Touring - where to shower?

on m trip up to alaska the rivers will be a little to chilly to bath in and was just wondering what other people did for showers?

I won't be sleeping in hostels (tent only) but have you guys known hostels to let peple use shower for small fee?
Also I thought of public pools

anything else?

Most all state parks, truck stops and many more

Some shower enthusiast carry a bag with a shower nozzle. Heat water from where ever, hang on tree limb.

Public pools and recreation centers can be a good place, I have used them in the past on a cross country hiking and camping road trip (car).

Go to a gym if you have a membership card or simply ask an employee if you can use the showers. I have a solar shower which is worth having. Fill your bottles up with warm water and shower in the bushes.

A 2.5 gallon solar shower is soooo nice. Not only for a daily shower, but also in camp for cooking and washing dishes. I have the original one I bought almost 20 years ago, I bet 5 hundred gallons has passed thru it.

OK. I will give you another thought. I was told that car wash (self service ones) work well with bath suits. No joke, just fire it up and get wet and soaped!

OK. I will give you another thought. I was told that car wash (self service ones) work well with bath suits. No joke, just fire it up and get wet and soaped!

LOL. You should put that on Youtube. You would get millions of hits. :)

We just jumped in the rivers and lakes - they were cold, but we did it anyway. We did find some lakes that were really pleasant - we suspect they had warm springs flowing in somewhere.

If you're buy the ocean, check out public docks. Often their bathrooms have coin operated showers.

I took a shower in a stream of rain water shooting off of the roof of a road side restaurant once. If I recall corrently it was less than 10 Celsius that day. Very cold. I carry a10L MSR Dromedary bag. It has a shower hose accessory.

I have showered; (I use the word 'shower' liberally)

In glacier fed rivers in the Washington when it was 50-deg outside. All I could really do was jump in and out of the water. It was tortuous, but it was better than crawling in my bag smelly and sticky.

Behind a convenience store with a garden hose.

A fountain in a public park.

I have snuck into a RV parks and campgrounds and used thier showers.

Truck stops.

State parks.

The sink at McDonalds, gas stations etc...

A laundry-mat, I ran a cycle in a washer( it was very late at night)

public beach showers

behind churches(hose)

Basically you do whatever you have to, to get clean.

I have showered; (I use the word 'shower' liberally)

In glacier fed rivers in the Washington when it was 50-deg outside. All I could really do was jump in and out of the water. It was tortuous, but it was better than crawling in my bag smelly and sticky.

Behind a convenience store with a garden hose.

A fountain in a public park.

I have snuck into a RV parks and campgrounds and used thier showers.

Truck stops.

State parks.

The sink at McDonalds, gas stations etc...

A laundry-mat, I ran a cycle in a washer( it was very late at night)

public beach showers

behind churches(hose)

Basically you do whatever you have to, to get clean.

+1

I have done most of the things you listed, but then again going a few days dirty isn't the end of the world in my experience.

A shower is nice, but it isn't really a necessity. Daily bathing is more a matter of cultural convention than necessity and is historically a recent development. So my approach is, shower when and where you can and don't worry about it when you can't.

+1 to the part about going a few days dirty being ok.

Hell, if I go camping that's my one week where I'm allowed to be dirty... and damned if I'm gonna give that up! This is America!

Yeah, it's fine to go a few days dirty (I was a Marine in Viet Nam, it just didn't always matter in the bush) BUT, showering the salt build up and stickyness from your body before you get into a sleeping bag is a wonderful experience in itself. I can't imagine riding 80-90 miles and NOT showering when you could!

OK. I will give you another thought. I was told that car wash (self service ones) work well with bath suits. No joke, just fire it up and get wet and soaped!

Lmao love it. I would feel odd doing it but hey, it works.


Most all state parks, truck stops and many more

ya truck stops forgot that one


A 2.5 gallon solar shower is soooo nice. Not only for a daily shower, but also in camp for cooking and washing dishes. I have the original one I bought almost 20 years ago, I bet 5 hundred gallons has passed thru it.

I can't afford that extra space needed (bag already full)


I have showered; (I use the word 'shower' liberally)

In glacier fed rivers in the Washington when it was 50-deg outside. All I could really do was jump in and out of the water. It was tortuous, but it was better than crawling in my bag smelly and sticky.

Behind a convenience store with a garden hose.

A fountain in a public park.

I have snuck into a RV parks and campgrounds and used thier showers.

Truck stops.

State parks.

The sink at McDonalds, gas stations etc...

A laundry-mat, I ran a cycle in a washer( it was very late at night)

public beach showers

behind churches(hose)

Basically you do whatever you have to, to get clean.

many good ideas, and I'll have to keep my eyes open for hoses.


+1

I have done most of the things you listed, but then again going a few days dirty isn't the end of the world in my experience.

A shower is nice, but it isn't really a necessity. Daily bathing is more a matter of cultural convention than necessity and is historically a recent development. So my approach is, shower when and where you can and don't worry about it when you can't.

Ya I know dirty for a few days or more is not the end of the world (already have done it multiple times even when living a house in a city.)

And thank you everyone else for great ideas and I guess I am going to have to try bathing in glacial water just once...might not after that lol

LOL. You should put that on Youtube. You would get millions of hits. :)

This.

