnorris

I usually roll out of bed, get breakfast, grab my pack, and put the bike on the bus which runs right along the street near my place. Then ride part or all of the 24 miles home. Sometimes I'll ride both ways, if the weather is nice, and that will be my conditioning regimen when touring time approaches.

Andy_K 

My winter commute is 4 mile drive to the Park and Ride + 7 mile bike ride. In the evening, if it's raining, I ride two miles to another light rail station and take the train back to my car.

I've got a nerdy little organizer thing that fits inside either my pannier or messenger bag and is big enough to hold most of my transitory stuff. I usually load that up the night before and then drop it into whichever bag I plan to use that day.

I leave both pannier and messenger bag in the car this time of year so I'll have whichever I want. I don't put the pannier on the bike until I'm ready to ride.

On the train, I take the pannier off if I'm lucky enough to get one of the hooks to hang my bike vertically, but leave it on it I'm not going to be hanging the bike. If I get the hook, I use my helmet to strap the handlebars to the hand rail on the side of the train to keep the bike from swinging.

Not my bike -- just a visual for clarification (not that it necessarily applies to people outside the Portland area):

CCrew

Night before: Items I'm taking with me in my messenger bag on the table in the kitchen. Panniers with them if I'm taking them that day. Clothes for the morning on the dresser in the bedroom. That way I can get up and shower and get on my way with a minimum of disruption to the household (I leave between 3:30-4am). Bikes are in the garage, I put whichever one I'm riding today on a roof rack on the car.

Inside the car on the way in, they stay on the bike when I get to the office (I park by my desk) and back off when I get back to the car.

jputnam

Non-wrinklables go in the box the night before; office clothes go in just before I leave home, to reduce wrinkles.

The box comes off when I get on the train; when the train is full, it's a good seat next to the bike rack.

Box on Bike:




Bike on Train:

jeffpoulin

CCrew, just wondering, when do you eat breakfast?

CCrew

I'll usually grab a hard boiled egg or an oatmeal bar on the way out the door, eat it and drink a coffee on the drive portion of the way in. When I hit the office I'll make oatmeal, or a bagel or something at my desk, unless I'm feeling particularly hungry then I may stroll down to the bakery on the corner from work and grab a sandwich & coffee. I have a particular soft spot for their bacon &egg panini's, but I shoot every calorie I burned plus some if I go that route

Gym/Locker room/Shower at the office, and work supplies free bagels and coffee, so that's pretty easy to subsist on too