How to ride a fixed gear without sweating profusely?
 

Everytime i ride i tend to sweat like crazy. I want to be able to ride to a friend's party or my local target and not look like i just ran a mile. Do i just sweat less over time or there is a technique to keep the body cool and perspire less?

*facepalm*

Your bike doesn't have air conditioning?

or a window to roll down?

Ride naked

he must have gotten a bikesdirect.com bike..

Clothing that breaths...
a "cool down" section towards the end...
not riding as hard in the first place...
maybe you get used to it? :dunno:

dude. http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/ele/1278477526.html. doubles as a neck brace for the brakeless crowd too!

double straps help.

I tried one of those in the store once maybe 10 years ago haha, it worked! I think.

Also, don't rehydrate before rides. Plan 24-48 hours ahead.

Your body is perspiring to help keep you cool. It's a good thing.

Sync, my roomie has one and I havent ever tried it on my bike but i really want to make a joke bike and get a 80's neon gaper track suit and a headband and spin in a really low gear and have that thing on. I can only imagine the looks i would get haha

walk next to your bike

there is nothing you can do about it now ride your bike more and sweat it out loose maybe you'll loose some wait you complacent little puke

that is the problem with people these days and why Americans are so fat but you mean I have to get sweaty and icky oh no

dont breathe

i am not fat. i am 5'8" and 130lbs. male btw.

How badly do you sweat when you walk 1/4 the distance? Could easily be a biology / environment thing. That or just slow down.

yeh you still look pretty cool walking your fixie. plus it gives people a chance to comment on it, which isn't really possible when you're just riding it. maybe before you get to the party you can hop on and roll in the last block. then dismount in front of everyone on the porch without a drop of sweat.

you gotta be lookin fresh down at the local target....:-\

I guess in theory you could go to a shorter gear and bike reeaaalllly slowly.

I notice that I sweat a lot more after a night of heavy drinking...

You realize that you kind of undermine your point when you make an post that is offensive and nonsensical. Not to mention that, for the love of god, there isn't one punctuation mark or capitalization in your entire post!

I would argue that you are the problem with people; instead of learning how to write effectively, or contribute to society, you spent all your time bullying fat kids and stealing chocolate milk... you "complacent little puke".

/end angry rant.

Anyway, bottom line... just don't ride so hard and you wont sweat as much, i always take it easy on the way into work, then push hard on the way home, it works out just grand for me.

A good question.

Thanks for asking.

First of all, work with time factored in equates to horsepower, but also to watts.

Y'know how the elite racing magazines talk about watts?

A 100 watt light bulb produces more heat per unit of time than does a 40 watt bulb.

Per unit of time.

For a bicyclist, this means if one wants to keep the amount of heat his body produces as low as possible, then he needs to extend the length of time during which he or she does the work.

So, a 40 minute ride to someplace produces the same amount of heat as a 30 minute ride, total, in terms of a bucket full of heat, but, the 40 minute ride produces a lower peak temperature than the 30 mnute ride, due to the stretch over time.

The longer it takes to do the work, the lower the peak temperatures involved.

So, in the morning or in the evening, with long shadows and cool breezes, these peak temperatures might not mean much; but, at high noon, these peak temperatures might mean clothes soaked with perspiration.

A person can minimize the perspiration at high noon, first, by going slower, but secondly, by choosing the right clothes and the right bag.

In the summer I ride in all cotton with baggy shorts and baggy boxer skivvies.

I wear low cotton socks and I have apair of bike shoes I have converted into sandals by cutting out the toe and the tongue.

I wear a light-colored cotton short-sleeve shirt and, under my helmet, a cotton skull cap.

Very importantly, though, in summer I replace my winter nylon bag with a summer cotton newspaperboy bag.

I have modified this newspaperboy bag with two strategically-placed grommets and, with an 18" bungee cord as a stabilizer strap, the bag stays in place, cooly, on my back.

If I have anything that might get damaged by perspiration, I put it in a plastic storage bag.

So, I still perspire, but it goes into the cotton clothes and cotton bag, and then into the air and I stay remarkably dry and cool.

And, just to cover all the bases, if you sweat heavily, you wash away your deodorant.

Go to your local health food store and buy Burt's Bees Outdoor Deodorant (oil of sage, rosemary and lemon...very green and natural).

It comes as a liquid in a small bottle with a pump spray, and a little pfft-pfft under the shirt, in mid afternoon after a long ride, can make for much better company in an enclosed space.

Too much information? :)