Do you wash before you go cycling/commuting?

DonDaddyD

DonDaddyD wrote:

I wash before biking

Do you mean to tell me that there are people who don't?

OK the above is an extract from another thread.

Honest up front question, do you wash/bath/shower before you go cycling/commuting/racing whatever?

If so, why? If not, why?

Personally, yes I do. Always.

oscarbudgie

Yes and I think you need a more demanding job.

UndercoverElephant

No. I do brush my teeth/shave before I leave, but I shower when I arrive. Shirley that makes sense? I even tend to wear yesterday's t-shirt for commuting in.

Sleeptech

I shower after my communte each way. Hell, if I washed before I rode as well I'd be having 4 showers per day!

soy_sauce

i do.
shower in the morning wake me up.

roger_merriman

for a longer leisure ride yes, keeps things down there well good,

for a shorter commute, that would depend on what was on the other end ie if i could shower or not.

AyrshireBacon

UndercoverElephant wrote:

No. I do brush my teeth/shave before I leave, but I shower when I arrive.

+1

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I even tend to wear yesterday's t-shirt for commuting in.

-1

sarajoy

Never!

Why? I'm only going to get hot and sweaty within 5 minutes. It helps that we good showers at work, mind.

Same as the Covert Proboscine above, I often wear yesterdays socks etc.

My cycling kit is used for a week, there's just no point being clean under used kit, and no point cleaning kit that's going to get very sweaty very quickly...

Sleeptech

Same here - clean set of clothes on when I shower after my return journey - T shirt gets recycled for ride in.

roger_merriman

UndercoverElephant wrote:

No. I do brush my teeth/shave before I leave, but I shower when I arrive. Shirley that makes sense? I even tend to wear yesterday's t-shirt for commuting in.

if i did that as some one who overheats at the best of times, lets just say i'd clear a path along the road....

prawny

No I don't get chance, and I'm on a water meter. I wash afterwards.

prawny

I can't shave before a commute either I have to do it the night before or I get a super irritated neck.

Headhuunter

What on earth would be the point of showering, getting on the bike, getting sweaty and than having to shower again 20 minutes later when you arrive at work?! As above, I brush my teeth, shave, sh1t and leave. Always shower at the other end...

DonDaddyD

sarajoy wrote:

Never!

Why? I'm only going to get hot and sweaty within 5 minutes. It helps that we good showers at work, mind.

Same as the Covert Proboscine above, I often wear yesterdays socks etc.

My cycling kit is used for a week, there's just no point being clean under used kit, and no point cleaning kit that's going to get very sweaty very quickly...

But you're a girl. Girls shower like 8 times a day... and have several pairs of clothing...

Seriously though, about the socks. Of all my clothes socks and my Y fronts (boxers and pants for all you cool cats) is what I change daily. Not changing socks regularly can cause athletes foot from the bacteria built up from sweat.

Agent57

I only wash my backside and goolies, to make sure my chamois doesn't get all smegged up and I don't give the bacteria any more sweat to feed on than I can help. Apart from that, no.

amnezia

UndercoverElephant wrote:

No. I do brush my teeth/shave before I leave, but I shower when I arrive. Shirley that makes sense? I even tend to wear yesterday's t-shirt for commuting in.

+1

singlespeedexplosif

crazy. Why on earth would you do this?
shower after exercise.

to make sure my chamois doesn't get all smegged up and I don't give the bacteria any more sweat to feed on than I can help
This is why Minty Arse Lard was invented.

nasahapley

I shave the night before, and shower/brush my teeth/have brekkie at work, so typically I'm on the bike less than ten minutes after getting up (possibly less than five if I don't have to drop the kids off). There is no way on god's green earth that I could use the same kit again without washing it though - on the way home I sometimes have to go faster on hills to escape my own putrid stench, but I guess it's all good training.

Deadeye Duck

Warm shower as soon as I get up. Cycle for roughly an hour. Cold shower at work. I have a mega irritable neck so I shave once every few days. stubble seems to be fashionable at the moment, so I don't look as much as a scruff

sarajoy

DonDaddyD wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

Never!

Why? I'm only going to get hot and sweaty within 5 minutes. It helps that we good showers at work, mind.

Same as the Covert Proboscine above, I often wear yesterdays socks etc.

My cycling kit is used for a week, there's just no point being clean under used kit, and no point cleaning kit that's going to get very sweaty very quickly...

But you're a girl. Girls shower like 8 times a day... and have several pairs of clothing...

