Commuting - Do you guys stink after the ride if you commute to work?

If you guys don't have showers at your work, won't you guys kind of stink the rest of the day. That would be really uncomfortable no?

Um no, I workout in my gym,take my shower and then ride 10 miles into work. I clean up in the bathroom,fix my hair, apply fresh deodorant and change my cloths.

Baby wipes work amazingly well.

Baby wipes work amazingly well.

So does 91% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), and leaves no perfumed scent. Also as described above it's a good idea to shower before the ride. I do think that if I need to get really dressed up, I would feel uncomfortable without a post-ride shower.

No. Half the time I shower, the other half I don't after my 7 mile commute. I feel fresh either way, but if I don't shower I need to cool down and wipe up for about 15 to 20 minutes afterwards. Then I typically change tees and I'm fine.

So does 91% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), and leaves no perfumed scent. Also as described above it's a good idea to shower before the ride. I do think that if I need to get really dressed up, I would feel uncomfortable without a post-ride shower.

Rubbing alcohol is drying to the skin. You can get unscented baby wipes. That's what I use.

*sniff sniff* Uh... No one's said anything yet...:innocent:

I bring an extra change in clothes and get some towels to dry up. but usually my routine is come in dry up and then cool down first for 10 mins then change else my clean stuff gets sweaty cause my riding shirt is those sweat wicking biker stuff so it works great to cool me down fast and change with a baby wipe *BAM* freshness! :)

Some of us are blessed with non-stinkiness. ;) I don't know if it's genetics, or what we eat.

Sometimes my wife tells me I smell "hot" (not in that way) when I get home, but not offensive.

If you guys don't have showers at your work, won't you guys kind of stink the rest of the day.

No. When people stink, it's usually a problem of too little hygiene (and sometimes a bad diet) rather than too much exercise.

If you guys don't have showers at your work, won't you guys kind of stink the rest of the day. That would be really uncomfortable no?


No. I shower before I commute to work. My commute is about 11.5 miles long. I use these: http://www.playtexproductsinc.com/wetones/wo_bigOnes.asp and this: http://www.oldspice.com/products/product/61/Old_Spice_Body_Spray_Swagger/ to freshen up and kill bacteria that causes odor when I get to work and change into my work cloths. Bacteria, if left alone is what causes the odor. Using anti-bacteria wipes and an alcohol based body spray helps kill clean the bacteria off.

Rubbing alcohol is drying to the skin. You can get unscented baby wipes. That's what I use.

Thanks for the reply, but that's not been a problem for me. I do however use it on normally "moist" areas. Say no more. :o


... Bacteria, if left alone is what causes the odor. Using anti-bacteria wipes and an alcohol based body spray helps kill clean the bacteria off.

Rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol is used by Medical Labs to clean the skin before drawing blood and prevent intrduction of bacteria into the specimen or the patient.


No. When people stink, it's usually a problem of too little hygiene (and sometimes a bad diet) rather than too much exercise.

When I ride the next day after indulging in "bad" food and drink, I think of the extra sweating when cycling as a mechanism to detoxify by excreting those "bad" metabolites, so I'm not bothered by it, but I do try to be hygenic. :D

month 10 into commuting.. Here's my take on it.

Shower before leaving for work
Freshly washed bike clothing
In at work, wait 15-20min for cool down (underarmor is pretty dry at this point and I sweat a lot)
change into fresh clothes, wipe down, fresh deoderant. etc

Then I'm good for the day. Now the kicker is, when I get home I'm on the downside of fresh. I think it's due to wearing the not so fresh under armor a second time. and general sweat through the day. I THINK I smell less when I stay better hydrated. Which makes sense.

I always shower before bed. Incredible waste of money showering twice but a neccessary evil.

I get unscented wipes with a slight alcohol content, but that's for feeling clean than smelling clean.

I thought I was stinking once, but it turned out to be my riding gloves were sitting on top of my pc tower, reeking.

I also shower before I leave the house. Once I get to work, I turn on the fan at my desk and sit for 15 - 20 minutes answering emails, etc. while I cool down. I then go into one of the stalls in the bathroom and use a "Fresh Bath" wipe and a hand towel to wipe off a bit, then apply deodorant. This helps me to freshen up a bit. I also have very short hair and very little hair (balding will do that), so I don't need to anything there. I sweat like crazy, so I need the time to cool down, and no one has complained that I stink :p

It varies a lot for me. During the cooler months, I could probably wear my work clothes while I ride. During the summer, I'll have to wash up in the restroom about half the time. The other half, I just cool down and change clothes. I don't find that stinking is a problem because I shower every day (usually after I get home from work).

my hair smells a little sweaty if you get up REALLY close, or so says the boyfriend by the time i make the homeward commute... but if my co-workers were regularly coming up to smell my hair, we'd have bigger workplace issues!

