After the collapse of public transportation in New Orleans post-Katrina, I saw quite a few office workers commuting by bicycle from late September till April/early May. Not wearing coat and tie (either in bag or @ the office, but white or blue long sleeve shorts and suit pants.

Even in New Orleans, the weather is not so bad for a 1, 2 or 3 mile bike ride at moderate speed in the cool of the morning.

Alan

BTW: Maybe 5% to 8% (1 in 20 to 1 in 12) New Orleanian bicyclists wear helmets.

It comes down to the trade off of what is more important, getting to work or being sweaty. I agree that today, it is not socially acceptable to arrive at work sweaty. But the future might be different.

At my work (in the DC suburbs where it gets quite warm and humid) we have a shower, and a growing number of employees are biking in. We have over 1000 employees at my site, so a shower room is little overhead for us, and the same cannot be said for a typical work site.

I live in Austria... Today it was 30°C and about 200 bikes were in the park platz at work. Including mine (and I do wear a suit & tie). During the winter with 10-15 cm of snow that number will drop down to about 75 bikes parked out front. So while cycling & walking may not work for all commutes in all geographic areas, it can work for far more than many people realize.

All of the points against cycling are arguments of convenience. I too work in an office environment that requires at a minimum 'office casual' as acceptable dress. In South-Western Ontario Canada, where I live, the humidity can reach Amazonian proportions and as such you WILL arrive sweaty.
Solutions are simple work-arounds:

1) purchase a decent backpack or set of panniers for your bike.
2) choose to pack clothes that either do not wrinkle, or wrinkle minimally (the few wrinkles drop out quickly with body heat)
3) pack a wash cloth and a small towel. (leave the bath sheets at home - this is about function, not luxury)
4) pack your deodorant/antiperspirant (and soap if you feel you will truly need it).

All of these items MIGHT add 10lbs to the total weight of your bike (which for most of us is equal to the minimum amount of weight we will loose by choosing to bike instead of driving so the weight point is moot)

Even if your place of work does not have a shower, they ALL have a washroom. And unless you are exceptionally stinky when you sweat, a simple wipe down of your body with a cool wet wash cloth will be more than sufficient (fresh sweat doesn't really stink horribly, OLD sweat does, and fresh sweat wipes off your body easily). This method is also known as a 'sink bath'
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Bath-in-a-Sink,-Bucket,-or-River
(note: I do not condone the wasting of paper towel as they use it in that how-to)

This really isn't rocket science and I'm rather dumbfounded that while many here at TOD can comprehend some of the higher science put forth, but come up with extremely weak arguments why something just cannot be done by them.

As for going shopping or whatever other discretionary trips you have to make. Either choose times that are cooler, wait for a cooler day, or simply go slower.

As I sit here, I just got back from a 10 mile bike ride over rather hilly terrain with mixed paved/gravel trails, road, and rough forest trails. I have not showered and hey, my deodorant is doing its job just fine. I would be completely comfortable riding in a crowded elevator.

I will agree, the bicycle is NOT the most convenient thing, but then again, neither is peak oil.

I've been playing around with electric assisted bicycles, and can't say enough. I feel as though I could ride forever, and never break a sweat even in hot smoggy Los Angeles. Obviously China figured that one out already. Check_out_and_share www.peakaware.com