I've landed a new job in midtown manhattan. thankfully the environment is quite relaxed and i don't think i'd stand out if i commute into work. HOWEVER, i bike hard and therefore sweat hard. I need to do something with those clothes. I'm considering adding a sock full of silica gel to my backpack with hopes that it would dry out my sweaty clothes. Obviously it would be much better if i could find some place to hang them but that might be a little bit difficult particularly since i'm a freelancer.

i hang it up for dry and get some clean air, by the time i leave the office it smells like... a clean Office tshirt again

i usually drink a lot of water and liquid, so my perspiration is usually odourless, my urine is normally clear.

Does it matter if they are nasty for the ride home?

I would scrap the silica gel idea. To dry your sweaty clothes they need air.
Hanging is best. But where? You don't want to make enemies hanging your stink in the community closet, next to someones Brioni suit. The coat rack standing in your office would be a conversation piece, but in poor taste.
Since you don't really need to worry about theft, perhaps you could find a supply / maintenance / janitorial type closet.

I just don't worry about it.

I bring a backpack to work that contains my work clothes. I don't have panniers, and I find a backpack to be generally more convenient.

When I get to work I change and clean up in the bathroom, and simply shove my sweaty clothing into the backpack, where it sits by my desk. In the afternoon I either bike home in my work clothes or change back. I don't care if my clothes are gross on the way home. I'm going to sweat again anyway, and I have a shower.

It never hurts to ask. You might be pleasantly surprised.

+1. Yep, I don't hang clothes out to dry in the workplace. Just stash them in my backpack or pannier and be ready for the ride home. The same if it rains, by the way. Just stuff the wet clothes in the backpack and when I go home either put wet clothes back on or ride in my work clothes.
Once at home I hang stuff up to dry and shower.
Ernest

I just pack 'em up in the messenger bag. Sometimes I can't stand putting on sweaty clothes, so I'll bring a second shirt. The shorts/socks don't bother me as much, go figure.

I have a fan and lay them out on a spare chair with said fan blowing. Also have a towel at work that I swap out every ~5 commutes.

I drape mine under my desk on a support beam.. nobody seems to care, or at least they haven't told me they do..

I hang mine up in a server room or LAN closet. Grab them halfway through the day and drape them over my bike. In my office so they aren't cold when I put them on.
To date no one has said anything.

What works is hanging them up and letting them air out as much as possible. How to do that in a way that won't get people going "ew!" is another matter -- although, you know? if that bike jersey was clean before you put it on, and you were clean before you put it on, no matter how much you sweat, it's not going to offending anyone with its odor from across the room. That won't stop people from acting like it does, however. But I digress.

At my work, we have a number of bike commuters, including one of the company owners -- on my floor, about 25% of us commute, including me and my cubemate. I've just been draping stuff over my handlebars, but I think I'm going to bring in a couple of hangers -- my desk faces a corner at an angle, and I think I can hang stuff off the back of the hutch, which would make it a little more discreet.

I take it easy going into work, of course I still sweat but I hang my shirt in the locker room then change into my uniform. The fast ride is reserved for the ride home.

I hang them up conspicuously. They act as boss repellent.

I make my ride in a sweat-free "heart rate zone 3" ride and try to hit the road before the sun. It keeps me and the kit fresh.

If you have some extra drawer space in your cubicle you can use the cross spars (?) for hanging file folders. Just leave off (or better yet push to the front) the folders and hang your stuff over the cross spars. This leaves the clothes able to dry out of sight. Out of sight out of mind

One rule of thumb I've used to great success in over 20 years of cycle-commuting is don't cycle in your work clothes and don't work in your cycling clothes. So, whatever adjustments you need to make in terms of hangers, etc. do them. Nashbar makes a serviceable garment bag that drapes over and clips onto a rack very nicely for 'office appropriate' attire. They're shoe slots in the bag, too. It's not very waterproof, so one may want to take steps like covering clothes in plastic trash bags before placing them in the garment bag.

My situation is such that I've locker/shower facilities and I take full advantage. I bring a weeks worth of clothing in on Mondays and take one outfit home per day on my 'light days'(not a GREAT choice of words...) commuters. They're a single speed or a 1x8 roadie w/a seatpost/trunkbag combo. In my lockers I keep a full array of deo, soap, towels, hangers and extra clothing of all types in case of emergencies. I hang my cycling clothes on wall hooks near the shower area as there's plenty of room and they dry much quicker in the open air.

So, get 'fast-drying' poly-pro tops and lyrca shorts, socks, etc. I turn everything inside out for more thorough drying. It took a while for me to get my routine down to where I don't get caught unprepared very often, anymore. My commuters are all solid and dependable and my clothing options are all packed beforehand, so the commuting experience is pretty low-stress even on heavy rain days. Just takes a while. W/a 35mi rt daily it's like I'm doing a mini-tour everyday, so I approach my commute from that perspective.

Hanging is best, of course. Do you work at a computer? You could also drape them over the PC -- the heat helps dry clothes (I've done that at a couple places). My current situation, though laid-back, involves some sensitive noses so I've been forced to blow-dry as much as I can, then bag it. Yes, the bike clothes are a little icky but with blow-drying priority going to the shorts' pad, I'm never uncomfortable on the way home (you don't want the pad to get nasty or it's helloooo saddle sores).

I drape them over my bike which I keep in my office. It's preferable to let you clothe air dry. Ask around the office, you may be surprised at what the options are.

Definitely air dry draped over your bike. Best way

My solution is to use 2 bib shorts-- one for the morning, one for the evening. The morning bib short is stuffed into a plastic bag, and the other one is fresh and clean for the commute home.

I hang my jersey in my cube. I use wool jerseys from ibex. The sweat does _not_ smell on wool and dries fairly quickly. I kid you not, there are good reasons to use wool jerseys. People don't believe this until they see (smell) it. By the afternoon, the jersey is totally dry and not funky at all.

The drawback is that I have to carry my extra bib shorts in a bag or backpack. No big deal since I have to periodically carry office clothing anyway.

Get some microweight wool t-shirts for summer and regular weight wool for layers for winter.
The wool dries AT LEAST as fast as the synthetic stuff and DOES NOT STINK. Your office mates will thank you.
Hang it or drape it over something to dry.

I did 4 days of commuting (100 miles) in 100+ degree temps last week here in Houston in ONE wool jersey and I just put it back into my dresser drawer until i have more that need to be washed. It does not smell one bit, in fact it smells as fresh as anything else hanging in my closet. Just has white salt stains on it. lol

Me, too. I completely rinse out my jersey, helmet pads, and straps. Everything's bone dry by mid-afternoon.

I tend to wear moisture wicking shirts so they dry out pretty quickly once I hang them up. I drape my shirt over my backpack under my desk and I also lay my wicking underwear and regular shorts under the desk to air out for the day. For the really soggy days I can use the storage closet near my desk to let my shorts and socks dry.

I use one of these:
to hang my togs behind a door that stays open. Everything dries, no smell.