Arriving at work - Not stinking

I would say do not give a 6km commute a second thought unless there are steep hills where you ride. Give yourself some extra time the first few days and loaf along at low speed just to be certain.

If it is a problem regardless, shower just before you leave and wear wicking fabric that will keep you dry during the trip. You have to keep the bacteria count low and the last thing you want to do is wear cotton. It will become saturated with sweat, won't evaporate, and bacteria will begin to multiply very rapidly. Definitely wear fabric that keeps you dry during the ride. Different makers have their own proprietary blends but an article of clothing with wicking properties designed in will be advertised as such.

I commute six miles. I don't buy the fancy cycling compression shorts because you just don't need them for such a brief ride. Try jogging shorts. They seem to have better ventilation.

Excellent question, since I have the same problem myself.

Well the #1 way I have solved it so far is, cycling with a change of clothes for work, and having a separate deodorant stick at work! :-)

My ride is 9 miles (16 kilometers?) each way, and I still wear sports clothes (though still usually cotton shirts). I'm not a profuse sweater, though of course I'm still wet when I get on the bus, but it seems to be OK once I actually get to work and change out of my clothes.

I work in a 9-story huge cubical building, and the property management says they DON'T HAVE SHOWERS in such a big building! You believe that, or are they lying? I'm not paying the $43 monthly fee for a gym membership at the building, that's just a rip-off; I pay $20 monthly for a membership now, outside the city though along my commute, and freeze my membership during the biking months!

I keep a container of powder at work, with a fairly strong ( but nice) scent to it. After giving your torso a quick wipe down with a face washer, powder it up. You and your work mates will be all smiles 😄

or maybe

move house so that your closer to your work

😄

Some states allow adding a small gasoline engine to your bicycle. Some make you register it as a moped. I considered motoring to work, then pedaling home... or you could get one of the electric bike setups.

I have a 7.5km commute. It is very hilly (I managed to flip out the polar heart rate monitor today--it registered 216bpm -- I am fairly unfit and took a big hill too hard). This is what I do.

- Leave shoes at work/deoderant/makeup etc
- Clothes in my bag.
- Fashwasher in my bag (in a small container so it doesn't make everything wet after it has been used or leave at work).

In the washroom I just wet one half of the face washer and wipe off any sweat, use the other half to dry it back down a bit and all done.

When I first considered commuting I tried to organise keys for the showers and all of that, however I quickly realised that that would be far too much effort, for no added gain....the facewasher is absolutely all that I need.

garage sale GT said:

Some states allow adding a small gasoline engine to your bicycle. Some make you register it as a moped. I considered motoring to work, then pedaling home... or you could get one of the electric bike setups.

I know that Massachusetts does not require mopeds to be registered anyway. Just how do you install an engine to a bicycle anyway? I'm curious.

Sando said:

Hi all,

I have beun riding to work every morning. The ride is about 6km. My work does not have a shower i can use however i do change from my cycling gear to my working gear when i arrive.

Does anyone have any tips about arriving to work, not stinking?

I ride 33.5 miles (54km) one way to work. There is no shower in the building I work. The one thing I do need to worry about is arriving stinky. Here is what I do:

Things to store at work (if possible): Deodorant, hairbrush, unscented baby wipes.

1) Shower before leaving - Clean yourself real good in the morning. Don't do the "oh S***, I need to leave in 5 minutes!" shower. Not only will you arrive with less possibility of being stinky, it gives you a chance to stretch out and loosen up before you ride.

2) Unscented Baby Wipes - When I arrive, I need to wipe off as much of the sweat, sunscreen, bugs and road grime as possible. The babywipes are great for this. I'm a big guy (6'3", 215lbs) so it takes me about 4-6 wipes to get clean enough. Most of it depends on how much I have been sweating.

3) Towel - Dry off from the babywipe cleaning and excess perspiration.

I'm also a big believer in wearing appropriate clothing while riding. That means wearing a wicking material. I have lots of athletic wear left over from my days as a rower, and most of it is very similar in construction as riding gear.

Sando said:

Hi all,

I have beun riding to work every morning. The ride is about 6km. My work does not have a shower i can use however i do change from my cycling gear to my working gear when i arrive.

Does anyone have any tips about arriving to work, not stinking?

