crazyguyonabike

Ive commuted about 20 miles to work for 10 or more years. I draw a circle around my house and look for jobs in that area. Last year my office moved to San Francisco. I have been doing the commute to Rockridge BART for about a year and its getting me down.

The ride over the Oakland hills is fantastic, I spend very little time in traffic which is great. The BART lockers are great. So what is the problem? Well 1) every other job I've had I ride into the office. So my mind is AT work when the ride ends. I don't like taking my bicycle on BART (too crowded) so the lockers are perfect but when I get there, I feel like I'm done. But I have a 45 minute BART ride to contend with.

The bigger problem is that I don't smell or look too good. For the most part its fine, but occasionally someone will give me dirty looks and hold their nose the entire way. I try to stand in the back so I can lean up against a wall but sometimes there is no room and God help everyone if I have to raise my arm to hold on. At first it didn't bother me much, but as I write this I can tell that over time, the stress and self-consciousness is slowly getting to me.

I have clothes at the office, but don't like the idea of carrying a lot of clothes back and forth. I have some very lightweight shoe like things that I swap out for my Sidi's so I can get around ok. Taking my bike on BART (so I have an excuse for smelling ripe) would be more trouble than its worth.

Anyone going through the same issues? I love to ride the ride, but now I just wish I could turn around and go home and work. I think the 45 minute BART ride is the problem. Stuck in a can for that long is getting me down.

WestPablo

Carry a plastic jacket, baby wipes, and a can of under arm deodorant spray with you. Place your plastic jacket over your shoulders, unbutton and remove your wet shirt. Take your baby wipes and thoroughly wipe, vigorously. Lastly, hit your under arms with the spray and zip up your jacket.

That should hold you until you get home.

Oh yeah!...You might wanna carry a zip lock bag for your solied and sweaty shirt

tjspiel

That would suck.

Anyway you could either slow down to reduce the sweat or freshen up before you get on BART? Maybe just quick wipe down in a restroom and a shot of deodorant? It might help to take a shower before your ride even though you know you're going to end up sweating anyway.

I don't have a train ride to deal with but I bring my clothes in with me to work every day and change there. I leave a set of nice shoes at the office so I don't have to bring them along.

A few jobs ago I used to take a 50 minute bus ride into work on most days and would just ride once in awhile. I actually don't mind taking public transportation. I could get some reading done or take a little nap. I was one of the first ones on the bus though and I could always get a seat. It's not so great if you have to stand 45 minutes but an audio book or even reading a smart phone can be done while standing to help make time pass.

MMACH 5

Baby wipes are your friend. My commute is 26 miles, each way, in the Texas heat. I keep my hair buzzed so I can stick my head under the faucet in bathroom and then hit my pits and junk with a baby wipe. I drive a few times a week, so on those days, I'll bring changes of clothes and lunches to the office.
If I don't feel up to making the whole ride, I jump the train and ride across town. I do take my bike, since the office is still a few miles from that end of the train line.
Anyway, I find that mindset is the biggest challenge. If it feels like this is going to take SO LONG, then I should probably just drive. When I do that, I almost always regret it, though. I've had to emotionally forgive myself for driving, if that makes sense.
In little league baseball, I had a coach who'd tell us "Come on guys! Get your head right with the ball!" That's how I describe my mindset for bicycle commuting.

dynaryder

More wool,less poly.

Dahon.Steve

Try not to look like a cyclist. Leave the helmet in the storage locker or carry it in a plastic bag. Get rid of the dayglow bicycle clothing and put on a base ball cap if you have helmet hair. Oh yeah, follow the other comments above.

hueyhoolihan

i think you know the answer. fresh clothes every day. no exceptions.

andyprough

All of the above (baby wipes, deodorant, baggie for the sweaty shirt),

and

stop caring what the rat-racers think. What they are really thinking below the snooty surface is "damm, I wish I just had a great bike ride before I had to jump on this lousy train!". They are the lemmings. Don't worry about their feelings, pity their mundane lives instead.

Halfgone

Cut your arm pit hair off. Just buzz it down, no need to shave or anything like that. The hair will hold on to the chemicals in your sweat that cause the smell. And then do everything else they all said. I typically cut mine off in the summer or if I know I'm going to have to skip showers due to some external situation. I know it sounds weird, but I promise it'll help.

halcyon100

I live in the bay area and really empathize with your situation. Luckily, I can bike straight to work currently.

What time are you getting on BART? If you are working 9-5 hours and getting to BART by 8am-ish, the cars are insanely crowded. I always feel awkward, claustrophobic and self-conscious if I'm on BART during prime commuting hours, even when I'm well groomed and showered. The freedom of a solo bike ride is the antithesis of crowded BART. That transition would be hard for me.

Can you work later hours? Like 10 - 6? I like getting to work later and staying later. In the bay area, I think commute traffic is at it's worst 7:30 - 8:30 and then again 4:30pm to 6:30pm ish.


