Commuting: No Showers Available
07-31-10 | 08:32 AM
#26
Support JDRF
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 925
Likes: 3
From: Arkansas
Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Specialized Roubaix Elite
1. Shower before leaving.
2. Upon arrival, take as much off as possible without scaring your co-workers.
3. Spend about 15 minutes cooling down and toweling off with a damp cloth. Rinse and repeat a few times until you've dried out.
4. Apply deodorant.
5. Change into clean, dry clothes.
2. Upon arrival, take as much off as possible without scaring your co-workers.
3. Spend about 15 minutes cooling down and toweling off with a damp cloth. Rinse and repeat a few times until you've dried out.
4. Apply deodorant.
5. Change into clean, dry clothes.
07-31-10 | 08:56 AM
#27
NYC
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,719
Likes: 115
used to shower every day when I got home too. Lately I've stopped doing that, only showering in the morning now. I find the sweat from bike riding is different from other sweat from working, or even just sitting still sweltering on a muggy day.... It seems to be much more like pure water that just dries off. Not as grimy/sticky/stinky as other sweat. Meaning that it may not be that bad just going for the sponge bath.
Second sweat is (at least for me) anything over 45 minutes to an hour. Then the stink gets going.
If my ride to work was over an hour, I'd need a shower, or at least a very thorough wipe down with something antibacterial. But after my 35 minute commute, I can just towel off, get dressed, and head to my desk (where I'll turn on my small fan for a while).
This is why ( or one reason why ) cyclists fall head over heals in love with merino wool. Wool is an inhospitable environment to the bacteria that produces the stink; they don't do any better in wool than naked people do in Antarctica. You can sweat to your heart's content and not smell. People go for merino in particular because it's a very soft wool.
The merino will keep the dried sweat from funking up in the hours ahead.
