Comments on: Heat, Sweat & BO — Commuting in the Summer | Part 1: clothing

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:05:32 +0000

This is a good post. We are getting a bit of heat over here in London at the moment, with temps during the day in the 30’s (celsius).

I am lucky and have showers at work as do the majority of people who cycle.

For me its a 14 mile commute each way and takes about 45 mins if the lights and the railway crossings are good, oh and the taxis and buses don’t try to mow me down.

Clothing, always wear an under vest, Canterbury hotpack is great. Bicycle shorts with over shorts, Endura shorts are what I have, commute daily so 28 miles per day and I have had them for 1 year with no problems.
Always wear socks, thin, and I have SPD pedals so I leave my shoes at work.

Its all about layering. I get all my undervests from TK Maxx, cheap as chips.

Here is the best tip, always always carry your goretex with you……don’t mind your legs getting wet but when your top half is wet its not nice.

By: John Moore

John Moore — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:25:43 +0000

Cool! Always good to hear real life war stories from other bike commuters. I love the similarities. Here in England we are enjoying our hottest days (86oF) and we are in complete melt down!
My commute is 4miles, as much offroad as I can afford the time and seemingly uphill all the way! Similarly I sweat buckets, commencing from the second my bike comes to a halt.

Luckily I have a shower at work. I also stock emergency pants (shorts) and socks in the drawer, shirts, ties, trousers (pants), belt and shoes strewn around the desk.

Keep up the good work

Ponnymeister (male!)

By: philosoraptor

philosoraptor — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:36 +0000

I appreciate your advice and encouragement for bike commuters. One of the main concerns that I’ve heard from people reluctant to ride to work is, “But I’ll sweat!” (A near second is, “But my hair!”) I think you have some good tips to help address that worry, especially when people don’t have access to a shower at work.

At the risk of starting a flame war, I just want to say that for a commute as short as yours is, it probably doesn’t really matter whether you ride with regular pedals or with the clipless kind.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:10:41 +0000

Consider myself lucky we have locker room and showers. I wear a uniform for work so I only carry undershirt/underwear and socks back and forth along with small lunch box, wallet and cellphone. All gets loaded in a sling bag I wear on my back, very light for my 11mile commute.

By: Myles/ rattrappress

Myles/ rattrappress — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:42:05 +0000

I hadn’t considered Under Armor. Thanks for the info.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:22:39 +0000

Hello to my neighbor to the north! Running into similar temps here in Tucson, and I’ve found similar things work for this “lady.” The main thing is to make sure you’re changing 100%– no sharing anything between ride & work, and that includes undies (if you use ‘em for riding) & bras, gals. Actually, I’m currently riding in Keens. They make a sandal for clipless pedals, incidentally. And you can wear socks with ‘em if you like.

As a new commuter, I’m still working on a couple of things. One is trying to find bike shorts that are comfortable– there IS such a thing as too much padding. Another is the amount of sweat on my head/face. Anyone have any experience using a bandanna or a Buff under their helmet?

And then, of course, there’s post-ride cleanup. I look forward to your next post!