showers vs sink
 

I have a friend that commutes who has showers available but says that he prefers to do the sink "birdbath"...
I thought that a bit strange but was wondering if there were any others that feel similar? if so, help me understand...

thanks!

Did he give you his logic? I can't for the life of me imagine why you'd prefer a birdbath in a sink when a shower is available... unless he has an easy, short commute that he barely sweats for, and doesn't want to be bothered carrying a towel and toiletries or leaving extras at work?

I have a towel and full set of toiletries, plus various work clothes and shoes in my office. I just launder them nearby, so rarely have to take them home.

I don't know myself. But I can think of an excellent person to ask.

I can't imagine not showering if I had one available to me.

Like Hydrog33r I have a full set of toiletries (including a double edge razor, shave stick, shave brush and aftershave) and a towel at work. I carry clothes back and forth but that's it. I do have a pair of shoes at work on a full-time basis. If I need to swap out the towel or restock toiletries, there's generally space in my back pack or I do so on days I drive.

I've got a shower at work, but I don't use it too often. Nowhere to hang a wet towel (wet clothes are hassle enough to figure out where to put them) and don't feel like hiking one back and forth each day. I shower before I leave the house in the morning and give myself a paper towel sponge bath when I arrive. Nobody's complained of any smell in 7 years of commuting.

As I got towards the end of my Euro Bike trip (camping), it made sense to me, to combine Breakfast,& coffee..
with a quick sponge bath in their WC.

his logic deals with where he works... he works in a large government building and his office is at one end and the showers are at the other... but I guess, I was wondering if others had reasons where they would prefer a sinkbath to showers...

Hmm, bikes to work, but too lazy to walk the length of a building (I realize it can be a trek in government buildings).

I guess if they do not sweat much.

Shower solution (assuming standard shower stall width at some point)

Two shower rods and one curtain.

One for a curtain hung in front of one for clothes and towels. Get an hanging shoe organizer for toiletries, underwear, shoes and what not. the curtain keeps clothes dry. The other lets you hang stuff to dry.

Or a smallish rubbermaid tote to put stuff in and keep it dry and some hooks to hang in shower to dry clothes and towels. I am assuming there is a low risk of people messing with shower stuff. Do multiple people use the shower?

I have no idea why anyone would skip a shower if they had one available (assuming they had the 5 minutes of free time). This is my first job with out a shower since starting to commute, and the unscented babywipes solution is so much worse than just having a shower.

Maybe it's only a 1-2 mile commute, so they're not that sweaty/gross?

yup. its for the fitness center... which does get used.

Do they have towel service? My old university would just give me a towel each morning. I was always nice to equipment staff and they decided I didn't need to register for the service.

My commute is long and strenuous, and i sweat a lot, so I wouldn't be OK with a birdbath in the sink over a full shower. I am very thankful we have a shower at work. If we didn't my only real option would be to join a gym nearby to shower, but the extra time/hassle would make it that much harder to bike commute.

I sweat a lot on my 9 mile ride, but I shower before I leave the house so I don't stink. I just wipe down my face with a wet towel, and my upper body this time of year.

+1

I have a shower at work which I use every day when I come in. On hot days in the summer I will sometimes shower when I get home as well, but if I do that regularly, my skin gets all dried out, so I often just splash cold water on myself from the sink when I get home.

I sweat a lot on my 1/2 mile ride to the store. But then again I would sweat sitting in a freezer. I must have a shower, but I would make due with a sink if it was my only option.

I have to shower when I get home as well, otherwise my wife would make me sleep on the couch. Dry skin can be an issue, a moisturizing shower gel helps with that though.

I'm in the bird bath camp. There's a few showers around, but they're all located in the corner of bathroom, next to a toilet stall, in a grungy bathroom that dates from the 1960s. I've taken showers, but feel dirtier coming out than before I went in. I'd probably commute by bike much more frequently if I had access to a gym type shower.

ummm no, no towel service... from what I understand there is an attendant in the actual exercise room, probably just to make sure no one injures themselves, but its not a commercial style gym...