Zinc oxide powder is antibacterial and works wonders. It's sold mixed with talc as antidiaper rash baby powder because corn starch based powders feed bacteria.

I shower once a day and rub it everywhere I might sweat. Zinc oxide is the same "natural" stuff used in the nonchemical mechanical sunblocks such as Blue Lizard and some hippy types mix it with witch hazel for deodorant. I don't even use any other deodorant (just the powder, no witch hazel either).

Sweat doesn't stink. Sweat interacting with bacteria on your skin does. I shower, I change and get on the bike within a half hour. I ride in bike gear with a full change of clothing once I get to the office, quick wipe if I got terribly sweaty, air dry and/or dunk head in cold water to turn the thermostat down ... no stink as there is no bacteria on my skin. If I ride at lunch I'll shower afterwards.

I shower in the morning. Then at work I use a Dickinson's Witch Hazel wipe in addition to wet and soapy paper towels, re-apply deodorant and all is fine. I also use a synthetic undershirt and remove that at work.

month 10 into commuting.. Here's my take on it.

Shower before leaving for work
Freshly washed bike clothing
In at work, wait 15-20min for cool down (underarmor is pretty dry at this point and I sweat a lot)
change into fresh clothes, wipe down, fresh deoderant. etc


+1. Taking the time to cool down in my synthetic shirt seems to dry it with my body heat, while still wicking moisture from my skin. I then change into a fresh set of clothes. (high school teacher "nerd causal" -- tie and khakis. I keep my shoes at work.)

I have yet to need to reapply deodorant, but I keep to a very natural and balanced diet, and consume enough onions and garlic on a regular basis that my body is fully adjusted to these and does not sweat them out.

The shower before and the clean riding clothes are key.

If you live north of the mason dixon then you can just take your shirt off and don't pedal too hard on the last mile for 9 months out of the year and you'll be nice and sweat free. Even better if it's raining because you get a free shower.

As others have posted. Proper hygiene to disrupt the growth of bacteria is key. Use soap and washcloth to give a little more attention in those problem areas such as chest and underarms before the ride to work. Cool down the last couple of miles. Cool down with some water from a sink at work. Change to a clean shirt after sweating is over. There are extra strength underarm deodorants available as well.

If you guys don't have showers at your work, won't you guys kind of stink the rest of the day.

No worse than usual.

Now, get out there and ride.

No. Shower before.

Consider this excuse busted.

Next excuse??????

Zinc oxide powder is antibacterial and works wonders. It's sold mixed with talc as antidiaper rash baby powder because corn starch based powders feed bacteria.

I shower once a day and rub it everywhere I might sweat. Zinc oxide is the same "natural" stuff used in the nonchemical mechanical sunblocks such as Blue Lizard and some hippy types mix it with witch hazel for deodorant. I don't even use any other deodorant (just the powder, no witch hazel either).

Does this powder rub off onto one's clothes?

My one way commute is 24 miles and there's no reasonably fast place to shower once at work. So I usually ride 3 miles to the bus in the morning, put the bike on it, and arrive mostly sweat free. The 24 miles home is quite hilly and long enough to be a satisfying workout.

more than usual?

I shower before my ride so my smell isn't so bad when I get to work, unless I wear a polyester cycling jersey instead of my cotton tee, then my pits stink. It doesn't matter anyway because even though I don't take an actual shower when I arrive, I do take a sink bath, washing my pits and my nether regions with soap and/or 'wet ones' wipes, and changing into different work clothes.

When I ride the next day after indulging in "bad" food and drink, I think of the extra sweating when cycling as a mechanism to detoxify by excreting those "bad" metabolites, so I'm not bothered by it, but I do try to be hygenic. :D

Any tips or advice about "bad foods" in regards to body odor?

Any tips or advice about "bad foods" in regards to body odor?


...When people stink, it's usually a problem of too little hygiene (and sometimes a bad diet) rather than too much exercise.

For a personal example of a "bad diet," as I interpret it, a favorite occasional indulgence of mine is a large pizza with mushrooms, onions, fresh garlic, Canadian Bacon, blue cheese and banana peppers (from the Upper Crust pizzeria, perenially selected as "Best of Boston"). Pretty toxic, IMHO but a good, hard ride will purge it out. :lol:

:D

I figure, the worst I'm gonna smell like in the morning is a brewery.

Or a distillery.

:innocent:

Nope. I cool down at work before I change into normal clothes and I keep a supply of baby wipes, body powder, and deodorant on hand to freshen up.

