Unexpected side effect (colder weather)

[JonoB]

After cycling to work for the first time this week, apart from getting a double puncture from Hawthorns, I also found that I was wet through when I got there (mostly condensation as it was chilly). I don't have shower facilities at work.
Do I have a leg to stand on if I ask my employer to provide me with these facilities (local government employee) - especially as it is a Cycle2work bike? OR does anybody have any recommendations/strategies for avoiding arriving at work dripping wet/soggy even when it isn't raining

 

[fossyant]

You have no rights at all.

Most of us ride in cycling specific clothing, and transport 'office' clothes with us.

As for cleaning up, I find baby wipes great, then a deo roll on fine - most of this is left in my office, but I keep a deo and some baby wipes in my rucksack for other site commutes....

I ride hard and arrive very sweaty....even in cold weather - you should see the steam column as I lock the bike up............

Baby wipes have worked 100% for me for the last 18 months..... the trick is bike specific clothing......

 

[hackbike 6]

I don't wear a lot even in this weather (ooer) and although at first im cold it takes me till I get to Stratford till I get warmed up.(15 mins)

Haven't had shower facilities at work ever and I have been there almost 20 years.

 

[Niall Estick]

Wear a quality base layer to wick sweat off your body.

Do you have a disabled loo? Use it to have a 'Whore's Bath' out of the sink (flannel face, armpits, crotch - in that order)

 

[JonoB]

Wear a quality base layer to wick sweat off your body.

Do you have a disabled loo? Use it to have a 'Whore's Bath' out of the sink (flannel face, armpits, crotch - in that order)

Yes we do - and nobody uses it. This may become my new office
Going to try again before the end of the week. I'll be better prepared this time and won't have to sit all day in soggy clothing (doh) Luckily didn't have to sit near anybody.........must have smelt like a wet dog
Thanks for the advice.

 

[hackbike 6]

I have a change of clothing in my locker.

 

[Cheddar George]

I only have to cycle approx. 4 mile to work but i still wear the bike gear - Ron hills and even in this weather 1 layer under a rain/wind proof jacket. Despite trying not to push it too hard i still need a wipe down and deodorant when i arrive at work .

 

[Plax]

I only live 4 miles away from work and I do various things depending on what I feel like. I have the luxury of a shower though, which I usually use if I get a soaking on the way in. Otherwise it's predominantly baby wipes and deoderant with a change of clothes. Sometimes if I'm really lazy I'll wear hiking trousers and a casual long sleeved cycling top all day and baby wipes & deoderant when I get to work.

I recommend the Ronhill bikesters though. Very comfy, reasonably warm and surprisingly don't soak up the rain water too much. It was raining on the way home tonight and I couldn't be bothered with my waterproof trousers. For the duration of the ride I was comfortable in the bikesters - with hiking trousers / Endura Humvees, the top of my legs usually get soaked through and it's horrid. The bikesters, although not waterproof seemed to dry really quick and still keept me warm even when wet.

 

[J4CKO]

We have showers but they were frozen solid this morning, not even the sink worked, had to have a teenagers shower, just spray deodorant over sweaty pits, didnt feel to bad considering.

 

[jimboalee]

Ok, Here we go.

Sweating. One unfortunate product of the catabolic process of breaking CHO into CO2 is Water. We all do it. Approximatley 1 cm3 per 4 kCals of CHO.
In the warm weather, the wind evaporates it and it blows away, but in the cold, it lingers inside our clothing.
If, in the cold you don’t wear clothes and you exercise moderately, the body does a strange thing. It routes the water to the kidneys and then to the bladder. Goosebumps happen due to an involuntary mechanism invoking the adrenal glands.Your brainstem ROM knows that water on the skin in the cold wind will only make things worse. If you go naked in the cold, you shiver and get goosebumps. (This is the most efficient way to lose fat.)

So, if you want to avoid being a sweaty mess when you arrive at work, grit your teeth and arrive a shivering, goosebumpy but dry impersonation of an icicle.

Only experience will teach you how much to wear for the weather conditions, and after 25 years, I don’t get it right every day.

 

[snapper_37]

I have a make shift ladies loo/wash area (it's bloody freezing too) which I forced the bosses to get a decent lock for. There is a shower but it is blocked off with a locker for the vet, and is only there because food regulations say we have to have so many on site (none of which are ever used ).

I just strip wash and take clothes for the week on a Monday. Keep a couple of fleeces handy in case I get too cold.

Like others have said, layering is the key.

 

[marooncat]

Another vote for using the disabled toilet and keeping change of clothes in work. I jokingly say that more of my "work wardrobe" is in bags under my desk than at home. On the days I drive I try and take in clean stuff or if I need more before I drive just accept that I have to take it in on the bike.

Used baby wipes for most of the summer when we were at our old office as the sink did not have a plug in it and they were fine as well.