women commuters
 

I would like to know how you clean up after your commute before work if there are no showers. I can change clothes but I am concerned about sweat and whatever dirt I pick up on my trip.

No showers at work for me either. I keep unscented baby wipes and use those when I get in. I've never had an issue with either dirt or odor, and I've come in pretty muddy before. It's very humid here, and my commute is my workout, so I get pretty sweaty.

Edit: I shower before I ride. So my sweat is clean. After I've cooled down and wiped down, I feel just as clean as if I'd just gotten out of the shower. I rinse my hair as well.
:)

Basically shower before work and wear clean clothes. Once you get to work take a "hobo" shower or use baby wipes like starla suggests. Also try to avoid over exerting yourself so you don't sweat as much, but everyone is different as far as how much they sweat.

I think wool will help. I'm not female but I can tell you that the poly compression tops that I wear smell like toxic waste after a single ride. I think they must be breeding grounds for bacteria. I know it's not popular but sometimes I ride with cotton, and it doesn't smell noticeably. I hear that wool doesn't smell at all, and if you shower WELL before you leave, you are likely to be fine at work. If you still smell a bit, baby wipes.

I gotta get me some of that wool. The problem is I'm cheap, alertshirts cost $8, and wool costs $80, and no, there isn't ANY suitable wool available at the Salvation Army around here, or anyplace else I've checked.

And how many and how steep are the hills on the way?

Odd, what brand? The Zensah ones (Israeli army issue equipment!) contain silver oxide, and Under Armour contains an unknown compound they like to market, both for killing bacteria. My Zensah compression shirt doesn't smell like rotten man days later (I refuse to re-wear though), but that's me; I haven't tried Under Armour, but my next buy is an Under Armour Tactical V-Neck HeatGear Compression base layer.

It's my belief there's a women's specific sub-forum here on BF that may be a little more help. Also, there's a website called http://www.teamestrogen.com w/a commuter sub-forum. The whole site's like BF, but it's geared for women. Great site, so says my wife.

I am lucky enough to have lockers/showers at my current job but at a former job I had nothing but a shared bathroom with other business on the floor.

* I was able to alter my schedule so that I was there early. I very rarely encountered anyone else in the bathroom and when/if I did the ladies were generally very cool about it.

* My commute is very hilly. I arrived sweaty. Some days I took a bus part-way to work to minimize sweat factor.

* I took sink bath after cooling off. Hobo shower?

* Hair is not a problem as it bounces back after adding a bit of water and fluffing.

* Keep extra bath products and makeup at work.

* Change clothes entirely if you sweat. I find that my wool is great at having no odor but sport bras not so much. Strip everything off and start base layers clean and dry.

Most people had no idea I rode unless they saw my bike in the office.

Like others have said, shower before you leave, baby wipes when you get there, and a complete change of clothes. Wool is awesome in the winter, I rode in the same shirt (smartwool mid-weight long sleeve) for a week at a time and it didn't pick up odors at all. I've been wearing assorted old cotton t-shirts since it's been warmer and they're fine for a round-trip (and I have a big pile of them, so don't have to go buy bike-specific whatever).

I'm thinking about cutting my hair off this summer, it's long now and as it gets warmer/humid-er it's getting kind of sticky, but I work in a research lab so the semi-damp pony tail is workable for now.

Also, keep an extra set of underwear/bra/etc at work if you can....learned that one the hard way.... And if you carry your lunch, put it in something really leak proof...

I also usually cruise on the way to work (11mi) and push it more on the way home--if I ride hard both ways everyday I get burned out pretty fast.

My work envoroment is dirty and since I have to interact out in the shop, I usually can get away with having to do any major clean up. There are days where I have office details and I do like to be a little bit cleaner on those days. A wipe down with baby wipes is refreshing. A regular wet towels is cheaper. Use deodorant before the ride and after the cleaning.

Avoiding sweat if at all possible is the best route. If you can leave before sunrise, you will be cooler and sometimes too cold especially here in the bay area even during a heat wave. Unless you are wearing bike specific clothing, then wearing loose clothing to get some venting helps. Same with pants. Avoid heavy lotion on the skin as that tends to hold heat (for me it does). If you have long hair, then tied it away so that you can have less restriction of air flow to your face.

Last but not lease, there are certain route that are much cooler, and I'm not talking about hills either. Rather those with congested traffic will have more cars, trucks and buses that are emitting hot fume out the exhaust which I can feel the difference in air temperature on a hot day.

Clean, dry clothes feel like a treat after a hot sweaty ride or a cold rainy ride. Avoid wearing the same socks you wore riding to work. I find sweaty socks can feel horrible but also smell absolutely disgusting.

I sweat copiously and seem to attract road crud, dead bugs, sweaty salt, etc. It feels like sandpaper on my skin. I wear bike clothes and bring clean work attire in a pannier. Some days I'll even sink-wash the bike clothes and put a fan on them to be dry for the commute home.

