BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I shower in the am before riding 12 miles then when I get to work I take off my cycling clothes asap and let the air start doing its job. I will towel off a bit if needed. The biggest issue that I had to figure out is that you do not stop sweating as soon as your ride is finished.

But when it really comes down to it, I just do a little whore bath (some deodorant, a lil patchouli and maybe a bit of powder)cause I dont really care!

I shower at home, before my 8-10 mile commute. I carry a change of clothes, and keep a pack of baby wipes in the office to swab off the smellier bits before getting dressed.

I shower the night before so I'm dry when I get on the bike in the morning. Ride 3 miles to work. Wait a few minutes to cool/dry off. My company has a dress code, so I have to change into a grownup costume, including a change of underwear and socks.

I wash & dry any bits where sweat collects (face, armpits, crotch, buttcrack and feet)YMMV

My commute is only a little over two miles - and it's almost all down hill.

There is very little I do.

On really hot summer mornings, I'll wear a T-shirt, which I'll change when I get into work.

Damn, jealous of all your commutes (or lack thereof). If it's only 2 miles, why not just wear some shorts and get some good airflow?

My commute is more like 15 miles, but I have a gym and showers at work so I can do my showering here.

Same here, 14 mile commute. I shower at night and then again in the morning when I get to work. I am lucky to have a full gym with two full bathrooms that only a handful of people use.

I need a good option for when it rains. My commuter gear doesn't dry during the day and putting cold wet stuff back on is miserable. Short of bringing more clothes to ride home, I am kinda stuck dealing with it.

@TonyP: It's still unpleasant to put on while wet, but wool will at least keep you warm, even when soaked.

Rain capes can work ok, too, but I've found that I get almost as wet from sweat under one as I do from rain, unless the temps are in the 30s or 40s.

Try shaving ! I use a cheap 6 blade womans razor and it works fine w/o any irritation, I find I only need to shave their once a week or so. I used to get that same fungus on my shin, but its gone away since I started shaving my legs. Also vaseline is cheap and works wonderfully on the butt and between the legs. My bike commute is about 12 miles. I don't even shower or anything when I get to work, just change clothes (usually). But I work alone in a big office, I mean not totally alone but mostly alone.

11 miles. Same as above. Grab a bathroom and wash off with baby wipes. Deodorant and perfume along with a change of clothes works.

I shower at home, before my 8-10 mile commute. I carry a change of clothes, and keep a pack of baby wipes in the office to swab off the smellier bits before getting dressed.

Yeah, this, though I only bring a change of clothes in the summer months. My commute is mostly downhill in the mornings, so I can avoid over-exertion most of the time.

My commute varies, but I'll guess on average is about 12 miles each way. I shower when I get to work, sometimes when I get home, depending on how much longer I'll be awake and what else I'm doing that evening.

@brybot - maybe try wicking fabric underwear for the commute? wool or technical fabric of some kind.

When I commuted downtown, I would wipe down with baby wipes, dry with paper towels and then use a sprinkle of baby powder to fully dry any still damp sweaty areas. Baby powder is magical.

I bought two micro-fiber washcloths that I prefer to the baby wipes. I keep them in a Ziploc baggie and use one wet, and one to dry.

Thanks for the tips. I do generally wear shorts and prefer to be chilly than sweaty, but the region that touches the seat doesn't get any airflow regardless of what I wear. I'll probably keep up with the change of underwear and some combination of wipes/powder. Not sure I'm quite ready to try shaving Boazo! I was hoping that I could get away with nothing given that my commute is so short, but it does not seem that is the case .

Not sure I'm quite ready to try shaving Boazo!

Commas are tiny but sometimes so important.

It is a dilemma - I am prone to sweating and very self conscious about it, and for me it is easily the worst thing about riding a bike (well, OK, maybe next to dealing with cars). Although, walking to work on a hot day might actually be worse. I have this inner battle where I'm alternately embarrassed about being sweaty and angry at myself for even caring about what anyone else thinks. But of course you're never quite sure if it's making you stinky or not... I like to hope that doing a thorough job in the shower in the morning minimizes the possibility of that, but...

Like brian j said, avoiding effort helps if your commute allows it. I'm lucky that most things are downhill from my house - especially going to work I try to pedal lightly or coast as much as possible and sit up to catch more air. It helps a little but not entirely. I use paper towels and deodorant sometimes but generally I just try to work on the not giving a crap thing. And I wear a lot of white or black shirts which obviously don't really help but do tend to hide the problem a little.