Best trick is to use a face cloth and gove your body a wipe down using one of the bathroom basins. Should be more than sufficient with deodorant and clean clothes.

ABG said:

I know that Massachusetts does not require mopeds to be registered anyway. Just how do you install an engine to a bicycle anyway? I'm curious.

I used a kit from an importer called spit-fire motor works. The engine had clamps cast into it which fit the down tube and seat tube of any '70's Taiwan lugged steel frame exactly. The clamp-on sprocket struck me as a bit klugey as it clamped right to the spokes.

Spit-fire seems to be off the web but the engines imported by Gru-Bee seem to be identical. There are other companies on the web using commercial chain saw engines by mainstream makers, as well as electric hubs for wheels. Look around.

While some kits are apparently amenable to the use which I described, I would not particularly advise my choice for someone who wants to pedal a significant portion of the time. The sprocket bolts right to the hub and to pedal, you have to turn part of the clutch mechanism via the drive chain/engine output sprocket and there is a lot of drag. Of course, you could do what I SHOULD have done and install a flip flop hub with a freewheel on the left as well as the right so pedaling could be accomplished simply by freewheeling the left side. You'd probabaly have to braze the freewheel base to the hub on the left to prevent it coming undone, though.

Sarah23 said:

- Leave shoes at work/deoderant/makeup etc
- Clothes in my bag.
- Fashwasher in my bag (in a small container so it doesn't make everything wet after it has been used or leave at work).

In the washroom I just wet one half of the face washer and wipe off any sweat, use the other half to dry it back down a bit and all done.

When I first considered commuting I tried to organise keys for the showers and all of that, however I quickly realised that that would be far too much effort, for no added gain....the facewasher is absolutely all that I need.

This is what I used to do, apart from the makeup (I'm a lost cause). Nowdays I have a gym membership to a chain and if I'm working in a location that doesn't have a shower, then I shower at the local gym.

Another trick is to look at the other buildings nearby, one of them will probably have a shower in the basement. You ride into that building, park your bike in the place that the other bikes park, use the shower, take the lift to ground floor and walk to your own building.

well, i ride to school, so I can't leave anything there... but what works pretty well is babywipes to get off everything nasty and then the towel... clean clothes and of course a fresh coat of deodorant. 😄 ... also, if you wait a few minutes until you stop sweating to clean up, it works easier...

Just skip breakfast and ride as hard as you can. The ammonia in your sweat will kill the stink germs.🙄

Jeytown said:

or maybe

move house so that your closer to your work

😄

How much closer can you get? Don't ride hard and you won't stink. Ride hard and just wipe yourself down with a wash cloth. Either way it's all good. You get to work and don't use a car.

Why is it that cyclists need to care whether they smell or not? Most people who arrive at work having used public transport are a good deal less than fragrant.

never thought of the baby wipe tip before - I'll give that one a go.
I'm generally ok, but the wosre thing is a sweaty back under the rucksack - it takes a while to cool off before getting into work clothes🙁

My biggest problem is the return journey home in the winter. I'm hot enough when I get into the house, but then the wife has the heating on full blast! I have to spend 10 mins sitting in the garden to cool down.

martynbrinton said:

I'm generally ok, but the wosre thing is a sweaty back under the rucksack

You may want to invest in a rear rack and either a rack trunk bag (cheaper but less capacity) or panniers (more expensive but greater capacity). It will also eliminate the shifting around that any backpack will do.

ABG said:

You may want to invest in a rear rack and either a rack trunk bag (cheaper but less capacity) or panniers (more expensive but greater capacity). It will also eliminate the shifting around that any backpack will do.

thanks. I do have a rack, but the rucksack is a special one for my laptop - a bit nervous of wrapping this around the rack. panniers may work, but I ride a full suspension MTB - maybe front paniers may do the trick?

Sando said:

Hi all,

I have beun riding to work every morning. The ride is about 6km. My work does not have a shower i can use however i do change from my cycling gear to my working gear when i arrive.

Does anyone have any tips about arriving to work, not stinking?

Hi!
I used Dove Body Wipes for a while and then the store stopped carrying them. Now, I use unscented baby wipes which are much cheaper and come with more to a package. Then powder to further dispell the smell and to keep me from continuously sweating. Last is deodorant and you're done. I've been biking for years and I've yet to have someone tell me I"m stinky.😄