Bike Gremlin

Hi all,

I've been commuting by bicycle for as long as I've been working. Have lots of experience. However, my wife has started riding bicycle more often than once a month just this summer. Now she's considering commuting to work by bicycle. Her commute is some 13 kilometres. It ends with a bit of a climb (low grade for 1 km, than steep for another 500 metres). Not too tiring, but enough to make her sweat.

How do you women handle such things? Make up, change of clothes? Any tricks, or tips? She hasn't got any shower at work, not even a decent changing room.

She's not much of a sporting type, but whenever she does anything (cycling, walking woods etc) she says she feels great.

acidfast7

my gf does the same. 22km RT with a "huge" hill at the end (1km in length).

we have a full locker room in the basement, so that doesn't help in your situation.

she does the shower and full change of clothes at the end. she doesn't have to be presentable to customers during the day (we work as scientists), so there's minimal pressure to look super nice.

i find that riding with her (carrying the gear for both of us) and being supportive really helps.

it's very nice to live with a commuting partner, it makes things easier on most days

<3

ratdog

Not a wonan, but can she find a health club close to the office to join so she can get cleaned up there before heading into the office?

Bike Gremlin

Me: "good idea."

Wife: "I'm going to pay membership just to take shower and change clothes? Are you crazy?!"

Guess that settles it.

Though some ideas take time to grow - maybe she'll change her mind. She's taken lots of bicycle trips into that area, but never to WORK. She's a teacher, she likes to look "decent", so that complicates the whole idea. We'll see. Letting time (and fuel prices) do it's work, helping when asked. We'll see.

acidfast7

Suggestion to carry things and be supportive is a great one. Will give it a try!

acidfast7

speaking of that, it shouldn't take so long...

i filled up the Audi last weekend and it was €1.80/L (Super 95 w/5% EtOH), which is the highest I've ever seen it.

that's 8.51USD/Gal or 137USD/tank for those in the states

another way to put it is that I can fill the car 8 times OR have a brand new fully-built Surly CC.

lol

ratdog

Well, depending on where you live, gym memberships can be pretty cheap. Don't know where you are, but in NYC where there's a gym/health clubs all over the place where they are sometimes across the street from each other the competition is so steep that prices are pretty reasonable. There are also other benefits, she can use the rest of the facilities or just sightsee.

mrleft2000

One of my friends accounts that she started her class one day in biking clothes when she got caught waiting for the bridge. She's not a morning exercise person, so I think most days she takes the bus into work and bikes the 13 miles home.

SkippyX

Bummer.

See, it's not only the shower facilities. Sure, it might start out as "I'm only here to rinse off the sweat", but who knows? Maybe one day she has a few extra minutes because she's just set a new personal best time on her commute and takes the time to wander around the club. Maybe she will find some other activity that the organization has going on that she'd like to participate in. Many health clubs (even the smaller ones) offer all kinds of classes (yoga, pilates, etc). It'd be a great way for her to meet other females into fitness - and likely many of them will ride bicycles as well.

Instant bike group - not to mention a wealth of gender-specific advice.

There's a 24 Hour Fitness a half a mile from where I work and I've been contemplating joining for the showers. The baby-wipe-in-the-bathroom thing is getting kind of old.

Surrealdeal

I fail to see how a female commuter's strategy would differ that much from a male's.

SkippyX

Oh....I dunno.....

I suspect that there are issues that only a woman could properly address as well.

I could be wrong about that.

acidfast7

different societal expectations about desirable characteristics in male versus female teachers in Нови Сад.

Hendricks97

I sometimes work up a sweat on my commute and I carry baby wipes to clean up myself in the bathroom while changing clothes. My wife commutes also, but doesnt wear makeup so I have nothing to comment on for that

ratdog

The OP already mentioned make up as being one issue. I can't see make up being easy to put on as you are sweating. Baby wipes work well for cleaning up, but a shower would help in cooling down.

CbadRider

There are quite a few threads on this subject. Your wife can keep a gym bag at work with baby wipes, makeup and a hairdryer, and freshen up in the restroom.

If she doesn't commute in her work clothes, she can carry them or leave some stuff at work.

pallen

My wife commutes, but I don't have any suggestions for you. Her commute is less than a mile. I doubt she even breaks a sweat.

As for the differences, ask a female. For some women it may not be much of an issue, for others the differences are a major obstacle.

eofelis 

I'm a female and I commute 4.5 flat miles pretty much year round. I get a little sweaty, but I just change clothes when I get to work.
I work in a very casual office setting. All my co-workers are archaeologists, so a little dirt or sweat doesn't phaze them.

pdlamb

Being a stupid male, I'd try one more time. "How much does a monthly membership fee compare to the cost of a tank of gas?"

Surrealdeal

Sorry! No offense intended.

Surrealdeal

Sorry but I don't see this as a gender specific issue at all.

In my workplace I am expected to maintain a professional appearance (and smell, though that is not specifically stated). I may not have to apply makeup, but I do need to cool down and clean up to a standard by which you cannot be able to tell that I rode a bicycle to work. This just takes some extra time. Allotting time at the destination to cool down & clean up is part of the deal for me. If I cannot accomplish that, then I choose to drive.

Notso_fastLane

If she works at a school, is she allowed to use the gym/locker room? (assuming they have one)

kangchen

Hi, I'm a lady commuter! My ride is 6 miles and I sweat quite a bit. I do have a gym where I shower and change. I know that your wife is "not much of a sporting type" but if she rides in and then goes to the gym to lift some weights and stretch before hitting the showers (which will help her overall with riding), that helps make the membership worth it. She may wind up really enjoying that! That's what I do. I bring a change of clothes and my makeup in my backpack. It can be a pain, but especially when it's hot out, it makes much more sense to me to sweat and then shower before getting to work than showering at home and then sweating taking the subway to work.

But if your wife really does not want to do the gym membership: when I bike down to other places (church, social gatherings, etc.), I shower at home first (actually recommended to me by folks on the Forum here) and then when I get to my destination, I will give myself 10-25 minutes for my heart rate to go down, cooling down and drinking water and taking it easy. Then I baby wipe and face wipe (Neutrogena) before applying makeup. For hair, an aerosol dry shampoo works wonders and actually results in better looking hair than after a liquid shampoo. I've changed like this plenty of times in a bathroom stall -- it's not totally convenient but it's worth it.

Another trick that I've wound up doing is that I wear dresses at work -- it's a lot less clothes to carry (and more comfortable than pants, anyway).

pallen

How long is your hair? Do you use a curling iron daily? Blow dryer? Hair clips? How many products do you use in a typical morning getting ready? The differences certainly dont make it impossible for women, but I can certainly see how its a bit more complicated for some women.

Allycat24

Baby wipes for the body, Febreze to freshen up your cycling clothes, and you can get some great hair products from your hair salon to spruce up your hair, without having to wash it. Also, keep a towel or washcloth at work if you need more than baby wipes. Keep an extra shirt/blouse/panties at work, in case you forget them. I keep a small box of personal stuff at work, including deodorant and make-up so I don't have to carry them every day. Good luck. It is really not hard to do...

SkippyX

Huh.

I should start wearing dresses @ work.

Nah. Everyone would look at me funny.

Besides. I don't have the legs for it.

Surrealdeal

A person with a complicated preparation routine (male or female) has to expend this time once a day anyway. It seems like a no-brainer that this is a question of budgeting that time into the period between the ride and the start of the workday. There is no reason that such a person cannot plan to reach their destination a little earlier to properly cool down & get themselves ready.

Read kangchen's post above, it's good, resourceful stuff. "Not totally convenient, but worth it." I like that.