CAT7RDR

I sense you are reductionist in your views. It may come as a surprise but some of us view ourselves as beings being in nature and are not just an organism composed of biological processes.

SurferRosa

When he was making the film? Interesting.

livedarklions

So the reason I'm a bicyclist is I have such bad ankles that running is not my friend.
Do runners get high on a treadmill?

veganbikes

Cyclists high: https://theradavist.com/2016/03/2016...20-cross-bike/

Also I enjoy being clean, nothing to do with riding a bike, Showers just feel nice especially those really fancy ones with all the different nozzles and rain stuff and all of that. I also enjoy baths but again nothing to do with cycling I just like them.

Cougrrcj

I feel better after almost any ride of over 20 minutes. No shower needed because I try not to work up a sweat unless I'm specifically riding to work up a sweat. I can ride literally for hours at 16mph, an hour at 18, and 45 minutes at 20mph riding speed, and 20+ for maybe 15-20 minutes... I feel that's good enough for an 63+-yr-old, asthmatic near-Cyde...

I slow down/cool down for the last two miles on my way to work so I am not sweating when I get there/get off the bike and don't have the air movement to cool me down. My work commute is 42-44 minutes each way depending on traffic lights. The post- ride home doesn't matter so much so I normally go full-tilt the whole way - finishing in the same 42-44 minutes - because 1. - I'm tired from work, 2. - it is normally into the wind, and 3. it is slightly uphill (~180' elevation change over the 12.5 miles.) , and 4. - I'm getting old! If I arrive home overheated, I can douse myself with the hose when I get home, sit in the shade for a bit (10-15 minutes), and only then do I go in to the house to grab a shower...

UncleG

"But many of us say we feel better after the ride, once we shower. That is also the case for me. I don’t start to feel the increase in energy until I shower. Is it just mental?"

On a perfect day, after a ride, I mow the yard, then I hit the pool!

Most of the time right after I wake up I hit the shower for much the same reason... it warms me up slightly and releases muscular tension. That might be the same thing you're experiencing.

skidder

Is showering required after a bike ride?

Iride01 

There are many times I get back from a 2 hour plus ride and sit for an hour or so waiting for my wife to get off work so we can go walking together. Showers just get the stink off me.

Even yesterday on one of the muggiest hottest days we've had so far, I waited after my ride for over an hour on my wife, only to have the walk canceled because she wanted to do something else that I needed to smell clean for.

So if you are having to take a shower to really solve some physical issue to make you feel better about your ride, then again, you might be doing something wrong or you are over reaching for your current level of fitness. Which will resolve itself eventually if you keep at it. Assuming you don't die from it.... <grin>

terrymorse 

...and the road grime, and the sunscreen, and the salt.

Don't forget cleaning the bottom to prevent saddle sores.

Iride01 

Yeah, they do that too.

Since you brought it up, I haven't had a saddle sore in well over 15 years. And I never use any chamois cream. I did have a pimple once in a bad place, but I don't think that counts. <grin>

Kapusta

Only on bike forums will someone tell you that if you feel great after a shower after a ride that you’re doing something wrong.

dmanthree

First, some of us get that rush, some don't. Now, about those showers...it depends. If I'm at home under a nice stream of warm to hot water, sure. It feels nice. But there is one situation where it didn't. After finising the Pan Mass Challenge in Provincetown, you have access to "showers," but that's a really loose term. Long tents with a garden hose running over head with a few water outlets spaced every few feet. The water isn't warm, and it's crowded. I usually just rinse and soap the best I can, but don't feel right until I get home and take a real shower.

shelbyfv

Probably the vigorous soaping contributes to Dreamy's post shower euphoria.

prj71

So many ways to get high...

Iride01 

Well the OP said they didn't feel good until they took a shower. I feel good most anytime I'm riding and immediately after. Showering just makes me feel fresher and cleaner.

prj71

The fact that this thread exists is rather funny.

Although I've come to expect some of the weirdest posts I've ever seen to be coming from this forum. Some of the dumbest questions and stupidest posts I've ever seen online have been on this forum.

sdimattia

If I didn't get a high or sense of enjoyment most of the time I went riding, I probably wouldn't do it anymore . . . Yet here I am.

As others have stated, the shower if more for olfactory pleasure than it is for euphoria.

livedarklions

You know that you're going to get the "if you aren't miserable at the end of the ride, you're not really trying" response, right?

My muscles definitely feel a lot better when I apply some hot water after a 100 mile ride. I don't think that indicates I'm doing anything wrong.

I don't think being really tired is particularly close to disaster, but I also don't think it's necessary for it to have been a good workout, either.

rumrunn6

um, er, no but after reading about cycling & hot epsom soaks, I've converted to those after long rides. the magnesium in the epsom salt is a natural muscle relaxer. I like to combine it w/ Dr Teal's eucalyptus peppermint foaming bath soap & a 1/2 glass of red wine. athletic epsom salt baths aren't for kids

Milton Keynes

They are for me, especially in the summer.

KJ43

Who doesn't like a shower after a hard ride?

But I almost always experience a "Cyclists High" while riding. That's probably partly because I just can't seem to make myself go easy. I'm an addict!

Ogsarg

False premise as far as I'm concerned. After a long ride, I usually have a beer before showering and that usually makes me feel pretty good.

Dirt Farmer

A clean taint = a happy taint

burnthesheep

I feel better after a ride after I shower because after the shower the beer is in hand the the feet are up on the couch.

Phil_gretz

Because cycling isn't sex...