Cycling UK Forum

I just wondered what folks do when they cycle to work and have no showers. i.e best clothes to wear or what to leave at work etc.

Regards barbelfisher

I don't regularly ride to work but when I do I basically try not to ride fast enough to sweat. Went a bit wrong yesterday, partly due to me not anticipating the sudden warm spell so I had worn a long-sleeved shirt and an overheated office when I arrived - I was just about OK until I walked in! I have a mini travel towel for drying myself off in the gents' ASAP (also useful for when it's been raining hard) and a travel deodorant spray in my rack pack for such occasions. I think I ought to carry a reasonably smart compact technical T-shirt (for times when the shirt is beyond rescue - not ideal, but people seem almost to expect T-shirts from IT workers) but I rarely do.

Others I know get changed at work, taking clothes that don't crease when folded into a bag and carefully placed in a pannier, rack-attached suit-carrier or basket.

I used to have fresh clothes at work. On arrival I'd have a quick dampening down at a basin, spray then change. I'm not a naturally smelly person after exercise so didn't really have to put much effort in to cleaning up.
Of my current jobs - one involves being on a bike all day so no issues, and the other (which I've just started) is fairly close to home so don't have to work up a sweat, plus it's an office full of cyclists anyway.

You'll have to check it out but firms with more than a certain number of employees are bound by law to supply.wash facilities and drying facilities for wet clothes.

Some folk use baby wipes for a quick tidy up, but we're lucky enough to have superb facilities.

I cycle every day to work. As its only 2 miles though I don't do anything special.

The wipes sound a good idea. I cycle to my own workshop, which is about 7 miles so can wear what I like really, and I am not a smelly person either. Perhaps I should leave some jeans, shirt and shoes there, and just take fresh undies every day.

Regards

Barbelfisher

Hi,
When I last commuted I would normally be sweating on getting to work so -
First I got there 20 mins early to cool of.
Second dont wear long trousers above 10 degrees C.
Third a light windproof jacket with zip for regulation of temp.
Long trousers and rain trousers mean getting to work more sweaty, for me anyhow, so just keep chest warm.
Raining, shoe covers.

As I was doing manual work in 100 F then I would sweat all day so no point in a wash.
Spare clothes when you get to work.

On one of my commutes it was down hill for two miles so when freezing I would wear fingerless gloves and curl my fingers around bars so the wind was not directly on them, my jaw and face would ache when I got to the sea, you just grit your teeth to work the jaw muscles.
By the time i got to work I would be sweating anyhow.

Lance Dopestrong wrote:You'll have to check it out but firms with more than a certain number of employees are bound by law to supply.wash facilities and drying facilities for wet clothes.

Some folk use baby wipes for a quick tidy up, but we're lucky enough to have superb facilities.

Do you have any links for that? Our company is set to expand it's numbers so it would be good to find out what's required.

My commute is partly downhill and only 5 miles but I still arrive with a good sweat on. I just wear shorts and a T shirt on the commute in summer. My average speed is only 11-12 mph, but I still overheat. I sit at my desk for 15 mins, set up my laptop and read the intranet news, then go and get changed.

We do have showers at work but I don't use them everyday. Once I've cooled down, I have a quick rub down with a towel and get changed (shower if I've really sweated up). I take a clean shirt and pants in everyday, but leave a pair of craghoppers and shoes at work.

In winter, I commute in Tudor Sport bottoms and an Altura windproof over the T-shirt.

When I was at uni and had my own apartment, I usually carried a spare t-shirt and deoderant, and just changed my t-shirt for another shirt, applied fresh deoderant, and rinsed my face in the basin. If the weather was nice, I hung my t-shirt over my bike to dry for the ride home. Otherwise, it lived in my book bag, and I rode home in what I wore for school (rather than put the manky t-shirt back on).

All the jobs I've had since, have had showers. Though one place I worked, I had to share with the blokes, and hang a sign on the door that said it was occupied.

Mark1978 wrote:

Lance Dopestrong wrote:You'll have to check it out but firms with more than a certain number of employees are bound by law to supply.wash facilities and drying facilities for wet clothes.

Some folk use baby wipes for a quick tidy up, but we're lucky enough to have superb facilities.

Do you have any links for that? Our company is set to expand it's numbers so it would be good to find out what's required.

Alas, no. My old firm were really big on it back in the day, insisted the regs meant they had to provide the facilities. I guess we would've had 60 or 70 staff at the time.

Lance Dopestrong wrote:

Mark1978 wrote:

Lance Dopestrong wrote:You'll have to check it out but firms with more than a certain number of employees are bound by law to supply.wash facilities and drying facilities for wet clothes.

Some folk use baby wipes for a quick tidy up, but we're lucky enough to have superb facilities.

Do you have any links for that? Our company is set to expand it's numbers so it would be good to find out what's required.

Alas, no. My old firm were really big on it back in the day, insisted the regs meant they had to provide the facilities. I guess we would've had 60 or 70 staff at the time.

It depends on the type of work done, and the law is a bit vague. But basically, if anyone is doing work that will get them dirty, and that can include manual labour, work in dusty or dirty conditions, exposure to machine coolants, etc. If all of the staff are sitting at computers, you'd have a hard time making a case that your employer should provide showers.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg293.pdf

I used to do 5.5 miles each way, and went nearly 25 years wearing my work shirt and trying not to go too hard (OK unless someone faster comes past and you feel the need to hang on his/her wheel...) I would wear cycling trousers (shorts in summer) and change those, because spray used to muck up work trousers (even though I always had mudguards).

Now it's a short trip to the station and another short trip at the other end, on a folder (mile or less in each case), so I'm wearing normal clothes. Haven't commuted in bad weather yet though.

Both places have had showers, but I've never felt the need to use them after these trips (yes, I do shower at home before someone asks...)

I've never understood the need for showers at work for cyclists.

Fit, healthy , normal weight people just do not smell if they have ridden to work and are clean beforehand.

I just take a fresh shirt in my pannier each day and leave my trousers and jacket at work, taking them home every week or so for cleaning as necessary. My work shoes are cleaned at work and never go home.

After a quick change and a rub down with a towel I'm ready for work, though on hot summer days I wait outside for 5 mins or so until I stop sweating.

The main source of smell in my current office is fat blobs who, despite the excellent air conditioning, sweat visibly from their armpits and probably other places as well.

My ride in is 12 miles and I tend to work up a good sweat doing it. I usually wear lycra and sit at my desk in it working for 20 mins while I cool down. In summer a small fan helps if its hot or like the last two days, very warm and humid. I am lucky in that we have a good shower room so I get a shower (no point before you've stopped sweating) and change but the shower is optional and I could then just as easily get changed straight into my work clothes.

In the past couple of days I've had to cycle to meetings, one of which I chaired, and because of the humidity I was sweating profusely when I arrived (in normal work clothes). I carried a small dry flannel to mop my head with, made a humorous comment about it at the start of the meeting and the humidity at the start of the meeting and everyone was fine while we talked and I cooled down.