When I get to work (early), I sit down outside and drink water until I quit sweating.

Then up to my office cubicle where I fetch my cleanup kit.

The ladies restroom is clean cool and very few people use it before work. I do a cold-water shampoo in the sink (fully-dressed), then filled a small bucket with clean cool water. Took all my stuff into the handicap stall, stripped, and used two washrags to get clean. One was a wet soapy rag using antibacterial liquid soap to wipe myself down with, head to toe, scrubbing areas if I was particularly road-splatted that day. Once I had soaped up and scrubbed, I used the clean rag to dip into the clean bucket to wipe the soapy water off my skin. Dried off with a XL camp towel (microfiber) and used a sham-wow to help dry and fluff my very short hair so it wasn't even noticeable it had been wet. Apply toiletries, dress, and clean the area and pack up. I felt very clean and refreshed.

It was important to leave the restroom as clean as it originally was - no hair in the sink, no splashes or wet floors.

I kept a couple pair of shoes at work, belts and some generic cardigan sweaters. No need for them to go back and forth on the bike.

Traveler-size bottles of shampoo, soap, chamois butter can be found and refilled from full-size bottles to fit in a quart-size zip-lock bag.

Despite my fears, this quick hobo cleanup was just as fast as a "real" shower where I'd be lingering wasting hot water instead of just getting the job done. Also much nicer than having to trot a mile or so to the "wellness showers" at the far end of the job campus. I usually got to work 45 minutes early so I had time to make my espresso latte and coffee and put up my stuff to dry before my coworkers showed up. And in the eveing, I would work a little late to miss rush-hour traffic and get a cooler ride home that summer.

About hair and stuff - I have a short carefree haircut. I figure as long as it's clean and well-trimmed, it will look better than the look I have when I'm totally out of shape and crabby not having my exercise. Safety and functionality comes before fashion. That's the fun part of being in my 50s - I still know what other people think, but I don't necessarily care. :)

Going slow to avoid sweat doesn't work. That just means less airflow and more time in the sun. Temps > 100F are common in the summer. Mornings are only 80F but humidity is about 80%.

And yes, there is a Women's Only Forum. Haven't passed anything gender-specific on in this post, but in the future you may wishto request privs from the mods.

YMMV

A few paper towels soaked in water to sponge off with plus a small hand towel from home for drying work fine for me. I shower before I leave, so there isn't much of a problem.
Arriving early enough to slowly walk around to cool off before getting dressed helps.
I find that sweat is mainly a problem in the winter, oddly enough. If I'm wearing enough clothing to keep warm at -22 C, it's enough to make me start sweating.
Underwear choices are very much a YMMV situation. I love the modern wicking fabrics and never have a problem with odor. Perhaps different people have different sweat chemistry. Damp wool smells like a wet sheep on me.

I fail to see how this is a women's issue. I ride to work in bike clothes and I change my clothes when I get to work (including socks). And I bring a hair brush so I can redo my ponytail. No shower, no wipes, no nothin'. Life is not any harder for me than it would be for a male commuter. In fact it's probably easier, because I'm way less stinky. My only advice to you is: if you are stinky drink more water, you'll be less stinky.

Some people actually prefer the natural smell of a woman!

+1 here.

I work in an office setting with 4 other people. These 4 other people are all archaeologists with plenty of field time under their belt, so they aren't adverse to a bit of sweat or dirt (I'm a geologist). All of us go out for a 1/2 hr walk/run around the nearby park during the day also. I do my ride or run and simply change clothes.

Yup.

It's a lot easier for you because you're not my wife who must spend an hour or more doing her hair and makeup. Thing is, she's perfectly beautiful without having to do all the work, so I don't understand why she puts herself through it.

I wash up in the men's room sink when I get to work...I keep a towel and washcloth at work. Takes a couple of minutes to clean up and get changed. Of course having short hair that I ain't got to futz with at all helps a lot. ;)

Dear original poster:

Please explain why you believe this situation is unique to women.

Thank you,
At least one of the many men here who have to get neat and tidy every day after commuting too

You seem somehow offended. The majority of girls I know have a more strenuous beauty routine than I do, which probably also carries into commuting touch ups.

As I said earlier I'm a care free commuter, but when travelling I always carry a camp towel. They're super absorbent, pack very small, and are very light weight.
They come in a lot of different sizes, but this small one that fits on a keychain is super handy-
http://www.rei.com/product/777958/ca...owel-155-x-155
You may want a bigger one if you sweat profusely, but I think this should do the job for most people.

I don't think she does believe it's unique to women. At least not from the original post. I believe she's asking other females, "what do you do" so that she can get a fellow female's perspective.

This thread is strong enough for a man...