Beat the Heat
 

Record heat for the past week here in Colorado. Unfortunately we don't have a shower at my office. I think my coworkers are getting sick of my overuse of deodorant. What do you do to beat the heat on your commute.

I hope you're washing yourself up in the restroom or something and not just trying to cover up bike sweat with deodorant..

Take a thorough shower before leaving and don't put any deodorant on. Do not overdress.

After arriving at work:

Take your sweaty shirt off asap and wipe sweat off
Wash you hair in a sink
Wipe your armpits, and feet with WetOnes (and any areas where you sweat excessively)
Change all your clothes down to socks and shoes.
Put deodorant on.

If you still smell consider some antibacterial lotion such as hand sanitizer or antibiotic cream to apply after arriving at work and use merino wool clothing for riding.

The logic behind the above is that fresh sweat does not smell. What smells is bacteria that grows in your sweat later. So the idea is to start with a clean body before the ride and get rid of most the sweat asap before it dries off and becomes food for bacteria.

Other misc things that help to reduce your body odor:

Trim your body hair (armpits and pubic), don't shave, just cut short
Have a short haircut
Shower before going to bed AND in the morning

I sweat like there is no tomorrow, dripping, drenching sweat and I don't smell at work. I have actually asked my coworkers to let me know if it gets bad but they say it is never a problem.
Take it easy to lower sweating during the ride

Yeah, like someone else said, it may vary from person to person but I've found that I don't really smell when I sweat as long as I've showered that day.

And you can take it a little easier during the ride.

I have trouble doing that, lol, I like to go fast. I find the best compromise is to slow down for the last 5-10 minutes of the ride - once you stop riding, if your body was just hitting it hard it keeps sweating a lot, but now you don't have the cooling benefits of airflow so you get hotter for a while until your body catches up and realizes you're not working hard any more. If you half-way coast for that 5-10 minutes, it's not nearly as bad when you get off the bike.

For keeping cool I've found filling my water bottle full of ice and cold water, then drinking that really helps, but I don't know if it would actually help with smell.

And as someone else mentioned, it's usually the arm pits that are the worst for smell - when I don't have time to shower but I'm starting to smell just taking a washcloth and water and washing the 'pits really makes a difference.

Yup. And for me the second source of body odor is the hair, it's very oily and that's why I keep it short, and then the feet. Once those three areas are taken care of yo got rid of like 90% of body odor.

I have a shower at work but sometimes I take a shower at home before I leave anyways. On those days, I take it easy and wear a tank top to maximize pit cooling and pack my stuff in my Carradice saddlebag. Anything on my back will me sweatier than usual. When I get to the office I switch to a fresh shirt. Frankly it's been kind of cold in the mornings here - at least on the bike path - even on the hottest days. Perhaps leaving earlier for work might help too.

Ha ha, no I do try and clean up before putting my work clothes on.

I like the WetOnes idea. Going to do that, always use them when camping, don't know why I never thought of that.

Taking it easy during the ride is always a tough one for me too. I've been leaving home a little earlier so I can have some cool down time, that seems to be working well too.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

To put this in context, we're having a heat wave right now, and it's going to hit a scorching 81 degrees today. It's not that Seattle doesn't get hot - last year the mercury hit 109 - but it's not been in the cards this year.

I ride in merino tops, and I wear these to work. They kill all body odor, and I don't feel sweaty, no matter how much I soak them. I try to stay in the shade as much as possible when riding ( we just shifted from burning the fog off around noon to waking up to golden sun ), and slow down for the last 3/4 mile or so. When I get to work, I'll use slightly wet paper towels to soak up the sweat from my face, forehead, neck, and hairline. That goes a long, long way.

I'm glad to read you recognize the problem of deodorant abuse and how it affects your co-workers. It really is annoying to have to inhale those scents, and many offenders are totally oblivious. I would recommend using 91% rubbing alcohol from any pharmacy. Just slosh some on a towel and apply liberally. It dries quickly with no lingering odor and is actually refreshing from the rapid evaporation. It's an effective deodorant since it's bactericidal and is applied to the skin prior to drawing blood in a Medical Lab. I have co-workers who would not hesitate to tell me if I offended.

Showering before the ride is also a good idea. For me, I can wear hospital scrubs all day and feel comfortable, but if I have to put on dress clothes, I'm fastidious enough that I would shower after the ride, just before changing. The-above mentioned 91% rubbing alcohol is also my routine choice of deodorant

There was a TV commercial in the 1960's for a certain brand of deodorant, with a person standing alone in front of the camera pronouncing "I don't use Whatever deodorant, and I have a perfect home life" to which the off-camera announcer replies, "You live alone, don't you?" and the person glumly agrees. :rolleyes:

Wisdom. This is exactly what I do minus washing my hair (though I have short hair and don't seat much). Most important part, IMHO, is the shower before your ride (if you cannot shower after) and understanding odor comes from bacteria.