At my work facility it would take more time to use the shower facilities than to do a sink shampoo/bathroom stall scrub.
It is almost a mile walk inside the factory building between my desk and the showers, and an extra trip back to get the bike.
I have a long commute and simply don't have extra minutes to use walking around the facility.
I've commuted to another site that didn't have showers, and found the birdbath was perfect despite arriving in a sticky gritty sweaty mess.
The restrooms I used were within a minute of my desk, so I could stash toiletries and towels at my desk rather than carrying them on the bike each day.

Back when I had a longer and very sweaty commute and showers available, I always went with shower at home and birdbath at work.

I really just found it more relaxing to shower at my house while drinking my own coffee, sitting on the porch, and hanging out with the cats. It meant I could leave for work later and actually be a bit more awake when I hit the road (not a morning person).

Birdbath was never a problem - the sweat isn't that smelly right after a shower, especially with a bit of body deodorant, and I could store all the indoor clothes in my office and not have to tote them around too much. It's also not like I'm in sales or something - I'm expected to be hygienic and professional, but not much more.

I don't like the sink option if an adequate shower is available, and the sink type of bird bath IMO would make a large mess for others to deal with.

i don't stink after a 10 mile sweaty commute when I have had a good scrubbing bath before the ride, clean jersey, clean helmet and clean gloves, wash my jersey every day, the helmet is on the shower floor with me everyday after the ride home from work, gloves get washed every couple days or so, so starting clean I don't even need the bird sink that much, never mind the shower, too much hassle at work, when I start clean I arrive at work not too bad, just sweaty, and i would be ok for several hours untill I ride 10 miles home after work :-), yeah two showers a day but hey natural gas is cheap these days,

I only shower to get actually clean, not rinse off. Waste of water otherwise in my opinion. I have often used sinks to wet my arms and face then wipe dry. I keep my hair really short, so if i'm really sweating i'll wipe down the top of my head with damp paper towel or cloth, let air dry.

- Andy

talk to your friend much?

Everyone's definition of "birdbath" varies.
Mine means a full shampoo in the bathroom sink.
Then move to a large stall with a lightly-soaped damp washcloth for a shoulders-to-toes scrubdown.
Follow it with a clean washcloth dipped into a very small bucket of clean water to wipe off the soap. Wring excess water into the commode.
Finish with a brisk towel-off. Then apply toiletries/dress.
I am very careful to keep the facilities very clean and I will wipe up any splashes with paper towels.
When finished, nobody can tell that the restroom was used; and I am just as clean as if I had taken a shower.

I'm sure everyone will agree the golden rule of "birth-bathing" is leave no trace, regardless of your exact techniques. ideally though you'll have access to a private bath with a locking door. I always arrived extra early to be sure I avoided anyone else just to be on the safe side. I had the luxury though of my company moving to a new locale with a shower. man that was the bees knees. like heaven, complete with a boiler room to dry my stuff during the day. they even offered to buy be a locker, but I declined saying if they didn't mind me hanging my stuff in the boiler room, I didn't either. I kept extra food in the break room cabinets and fridge and extra clothes in a box under my desk. I could dry my light and charge them at my desk. man that place was freakin' a commuters heaven. dam I miss that place.

Mine's pretty close ... though the caveat is I have to pay to belong to the healthclub downstairs.

That said, it's cheaper than a tank of gas and I commute enough to save that one tank of gas and then some, so the price is easy to justify. I've got a shower, sink, locker to keep my clothes in during the day and a place to change before and after work. My bike goes in the small mailroom up here, sometimes it has the company of one other bike but that's been pretty rare this year so far. I've got lots of storage at my cube so I keep a towel, toiletries, extra shoes, etc at my desk but you wouldn't know it.

It's quite a system, and I had to work out the kinks, but it works well.

If the showers are crowed and no room is available then I can understand the bird bath. Maybe this guy has a short commute as well. As for myself I have to take a shower because I sweat like a warthog in sauna.

I do the same and I have access to a shower. For me the bird bath above takes me 15-17 min. And the shower, with the walk and towel and all takes closer to 30 min. That means I don't have to take the earlier train to get to work, giving me 40 min of sleep more in the morning (4:00 am).

so for me it's convenience and I don't feel handicap with the "bird bath".

P.s. The bathroom/sink is all in one big room that locks behind me, so I'm the only one there.

Double O