Seriously though, about the socks. Of all my clothes socks and my Y fronts (boxers and pants for all you cool cats) is what I change daily. Not changing socks regularly can cause athletes foot from the bacteria built up from sweat.

Well, what if I put on fresh socks under by my cycling shoes in the morning? They get sweaty and nasty, just like yesterday's socks would have been, then I change them for yet another fresh pair once I'm showered at work.

No point wearing new ones for just one hour. So yesterday's it is. I still get fresh ones daily, just delayed.

Some girls are also tomboys, but even the girliest girls I know think showering more than once a day is pretty excessive, and I'm already doing it twice...!

Porgy

Other

That means sometimes I do, but only if I feel really grubby before I set off - to the point of being uncomfortable, ie, after having a really sweaty night, for *ahem* whatever reason.

Rich158

If it's an early morning ride or commute, then I don't bother, I'm going to get all sweaty anyway and have I always have a shower as soon as I get to the office/home.

If I'm going out from 9am onwards then I'll have a shower before hand just to wake me up a bit.

As for shaving before I go into the office, I can get away with shaving about twice a week so that's not an issue, I just brush my teeth, lighten the load and get on the bike.

soy_sauce

for clothing wise, as long as they don't smell i will keep wearing them until the weekend.
to be honest, you all have a reasonable length to commute but i only have around 2.5miles so i don't really need a shower when i get into work.

Deadeye Duck

soy_sauce wrote:

for clothing wise, as long as they don't smell i will keep wearing them until the weekend.
to be honest, you all have a reasonable length to commute but i only have around 2.5miles so i don't really need a shower when i get into work.

Where abouts is your commute? I should be doing it 5 days a week now (mon-fri), so I may very well see you at some point (most likely passing in the other direction to ensure no scalping is involved)

DonDaddyD

sarajoy wrote:

Well, what if I put on fresh socks under by my cycling shoes in the morning? They get sweaty and nasty, just like yesterday's socks would have been, then I change them for yet another fresh pair once I'm showered at work.

No point wearing new ones for just one hour. So yesterday's it is. I still get fresh ones daily, just delayed.!

OK, I'm gonna take one more stab at this. (For that hour you're exercising your sweating and building up a hell of a lot bacteria in the process.)

Me, I wear 1 pair of socks each day. Including the socks I commute in.

The next day I wear a new pair of socks and repeat the routine.

If you are wearing one pair of socks over two days (including commuting in said socks) then they're going to be more dirty than one pair of socks worn each day.

If I had a longer commute I would wear a pair too work and put on a new pair at work/for the commute home.

Each to their own.

SBezza

I shower at work after my commute, as it is pointless before hand, just get sweaty en route into work.

I wear clean cycle jersey and bibshorts each day, they dry out at work, and I wear them home again, then they are washed. Socks are worn all day however, they don't get too bad. Proper cycle gear shouldn't smell in a day.

Sleeptech

Change of undearwear & work clothes on way out. On ride back home i'll change back into the same shorts/t-shirt I rode out in. Then complete set of fresh clothes when i get home.

So don't ride more than once on same underwear/socks. & Do my best to dry out sweaty t-shirt/shorts before ride home...

DonDaddyD

Sleeptech wrote:

Change of undearwear & work clothes on way out. On ride back home i'll change back into the same shorts/t-shirt I rode out in. Then complete set of fresh clothes when i get home.

So don't ride more than once on same underwear/socks. & Do my best to dry out sweaty t-shirt/shorts before ride home...

+1!

Cafewanda

Wot he said !

Sewinman

I shower at work after the commute, I wear the same cycling clothing to an from work for one day. I bring trousers and under garments to work, including socks for the office. I have 5 shirts dry cleaned and pressed each week and store at work.

By the way, those under short cycling pants are nowhere near as comfy as proper lycra.

lost_in_thought

+1 for shower at work, which renders showering before I do something that makes me sweaty a bit redundant.

I sometimes also shower when I get home, well, I say sometimes, at least 3 times a week out of the 5 times a week I commute home! Oh, and when it's hot. Hot, in this instance, should be read as 'hotter than 20 degrees'.

As for the sock debate, I wear sandals. Problem solved!

I also don't re-wear anything that sits next to my skin, so shorts, jersey, sports bra. One day is enough. Yes, you're right, I do a lot of laundry and have a lot of cycling kit. And yes, it is probably wearing it out faster. I like to be clean, OK?