[email protected] (KRasmus572) wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> I want to start riding my bike to work.
>
> 12,5 miles each way.
>
> There is no shower at work.
>
> Any one in a simular situation?
Well, I don't know where you live, but I'm in a similar situation in Boston. Eleven miles each way,
and no shower.
I've had jobs where I've had showers, but I haven't had one at work for more than five years, during
which time I've ridden year 'round. I've concluded that, for me, showers at work are overrated.
Before I leave the house I take a vigorous shower, and use plenty of cornstarch baby powder on my
shorts' chamois and my body. I dress lightly, too. In the winter, when I go down the big hill behind
my house, I get an "ice cream headache" with the cold air on my head when I'm dressed -right-.
Within ten minutes I'm toasty without sweating.
In the summer, I dress very lightly.
Big open shirts -- Hawaiian shirts are great -- and shorts.
With a 15 - 25 mph constant breeze, it's not a problem.
All seasons I avoid wearing cotton, because it gets wet and stays wet. I prefer microfiber
polyester. My latest acquisition is a Perry Ellis microfiber silk-feeling polyester t-shirt from
Marshall's, at a whopping $14.99. It's not official "bike clothes," but I can wear it in the city
without looking like Lycra Man from Planet Weird, and it doesn't absorb moisture.
I think people who have the impression that showers at work are essential for bicycle commuting are
probably runners who want to try cycling. Running doesn't give you the massive breeze that cycling
does, and so, you can get very nasty in a short while when running in even moderate heat. But not
so cycling.
Consider that on the order of a billion people cycle to work each day, mostly in Asia, but also in
Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Few have the luxury of showers at work, and fewer still have
access or the wherewithal to obtain the kinds of modern fabrics that we can have in western
countries. Yet they ride their bikes!
Hope this helps,
Tom Revay Boston, Massachusetts