What about a few baby wipes?

Come on now, you have room for a solar shower, they pack flat and double as a pillow. If your packed so tight that you don't have room for something like this, than you need to re-think your set-up. When your out on tour, you can't always get small quantities, especially food, so you need some extra space.

I suggest getting one of the larger ones, 5 gal. not because you need 5 gal. but it gives you more surface area for heating, jut 2-3 gal. in and lay it in the sun. For a boost, add a couple cups of boiling water right before your shower.

This thread is well-timed. We just now managed to get the hot water heater restarted after having no hot water all weekend because the basement was flooded. I'm waiting for enough hot water to buil dup so I can have my first hot shower since Friday!

I bought a solar shower years ago and didn't wind up using it much. I wasn't bike touring at the time, but was canoe and kayak camping and backpacking. I never really worked out well for me.

When I tried the solar shower I found it worked best on sunny warm days in the middle of the day. When bike touring I typically don't find myself out in the middle of nowhere with no place to wash, and a few hours of mid day sun to heat the water. More often than not it seemed to be late afternoon/evening, cold, and maybe cloudy the times that I wanted to use it.

As far as room to carry it it doesn't really take that much space and even with smallish pannier, space has never been all that limited for me. OTOH, an extra half pound to a pound is more than they are worth to me.

Just cleaning up with a wet washcloth seemed like the best option for me between chances to shower in a real shower.

A laundry-mat, I ran a cycle in a washer( it was very late at night)

Did you crawl in the washing machine and run yourself through a wash cycle?

Come on now, you have room for a solar shower, they pack flat and double as a pillow. If your packed so tight that you don't have room for something like this, than you need to re-think your set-up. When your out on tour, you can't always get small quantities, especially food, so you need some extra space.

I suggest getting one of the larger ones, 5 gal. not because you need 5 gal. but it gives you more surface area for heating, jut 2-3 gal. in and lay it in the sun. For a boost, add a couple cups of boiling water right before your shower.

Hmm maybe my memory is bad b/c the last one i saw was in a large box. I'll check them out again

A laundry-mat, I ran a cycle in a washer( it was very late at night)

Did you crawl in the washing machine and run yourself through a wash cycle?

No. I actually let the washer fill up with hot water, stripped to my birthday suit, stood over the drain in the floor and poured water over my body with my cooking pot. It was very late at night and my girlfriend stood watch for me. I did get caught though. There was an old lady who lived in the back of the laundry and she witnessed the whole thing through a peephole in a door. And when she came out, she pointed to a tiny camera up on the ceiling. I had been filmed, also.
She was really cool about the whole ordeal, she thought it was funny.

BTW, this happened in Rio Dell, Ca.

All those places folks mentioned are good. You can give yourself a heck of a sponge bath using on of your jerseys, soaking it in a stream, soaping it up, and sliding it thru all the nooks and crannies. Then just wash the jersey one last time, let it dry, and off ya go.

roughstuff

Yeah, it's fine to go a few days dirty (I was a Marine in Viet Nam, it just didn't always matter in the bush) BUT, showering the salt build up and stickyness from your body before you get into a sleeping bag is a wonderful experience in itself. I can't imagine riding 80-90 miles and NOT showering when you could!

I'm with the jarhead on this one. Clean up whenever you can, but don't flip out just because you can't. I almost always manage to find away to at least get any abrasive salt buildup out of the frictiony areas, though - this I find to be essential to enjoying a tour.

All those places folks mentioned are good. You can give yourself a heck of a sponge bath using on of your jerseys, soaking it in a stream, soaping it up, and sliding it thru all the nooks and crannies. Then just wash the jersey one last time, let it dry, and off ya go.

roughstuff

that's pretty much what I did whether it was gas station bathrooms or a hose somewhere private. A drop of soap cut down on bacteria where bacteria grow.

I guess I'm showing my age, but . . . a bunch of boy scouts a long time ago showed my family how to wash the hands of 20 boys out of 1/2 gal of water. Nail hole in the bottom of a tin can, -- plug hole when water stream not needed with a stick, toothpick, etc. We adapted the idea to any 1/2 gallon container, -- juice can, milk jug - it could be a zip lock bag tied in a tree and filled with warm water. You don't need a big stream of water, you just need running water to wet, rub, and rinse. I can get a good bath from 2 quarts of water including shampooing my hair. For public bathing nothing works as well as a "lava lava" or sarong. Basically 2 m of cloth tied around your waist, - dries quickly - slip your undies on underneath and then remove, or use it as a screen held by a friend or tied to your bike. Nothing wrong with solar showers, but milk containers are almost free and can be ditched until the next bath. A few handy wipes, etc. are great for a quick freshen up for pits and privates. Ride on. Tom

About the car wash idea...if you're talking about those hoses with pressure that is such a bad idea. My MIL was washing her car and accidentally got the back of one of her hands with the stream of water and it took the skin right off. She has a scar 9 years later. It was an ugly looking wound too.

If you're buy the ocean, check out public docks. Often their bathrooms have coin operated showers.

+1.

We've used the showers at various marinas around Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie when touring. Boaters need to bathe too! ;-)