The odoriferous bike commuter
 

I'm sure this has been covered before but where I live it hits the high 80's and 90's with high humidity. I work up a real sweat and a fragrant aroma going on a ride that deodorant and a change of clothes can't eliminate. For a regular ride it's no problem. I get back and shower at home. When I used to commute to work in Arizona it was a bit easier to deal with. Where I live now a shower upon a lengthy cool-down is an absolute must...along with a fresh set of work clothes. Yes, I have access to a shower near work but it's not convenient. Plus the extra cool-down time is not optimal either.

If any of you live in a hot and humid environment and commute to work, how do you deal with it?

I keep my shower supplies (flip-flops, soap and shampoo, etc.) at my cube. When I get to work, I transfer clothes over to my gym bag, take off cycling shoes, and check my overnight emails. That usually gets me past the heavy sweating, so a cool shower gets me clean and I stay (relatively) dry afterwards. Cool days I'll go through the courtyard to the gym and shower, in another month or so I'll take the long way around via air-conditioned halls.

I don't know what I'd do without email. :)

eBike for the win.
Take 'er easy on the way in, hit it hard on the way home.
If you're averse to that idea, what they used to do in China (before eBikes took over) was just ride very slowly. Like 6 mph. It's still twice as fast as walking. It helps that they're all thin, too.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...97590cb08.jpeg
Aventon Level.2 commuter, w/Topeak MTX trunk bag w/fold-down panniers. I have a FoldyLock Forever in place of the water bottle now, and carry water in the trunk bag.
It has lights integrated into the rear fender and seat stays, as well as the headlight, but I added a PlanetBike Grateful Red to the rack as well. Suntour NCX suspension seatpost is a KILLER addition.

I used to use DIY pre-dampened wash cloths, followed by toweling dry as well as possible, then get dressed after some cool down. Though I've never used them, they now sell products made expressly for washing where no shower is available, so you might try your luck.

Yep, Dude Shower wipes:

https://roadhouseoutfitters.com/prod...hypoallergenic

They would work for the pits and underparts, but maybe not the rest of the torso?

There's also "Skunky" which is lower cost. This isn't self contained, needing water, but advertises a sponge bath of sorts, without needing to rinse. These and others are low cost enough to justify trying and seeing if they meet your needs.

FWIW my DIY wash cloths were dampened with a blend of witch hazel, water and bit of scent, and were essentially free. I'd pack them in a baggie, for the out and back, then hang to dry before tossing into the hamper.

I don’t know how well these work, but I just ordered some of these body wipes for an upcoming camping trip. The reviews on them seem pretty good, they might be sufficient to get you cleaned up after your ride in

If the cool down is an issue, leave 10 minutes earlier than usual. That's what I used to do when I commuted 11 miles one way. The wipes are great every now and then but nothing really beats a nice shower specially when you are dripping in sweat.

Here's another possibility: "Paper Shower". It was invented by one of my colleagues, Jim Bahcall. A short video describing how he came up with the idea is .
(I like watching this video every now and then, because it nicely captures his enthusiastic personality. Jim died almost three years ago, and is greatly missed by everyone who knew him.)

My longest held job was within commuting distance but not a safe bike route. Summers I would bike after work, but other times I would take a long lunch and bike, then eat.

There was no shower at work, but a small room that I was able to use as a changing area. I thinned down 70% rubbing alcohol, IIRC, 1 part alc to 2 parts water. I'd use that on paper towel to wipe down, smelliest places last, then in trash, put on deodorant and fresh undies, and dress clothes back on.

When I went on an extended car trip between jobs in a small wagon, I rigged up a car shower: NEW 5 gallon cubish plastic fuel container, old electric fuel pump saved from a junked car and strapped under handle, water feed hose placed through inverted nozzle pointing down into jug and held in place with cap and feeding pump, outlet connected to sink sprayer hose and button trigger nozzle (fine spray), momentary contact switch under button to turn on pump, power source from cigarette lighter socket. Whole thing was on front passenger floor. Right door map pocket contained small pump bottle of soap, small pump bottle of shampoo, shower brush, towel. I'd pull to the edge of a rest area, and wear swim trunks if anyone was around, plug in pump, pull out sprayer on hose, spray down, soap up (never even needed to pull out bottles, they just stayed in map pocket), rinse, towel. Super easy. Doing navy shower technique, only spraying when needed, that water lasted a long time. When backpacking or biking, I just do same with a two liter bottle of water, just uses more water, the sink sprayer was much more water efficient.

I like the idea of DIY washcloths! I have also discovered witch hazel as a nice mild astringent. It cools the skin and gets me to stop sweating, and it does not dry my skin.