I shower before I leave to work, when I get home from work and sometimes again before bed. I also wash my cycling clothes every night. I think good hygiene and clean cycling clothes make more of a difference then anything else.

So far, no.
I sweat a lot so I towel off when I arrive. I cool off, lock up the bike in my room, get stuff situated, check email. Then I go to the restroom, baby wipes for the pits and bits, refreshing wash of face hands and neck, towel off, deoderant, cologne, lotion etc.
I have a stocked toiletries bag here so I can do any thing I'd need.
Change of clothes and I'm set.

For a personal example of a "bad diet," as I interpret it, a favorite occasional indulgence of mine is a large pizza with mushrooms, onions, fresh garlic, Canadian Bacon, blue cheese and banana peppers (from the Upper Crust pizzeria, perenially selected as "Best of Boston"). Pretty toxic, IMHO but a good, hard ride will purge it out. :lol:

Sounds pretty good to me, especially if washed down with enough beer.

If the people at work don't like the funky after effects, too darn bad, give 'em clothes pins for their upturned noses.;)

Sounds pretty good to me, especially if washed down with enough beer...

Sam Adams, of course. :thumb:

Nope. Shower before work and then use a fan at my desk to cool off for 20-30 minutes, then change into work attire, which for me means just a shirt since I ride in the pants I'm wearing to work. the fan is really great, it helps your head cool off.

Maybe a little. I tell myself it's pheromones.

If you're not trying to attract a mate, try Wet Wipes or similar. I use unscented/sensitive skin on my face, head, and neck and regular on other parts. YMMV.

I shower beforehand and towel off/reapply deodorant/change clothes at work after I cool down. Stinkiness comes from sweat on your body/clothing that is allowed fester. Hence, my biking clothes smell bad, but I don't after I take them off.

i don't have a problem as i go at a slow pace and don't work up a sweat.

Typically I am dripping sweat and have road grit / gnats plastered all over me when I arrive. I ride hard for over an hour on my commutes to work. So it would be very uncomfortable working all day without a cleaning even without considering a stink factor.

I cool down/rehydrate outside until I quit sweating. Then I head to the restroom and do a cold water sink shampoo which makes me feel 100% better. Then to the handi-stall with a soapy washrag and a small bucket of clean cool water so I can strip down, powerscrub then dry off with microfiber washrags and towel. Then the usual antiperspirant, etc. I always wear cycling clothes and bring clean work clothes in a pannier.

The whole process takes about the same amount of time as a shower and leaves me 100% clean and fresh; the restrooms are very near my desk so I can keep towels and stuff at work. The other office sites I've worked at had showers, but they were far from my desk and did not allow overnight/day storage so it was actually less convenient and took more time than the nearby restroom. I also arrive early/leave late, so it's low-key and no problem coming in to the office all bedraggled. Most of the comments I do get from others are more of "wow, that's great that you do that" variety and no snarkiness.

Does this powder rub off onto one's clothes?

Yeah, but only the inside and I think it's pretty much impossible for it to stain like deodorant. I put it on before I put my clothes on: rub a tablespoon or so into each notorious region (shake powder into palm of hand then rub) and wipe the residue everywhere else.

I have to be careful about putting my shirt on afterwards so the outside doesn't rub my powdery skin, but every deodorant I've used creates the same issue. However, if you try putting it on while you have your clothes on the resulting cloud will probably get on the outside of your clothing.

I originally was trying it as a nongreasy alternative to sunscreen, but gave up after realizing that I'd need a thick enough layer on my face to literally choke me. Then I recalled how my gas-pumping grandfather used to put baby powder on his chest and back after showering to mitigate sweaty shirt so I started to try it for that and the rest is history.

I have tenure.








:)

I have tenure.








:)

This is the best solution

I shower everyday and my commute is only 3 miles so I usually don't sweat much. I also work overnights so I don't have to worry about offending anyone. If I am feeling a bit scummy I can use the sink bath trick or take a shower if I like. Also my diet is pretty bland.

What exactly IS tenure, anyway?

As for the original question, I'm a girl. It would take me days of sweating to produce a stink.

Ok, I use scented antiperspirant on my eternally hair free underarms and use perfume etc.

:love:

In addition to showering in advance, make sure your bike clothes are completely clean before the ride, and change out of them at work.

You may need to wipe off the sweat, salt and road grime, but you won't stink.

I do have access to a shower at work, but I often do the above.

All I have to say is Axe body spray baby...

I get sweaty but I don't stink... at least I think I don't. Maybe I'm used to the smell and I don't notice it. Even if I stink it's not like I have a really prestigious job that requires me to look presentable at all times. Hell, some of the people here come to work looking disheveled and smelling like booze and marijuana sometimes.