Cycling UK Forum

Had a lovely cycle in this morning although it was pouring down all the way, hence my bottom half got drenched. I have currently got bits draped over the back of chairs in front of two heaters. Trouble is in a big room where they are they are not getting particularly concentrated heat and are taking a while to dry out. Anyone got any good tips on drying gear ?

Contact HR asking for some form of provision and in the meantime make sure you put them somewhere unsightly so's people will object.
Usually the solution presents itself without further thought.

Shoes, socks and gloves will dry faster if you stuff them with paper towels, and change the towels for dry ones every so often.

kwackers wrote:Contact HR asking for some form of provision and in the meantime make sure you put them somewhere unsightly so's people will object.
Usually the solution presents itself without further thought.

Good suggestion, however, as I am in charge of finance it might seem a little like looking after myself etc, I have already implemented Ride2Work with me as a 'guinea pig'. (As an aside, I am glad I was the guinea pig as the service I received from a store with a heavy London presence was appalling and I don't think I could recommend this store to the rest of the company)

If clothing is soaked I usually wrap it and wring it inside a dry towel to get rid of the excessive water. Normally offices are fairly warm (to me) and if clothes are then draped over a pannier they dry out.
In the past I left one of those plastic coated clothes dryers that fit on a radiator at work and used it as necessary - this does depend on amenable work colleagues. Sometimes toilet areas have heaters you can appropriate and turn full on on the odd occasion you get drenched. I've only had one complaint when I used to leave a towel to dry over a seldom used rear stairwell handrail. I then had to drape it over the end of my desk instead

Have you thought about buying a second hand tumble dryer if there's somewhere to put it?? I know its not environmentally 'spot on' but arriving by bike still puts you in positive territory as far as I can see. And cycling gear dries in minutes.......

I've currently got gloves drying on top of my computer monitor... I'm contemplating swapping them for my socks, but think I will spare my colleagues as 1) they are bright red (proper red-sock hiker kind) and 2) the socks are rather smellier than the gloves...

I'm a well-known fan of boiler rooms, which are also an ideal place to keep a bike safe and dry. Even modern super efficent boiler rooms where everything is lagged and insulated are usually warm enough to dry togs. Since you have your hands on the purse strings, the model employer would have a shower, changing / drying room and secure cycle parking.

Scrunched up newspaper in your shoes, but for everything else I guess its a case of take some spares in your pannier.
Don't you get some funny looks from colleagues walking around with no clothes on from the waist down?

thirdcrank wrote:I'm a well-known fan of boiler rooms, which are also an ideal place to keep a bike safe and dry. Even modern super efficent boiler rooms where everything is lagged and insulated are usually warm enough to dry togs. Since you have your hands on the purse strings, the model employer would have a shower, changing / drying room and secure cycle parking.

cosy up with the people responsible for building services e.g. janitors and so on. They can often help if you're in their good books.

When I had our changing rooms kitted out I got a couple of oil filled radiators - you can put clothes on them without fear of fire or burning - and place radiators below hanging rails - very effective. Wouldn't worry too much about spending money on what some might find trivial - our office has gone from disinterest to cycling commuters over last few years and everyone benefits - regarded as a benefit rather than a luxury

Some yonks back, back in the early 80's we lived in the west of Scotland. We moved there at the end of August/early September, and it started to rain.

I cycled from Helensburgh to Clyde Submarine Base every day, and got soaked all the way in. I tried to wear waterproofs, but got soaked anyway. It was cold too.

I draped my soaking gear over the radiators in the locker room, dressed into my uniform, and went to work. Tea time came, I undressed and donned my cycling gear - by this time nice and warm and dry, and cycled home into the rain and wind. After getting home, my gear was draped over the storage heater in the hall, and I showered and relaxed for the evening, only to wake up in the morning for the sequence to repeat itself over and over and over.

It stopped raining in March, and by that time we'd moved to Balloch on Lomondside and we had a lovely summer, but by October it started to rain again .....

My ancient Dell PC at work blows out a lovely stream of warm air out the back, just great for drying clothes! Currently, this is directed straight at the TRV on my radiator, so once the PC warms up the heating turns off. Soon be time to move it to its winter position, blowing warm air on my feet under the desk! (This is too hot in the summer)

Max

minkie wrote:... cosy up with the people responsible for building services e.g. janitors and so on. They can often help if you're in their good books.

It amazes me the number of people who treat caretakers, security people, commissionaires etc like muck. For a start it's simply bad manners, but beyond that, if you want somewhere secure for your bike, having the person responsible on a day-to-day basis for security helping you is a lot more sensible than upsetting them. I'm not talking about patronising people or being a creep, just a friendly greeting and an acknowledgment of their role.

check out the "Dry Buddy" - like a hairdryer and coat stand in a tent - they're about £80 but work really well, provided your company let you put it somewhere to use it (ours won't because "it's not industrially rated" - so we have to put up with hanging from coat stands in the locker room)

cheers
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