You could try to spot a homeless person at the station and enter the train and stand next to them. Most likely, their smell will be much worse than yours... Not sure if there are many of them boarding BART at Rockridge in the morning...


I feel that showering+deodorant in the morning before I ride makes a difference in smell when I get to work, but I don’t have much climbing on my commute.


Might be pricey, but this could be a good alternative:
Best Bicycle Commute to and From San Francisco San Francisco 2012 - Alameda/Oakland Ferry, Ferry Building - SF Weekly


Too bad you can only ride part way across the bay bridge, with the new span. There really should be some kind of service where you can bike up to the bay bridge and easily hop on a boat or something that would just ferry bikes. If I had the money, I think it would be cool to create some kind of service like that at all the bridges that don't allow bikes on them.

Shahmatt

Do you shower before starting your ride? If not then I suggest you try doing this.

I read somewhere that this is one way to keep the smell down after a workout.

TransitBiker

Perhaps your diet and not your cycling is affecting your smell? I've had to skip some days in past summers even in the heat for various reasons & even then smell was NEVER an issue. Also, I find that it's way better to be a lil chilly vs warm in terms of dress. If you're warm before setting off, it's a sign you're over dressed for riding unless it's way below freezing outside in which case sweat is your least concern. If you have big quads & calf muscles like I do, you're going to generate a LOT of heat pedalling even if it's low effort. So, diet & attire should be your first focus. Secondly, if you get on a train, take some outer layers off, because often the train or station will be way warmer due to collective body heat & the systems onboard the train like brakes and HVAC radiating up from under the car. Another sidebar there ... On hot days, try to stay away from the part of automobiles between front and rear wheels, as the radiant heat from exhaust pipe will add to the blacktop, sun, and ambient air temp.

Lots of ANTIPRESPERANT deodorant will do you good as well....

Keep your legs well exposed to air unless it's very cold, let your neck, hands, and forearms be exposed to moving air as well. Loose clothing that can breathe helps a lot too.

Finally, try to put some baby powder in those closed up spaces, socks, underware for example. It will absorb a LOT of smell if it continues to be an issue even after following above tips.

Hope that helps!!

- Andy

Leisesturm

It's a good thing you aren't within reach or I would rip those cyclists bars off your uniform and bust you back down to pedestrian grunt! If it is a pep talk you needed I hope you got enough from earlier posters. I'm more of a science guy and the science does not support your assertions that you become an odoriferous, unapproachable, mess after a one hour bike ride. I'd listen to an earlier posters advice and buy wool baselayers, at least, for the tops. I'd also follow another posters advice to start your morning shaved and showered. I haven't found baby wipes to be necessary once these steps are taken. HTFU. I have a 90 minute train ride before the bike leg of my commute. I use it to read. Since the move was the SO's idea, she has allowed me to consider the expense of a wireless hotspot so I can use my laptop on the MAX. It sounds like you could simply move closer to work like my SO did. She is now just minutes away by bike.

H

TransitBiker

I Second that. I've ridden 4 hours plus in triple digit temps with heat index on top of that, no smell issues ever. You're definitely doing something wrong. Hope you get it all sorted & bring that joy back to riding!!

- Andy

WestPablo

I've determined that people as individuals produce "funk" at variable rates. My brother is younger than I am. After a whole day of playing outdoors together, participating in identical activities, simultaneously, his feet smelled ten times worse than mine. Nobody could tolerate his feet, his shoes, or his socks being in the house, after he removed them. It was always, socks in the sink, shoes outside, and his butt immediately in the shower!

He produced more sweat than me and more underarm odor, as well.

Most people who've served in the military have observed similar experiences...

We're all different!

TransitBiker

Hmm, the lovely details of doing things with physical exertion!

Only issue i had on those hot days is sweat burning my eyes and splashing all over my sunglasses/goggles.

It got so bad that the pads in my helmet started coming apart & i had to switch them out. But hey, gotta be where i gotta be, rain, shine, polar vortex, or death valley heat wave...

- Andy

metz1295

a lot of great ideas on how to deal with appearance and smell. I say change nothing. the next time give you a snooty look, ask for a dollar. maybe they'll give it to you.

andyprough

Yup - I'll admit it, I've always been a sweater and a stinker. You know it's bad when you can't stand to smell yourself! When I sweat hard, I look like I've walked a mile in a thunderstorm. Complete head-to-toe drenching.

Maybe it's because of a lifetime of sweating that I have no patience for the daintily primped and perfumed people who snootily turn up their noses at someone who has done REAL work or exercise.

mgw4jc

From trimming armpit hair to changing what you eat, quite a variety of advice here.

Another option: take a break from bike commuting. It's okay to do that too.

acidfast7

It is really that nice on BART that you'd look at someone stinky in cycling clothes as a pain?

Over here (and throughout Europe) I find that everyone stinks on the subway, especially during the summers.

Are you sure this isn't only in your head?

I tend to commute every day and shower only on the days that I teach (or have an important meeting). Most others, I just stay in cycling clothes most of the day. My other colleagues are the same.

WestPablo