I can't really take the bus to work but sometimes I do take it other places to avoid getting sweaty, with or without my bike in tow - if you ride to the stop at least you can recover in the A/C. And I have a Vespa but that's no picnic on a really hot day either with the helmet...

I really wish there were some better solution, ugh....

Now I feel like a dirty smelly kid, haha. I haven't changed my hygeine habits much since I started cycling. Just like any hot day, I'll probably shower when I get home, but when I get to work, I just dab essential oils on so that I smell better.

It's tough that I can't wear deodorant (It causes painful skin irritation for me. I've tried many different brands, always with the same result), but I don't think I need it all the time, honestly. Plus, that's why I carry essential oils - they smell good and are strongly scented, so at the very least, they cover any sweat smells.

Salty, that sounds like me. I sweat like a pig. I see people riding around in their business casual clothes thinking "how are they not completely soaking wet?" And during the summer, taking the bus doesn't matter either, because simply being outside makes me sweat. I can usually find relief on the scooter, but, yeah, even on the way home in the heat, I sweat.

The biggest time of issue for me is the commute home. Unless the temps are low, I can't really go anywhere or do anything after work unless there's a shower available. Simply climbing from the South Side to Oakland (or from Larry-ville to Morningside) makes me a sweaty mess.

I have an 8.5 mile morning commute. I shower before riding and then change all of my clothes at work. While changing clothes I spray down with some Rocket Shower cleaner and then use some large wet wipes (action wipes). On hot days I freeze a wet washcloth inside a ziplock bag and use this "ice towel" to help cool off while I'm changing clothes.

Brybot, I'm serious here, get some ExOfficio Boxer briefs, they are synthetic, super fast drying, no chaffing. They changed my world.

You can buy them at rei locally, or amazon cheaper.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M0MN02/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Benzo, that's exactly the type of thing I would recommend. I don't ride without something like those. There are lots of different manuf's now, from Under Armor on, even Target has their version. Anything but cotton.

Also brybot, if you continue to have rash in the nethers, go to your doctor and get an anti-fungal, my doc has given me Ketoconizole (sp?), it's about the same stuff as over-the-counter stuff but 10 times stronger. The problem will be gone in a couple of days, and hit it again as soon as any returns. The OTC stuff is a waste of money.

I highly recommend finding a smell buddy at work.

"Smell my balls."

Anyways, Icebreaker sells merino wool boxer briefs, which is much better at warding off bacteria and odor than the synthetic stuff. My Underarmour stuff doesn't do crapola in that department.

"Smell my balls."

"Pull my finger"

I have a 10- to 12-mile ride in, depending on the route I take. I guess it helps that two of the three people nearest me are also regular cyclists, and the office in general is fairly laid-back on what's acceptable. I wear and do nothing different now from before I started cycle commuting.

Going home, I more often bus (uphill, dark, hot, tired, mentally fried, raining, all/any of the above), then hop in the shower within five minutes of coming in the door, especially if I have in fact biked home. On a day when I bus the bike both directions (4- to 6-minute bike trip to the bus stop), I may not even break a sweat, so may skip the shower.

Thanks for the tips on handling various itches. That can get annoying.

If you don't sweat on a bike, you're doing something wrong. I wouldn't wear anything but riding clothes. I think my work clothes would get gross too fast despite washing regularly. I get sweaty back the most.

As far as chafing in or around your girl or boy parts, I use lantiseptic (I say that a lot) and wear a chamois. When it isn't so hot, I will use baby powder.

I have about a 4 mile commute, and I don't do much. I don't change clothes, I sometimes mop myself off a bit with wet papertowels, but that's about it. I sit in a cubicle all day though, and in the summer the AC is ragin, so that cools me off pretty quickly. I guess I don't really care all that much and I'm usually back to normal in an hour. Plus I think the bike ride in gives me a nice glow.

my ride is about 2 miles. my building has a gym in it, so if it's especially hot, I'll wear running shorts and a shirt and change when i get to work, but otherwise i pretty much just wipe my head off and maybe change my shirt and head to my desk.

when i lived farther away, I would shower downstairs, but mostly i do that before i leave home (or sometimes in the evening when i get home) now.

To the extent I have a system, it's to incorporate a cool down in the end of my ride (riding in on 5th gives you a gentle downhill after the climb up from the birmingham bridge area), and using the breeze to dry off a little. That, plus deodorant.

That said, it's clearly insufficient sometimes, so I'm very glad to have discovered this thread. I don't have the zip-able lining goodness, so right now I have to choose between potentially being too hot or being too cold and I usually choose being too hot to avoid getting sick. Will get some wipes and baby powder and keep them handy now.