Is 4 miles enough to get sweaty and smelly without a shower?

willhub

So ride 4 miles in kit, get changed, maybe take it steady, maybe batter it. Is it short enough that I would avoid getting too sweaty and smelly that just drying myself up and spraying BO busting chemicals will solve any problems?

daviesee

Take it easy, no sweat. Batter it = sweat. Your decision. :P

Taking it easy actually works out quicker as you don't need the time to shower, but then you probably shower before leaving so that is negated. That said, I find it very difficult to maintain an easy pace. :oops:

willhub

The difference between my easy pace is like doing 25mph easy and doing 26 hard.

Bobbinogs

willhub wrote:

The difference between my easy pace is like doing 25mph easy and doing 26 hard.

Don't understand what you mean, if I am honest. As per the above, take it easy, wear just enough for the conditions and 4 miles is not enough to get sweaty. Whether you will have BO is another thing altogether, I worked with a bloke who seemed to hum whatever the conditions and whatever he did, smelly git!

mudcow007

i ride 6 miles each way every day an dont get sweaty

why dont you try it an see how hot you get??

inkyfingers

Also depends on the route, 4 miles uphill will get you sweaty whatever!

keef66

You need to ask the peeps you work with, not us.

In the right clothing / weather I could do 4 miles at a leisurely pace and not need a shower, but I'm apparently not a smelly bod. Used to work with a bloke who'd stink to high heaven by mid morning.

LeicesterLad

My commute is 5 miles and yes I can get sweaty pushing it. I struggle not take it easy and not ride out of my skin to be honest - such a short distance I just like to hammer it and get it done.

Plus in this weird but not unpleasent 20degree January heat, anything is possible.

Yossie

Nah - batter it through. And if you find out that you're getting all sweaty do a squaddy wash in the toilets or get some wet wipes.

No point dawdling: go big or go home.

Daz555

My commute is under 4 miles. I take it easy on the ride in to work so I don't get sweaty but on the way home ride as hard as I can.

schweiz

Back in the day, I used to cycle the 12 miles to my Saturday job the centre of Manchester. There was no shower and the bus ate into my £2.30/hour wages, so the bike it was. A quick squirt of Slazenger Sport Deo and I was good for selling Gore Tex jackets all day long.

hulla the hulla

a pits and bits wipe around in the bog with andrex washlets should see you past any really nasty whifs but as has been said already, don't ask us, ask your work colleagues !

Pross

I do 18 miles each way and get sweaty but I make sure I'm clean and fresh before I start and then was the worst bits down with soap and water when I arrive at the office and use wet wipes on the more intimate areas. I used to keep a spray bottle like gardeners use filled with water and a bit of aftershave, spray that over myself and wipe myself down. Despite working with people who never hold back on a chance to take the p*** I've never had any comments about any smell. The main thing is to set out smelling fresh and clean then a quick wipe down should be fine. That said you'll be working in a call centre, if you don't smell of BO you will probably be the odd one out

LeicesterLad

Pross wrote:

I do 18 miles each way and get sweaty but I make sure I'm clean and fresh before I start and then was the worst bits down with soap and water when I arrive at the office and use wet wipes on the more intimate areas. I used to keep a spray bottle like gardeners use filled with water and a bit of aftershave, spray that over myself and wipe myself down. Despite working with people who never hold back on a chance to take the p*** I've never had any comments about any smell. The main thing is to set out smelling fresh and clean then a quick wipe down should be fine. That said you'll be working in a call centre, if you don't smell of BO you will probably be the odd one out

y33stu

As above. I do 6 miles each way every day. I just can't go slow or take it easy. Damn you Strava.

As I have a backpack, I do get a bit sweaty on the back. I ride in lycra, then get changed. I leave a towel at the office, to dry off, quick bit of brut spray (other brands available) and I'm good to go. Reckon I wouldn't need a shower unless I was doing 20 miles or more.

pinno

Just ride naked, its all the clothing that makes you sweaty. Take your office clobber with you in a rucksack. If it rains, well, hey presto.

Yossie

Pross wrote:

I do 18 miles each way and get sweaty but I make sure I'm clean and fresh before I start and then was the worst bits down with soap and water when I arrive at the office and use wet wipes on the more intimate areas. I used to keep a spray bottle like gardeners use filled with water and a bit of aftershave, spray that over myself and wipe myself down. Despite working with people who never hold back on a chance to take the p*** I've never had any comments about any smell. The main thing is to set out smelling fresh and clean then a quick wipe down should be fine. That said you'll be working in a call centre, if you don't smell of BO you will probably be the odd one out

Just glancing over this thread and not paying too much attention, I first read that as "adhesive". "Freakin' hell, that's hardcore - chapeau that man" I thought to myself.

Agree with the BO thing as well - also applies to ironed shirts, shaved faces (for men and women) and not having yellow teeth.

cyberknight

10 miles each way for me and lumpy terrain, i tend to push it so i am sweaty by the time i get there .I only get a squirt of deodorant and no one has ever complained , mind you i work in an industrial weld shop with hundreds of robotic welders going off all day so the place has an aroma of its own anyway :shock:

Yellow Peril

Smash it to bits on your first day and if you see your colleagues wretching and gagging throughout the day just back it off a little each subsequent time until they stop. that's the scientific solution.

Lagrange

If you are commuting in Dakar then go one way, if you are commuting in Nanortalik then the other. (BTW if you are commuting between Dakar and Nanortalik then it may take a bit longer.)

smoggysteve

willhub wrote:

So ride 4 miles in kit, get changed, maybe take it steady, maybe batter it. Is it short enough that I would avoid getting too sweaty and smelly that just drying myself up and spraying BO busting chemicals will solve any problems?

All depends how fat or thin you are. I know people who get a sweat on just walking up the stairs.

DesB3rd

No point dawdling: go big or go home.

For most of us the "go home" part is the bit of our commute we don't worry about and indeed the the part we can guiltlessly "go big" on.

Go easy on the way in, my experience (7-8 mile) is that the speed difference between hammering it, with traffic, junctions etc thrown in, is negligible. If I smashed it the smell would be OK-ish after a sink-wash, but it's hassle, time that n'th of extra speed didn't buy & I'd feel gross all day.

willhub

Well just going for a long walk I get back and find my boxers are wet, I sweat like mad, but I've battered it about 20 miles and then not get changes and done stuff, but I'm a bit paranoid, I can't ever smell myself but they say you can't smell yourself anyway.

mattshrops

willhub wrote:

Well just going for a long walk I get back and find my boxers are wet, I sweat like mad, but I've battered it about 20 miles and then not get changes and done stuff, but I'm a bit paranoid, I can't ever smell myself but they say you can't smell yourself anyway.

You're never still single? I cant believe it.

Well done on the job btw

smoggysteve

willhub wrote:

Well just going for a long walk I get back and find my boxers are wet, I sweat like mad, but I've battered it about 20 miles and then not get changes and done stuff, but I'm a bit paranoid, I can't ever smell myself but they say you can't smell yourself anyway.

I think you should stop worrying about the cycling until you sort out your incontinence problem

cougie

Unless you take it easy you will sweat and then smell. Take it gently going to work and then you can do what you want on the way home. Nobody likes a smelly colleague.