Ride with the same effort as walking. As pointed out, it is at least twice as fast as walking and the higher airspeed keeps you cool. It's a shame that since the 1950s. cycling became a sport.

Some feel the same about sailing, that a sign of too much money in a society is planing boats.

I bring a clean washcloth in a zip loc bag to avoid all the waste associated with wet wipes. If it's really hot and I have time, I go to the gym to shower but if I didn't get too sweaty, I just used the handicapped stall with a sink (estimated time of day is 7:30 am, so before it's too busy in the building) to get some handsoap on there, wash up and then place the washcloth back in the zip loc. I make sure to get as much air out of the bag as possible before sealing and haven't had issues with mold or mildew, even if I forget about it in my bag for a few days.

I live in SC. Very hot and humid. And I commute daily to work. I sweat a lot, but really don’t have a problem with odor. At least, I don’t think so. And I’ve never heard complaints from coworkers. Maybe it’s my diet. Or genetics. But, I do work in a hot shop all day, so I’ll be sweating anyway. However on the weekends (like going to church), I’d have to pack a towel and wrinkle free shirt and pants. I wouldn’t want to stop the sweat, just take care of it afterwards.

I live in Indonesia, the tropical country par excellence. I know year-round heat, humidity, sun and sweat. My advice to you is to look into your diet, as the strength and persistence of the aroma, seems out of the ordinary. There's also genetic factors from which there is no getting away. Your diet and perhaps a trained professional like a nutritionist.

IME we're all different, both in how much we sweat under given conditions, and how smelly we get.

I'm like you in that I can't tolerate heat and sweat buckets. I'm used to going inside and being asked if it's raining.

However, whether it's diet, body chemistry, or the specific cultures on my skin, I don't tend to smell as much as friends who sweat less. So I'm able to get by with air drying.

You might experiment with changed to the doap you use when showering, or consult with a dermatologist to see if you can change your scent profile.

I don't think I smell any worse than others after working out. I just don't like to be "that guy" who gets in the elevator and people smell fresh sweat. Nobody likes that. When that sweat dries it's no longer the wet sweat smell but the pungent after-smell that bothers others. Am I being a bit paranoid, yep, sure am, but like I said, I don't want to be that guy. I don't typically eat pungent foods when I do go into the office, such as garlic, onions, cabbage, etc. I work from home when I do that....just to be considerate.

And truth be told, with the heavy duty AC system in the building I work probably nobody would realize. It's more the hassle of changing clothes and/or showering that I'm asking about. And, part of the problem is the cool-down time. It's just not convenient and was looking for suggestions from others that deal with the same circumstances.

Thanks for the feedback folks. Greatly appreciated.

Its tough to cool down. I towel down, use the man-wipes, towel again, throw on some deodorant, then change into work clothes. I have never ridden into work and not been a sweaty mess. I have a locker room but no shower unfortunately. It is a 10–15-minute process once i get to the locker room.

take a shower at home in the morning. Do my ride in with a towel and wash cloth at work. use the restroom (either single person which is a bit easier or I would head into a stall). wipe down with the wash cloth and dry off. put on work clothes and pack my ride clothes in a pack.

wouldnt actually use soap on the wipe down as I was clean. The point of the wipe down is to rinse off the sweat which can cause odor.

would be fresh for the rest of the day. on the ride back, I would wear my office attire (didn't need to wear a suit ag work, khaki's and polo shirt was normal attire) on the bike
or I would ride in wearing cycling shorts and during the day I would put them on my office chair seat with a towel over them and sit on them while working. they would be dry at
the end of the day without needing fans or causing any odors... I would put them on for the ride home.

Would riding slower the last couple of miles help with the cool down? I just kept deodorant and a washcloth at work, never had a problem. Even if I wasn't stinky, the dried sweat felt sticky and awful on my skin; a wipe down with plain water did the trick, though witch hazel does sound like a great idea. HTH.

Not IME on hot, humid mornings. I think I've stopped sweating until the bike stops, then I rapidly start dripping sweat.

When I didn't have a shower available, I could sit in my cube for a while until I started drying. If I timed it right, baby wipes (similar to your washcloth idea) would clear off the last of the sweat before it dried, and then I was comfortable putting on dry business casual.

Oh, cool, you use witch hazel, too? I love it. I just pour it into my hand and then wipe it into my arm pit. In a minute or so, my pores stop sweating. I like your wash cloth technique, though, and I might try it.

Thank you
 

For all the great commuter tips. I’m trying to get back to commuting after a hiatus.

In the office I work at they blast the AC and it gets cold. So when I ride home, I don't even notice how awful the hot weather is and it's only a 4 mile commute (one way) for me, and I have a Ebike, so it's NBD.