Question about bike shorts and commuting...

If you have a fairly long commute where you sweat, do you wear the same shorts on your return trip as you wore on the way in?

Right now I only bike my commute one direction per day, so I just wear new shorts each time. I'm thinking about biking both ways on some days. I can see leaving a sweaty shirt to dry out for the afternoon commute...but what about the shorts? Would it be gross to wear them twice in one day or is that what most people do?

FYI: I commute 14 hilly miles each way, so I pretty much always sweat.

I turn my shorts inside-out and hang them on a hook in a quiet corner of my cube to air out/dry. I do the same with my jersey and bra. I'll wear the same stuff home. It all goes in the laundry then, and I hop in the shower.

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

If you have a fairly long commute where you sweat, do you wear the same shorts on your return trip as you wore on the way in?

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I wear the same shorts both ways (13 mile hilly ride). After I shower and change, I spread the jersey across my top tube and hang the inside-out shorts from a brake lever in my office. They are always dry by the time I go home.

Ditto Ditto Ditto.

My commute is about 29 miles RT. I wear the same shorts, jersey, socks, and grin :)

I know we all want to be clean but some level of germs, is natural and not going to harm you. Sterile is not what I'm after :D

So I'm guessing that you guys don't use chamois cream for the commute? Reusing those shorts would be kind of gross...wouldn't it?

I'm going to try going without tonight and see how I do. I started using in on my previous, poorly fitting bike out of necessity, and now I'm scared to go without it! This bike fits though...so it should be fine.

I wear the same shorts, jersey and bra (leg warmers now, as well!) for both ends of my commute (24 miles RT). I do the same as Regina and just hang things under my desk to dry out. As for the cheek lube, I typically only use it in the warmer months and even then, in the afternoons, so I didn't have to worry about sliding into pre-lubbed, already worn shorts. Sorry, not much of a help here!

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

So I'm guessing that you guys don't use chamois cream for the commute? Reusing those shorts would be kind of gross...wouldn't it?

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I only use my Chamois Butt'r on longer rides on the weekend. I don't use it when commuting.

I often use chamois butter in the mornings but not the afternoons. The shorts don't remain slimy and the hours-old chamois butter isn't effective. Need a fresh application in the afternoon if I'm using my old worn-out shorts (if I remember to have some with me).

I tend to save the slimy ButtButter type for long weekend rides. If I feel the need for something while commuting, I use BodyGlide. It doesn't work as well as the slime, but it's got a fairly dry feel.

Thanks for all the info!

I rode home last night and back in this morning without chamois cream and it was totally fine. I guess that's just one more difference between a bike that fits and one that doesn't!

Next week, I'm going to plan on at least one 'full' commute day! :D

I assume you're going to shower anyway when you get home, so the issue isn't so much putting on dirty clothes over again but the possibility of bacterial growth. I'll second the suggestions to just let your shorts dry out over the day (or at least don't smoosh them into a bag while they're wet). If you try it and suddenly start getting saddle sores, then it wouldn't be very hard to go back to the 2-shorts a day system.

I don't know if this idea sounds horribly disgusting to you, but I've done multi-day tours where I've re-worn dirty shorts and haven't had any additional trouble from it other than getting chafed in the same spots from wearing the same shorts. *oversharing* If you're worried about cleanliness of the other bodily secretion sort, the key to the shorts re-wear up to several days is wearing a tampon ;) */oversharing*

HOly cow, "they" always say Americans are totally twisted about cleanliness... remember the good old days in pioneer times when you'd sew youreself into your clothes for the winter? (Oh, yea, a lot of people died, too...)

But seriously, it ain't nothin' but a thing! IMO if you ahve to use a bunch of grease the shorts prob'ly don't fit, but then I've never used chamois butter at all... so I may be made of different stuff (or it might be riding the more upright stallion).

I base it on miles: I wear mine for about 25 miles or 2 days of commuting. I figure if I was going on a long ride I'd wear those shorts for 25, 50 100 miles....it's not going to hurt me to wear them 2 days in a row

oh: and I don't use chamois creme - even for my long rides....never have.

Sorry but I don't get why wearing shorts twice in a day is 'gross'?

I mean you wear your underwear say 10, 12, maybe 14 hours continuously?

So why the worry about wearing bike shorts for a grand total of 2-3 hours a day for your commute ?

Just my opinion....

About chamois butter....I have never needed or used the stuff.

I think I need to explain myself a bit better.

Up until the past two commutes, I have always used Assos chamois cream. It's wet and kind of slimy and then it mixes with sweat (and perhaps other bodily fluids). If I were to leave the shorts hanging in a locker for 8 hours, I figured it would either be super stinky, extra slimy or worse...hard. The thought of pulling that up against my naked privates is very unappealing. It's bad enough when I have to pee at mile 75 of a century...I didn't want to have to do it every damn day unless there was no other option.

I don't bike with any other women whom I could ask...and men are obviously structured a little different down there!

For whatever reason, it never occured to me that I could just skip the cream. Now I get it...and no, it's not gross to wear bike shorts for two consecutive commutes when the chamois isn't saturated with stuff! I appreciate all the info...you learn something new every day. :)

Okay, now it makes sense :-)

Happy slime-skipping commutes!! See how long it takes you to get to a "commiting century" - 100 trips!

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Originally Posted by Geonz

Happy slime-skipping commutes!! See how long it takes you to get to a "commiting century" - 100 trips!

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Woo-hoo! I am over a century. I will have to count the rest of the days in the year to see if I can squeeze out a double, though! :)

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Originally Posted by Geonz

Happy slime-skipping commutes!! See how long it takes you to get to a "commiting century" - 100 trips!

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Oooh, what a great idea! I'm off to see if its possible get a century in before the end of the year.... :D

hey - just contributing my 2 cents. When I commute to/from work, I turn the shorts inside out and wipe down the chamois with a clean baby wipe, and then let dry - hung up all day. It probably doesn't do much as far as bacteria is concerned (that stuff probably goes deeper than the surface) but I think it just gives me peace of mind.
Baby wipes are such a wonderful invention. After a long ride, when I have sweat a lot, having baby wipes in the car to wipe the scratchy salt off my face is sooo refreshing. And they're much cheaper than the Olay, or Ponds, etc facial cleansing wipes. I always figure that with the regulations being pretty strict with baby products, pretty much anything that says "baby" on it will be pretty gentle or soothing.
Good for you for commuting!!

an ultra thin panty liner isnt a bad idea for keeping the chamois a little fresher/dryer for the commute home and a 2nd day's use from a pair of shorts.

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Originally Posted by Tater

Woo-hoo! I am over a century. I will have to count the rest of the days in the year to see if I can squeeze out a double, though! :)

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Hey no fair. I don't work 200 days. :p I have commuted 106 days this calendar year. Not bad when you consider I have the summer off.

V.

Watch out Cheri and Postie!- the forum anti-pantiliner/babywipe police are going to come after you! :eek:

Lisa "Don't get between me and my pantiliner" Johnson

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Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

Lisa "Don't get between me and my pantiliner" Johnson

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Snortin' coffee and rice milk out my nose, thank you very much!:D

wellll...
since I've only got one pair of biking shorts, and a million and a half sets of coolmax/drifit/whatever underwear, I just wear the underwear under the shorts and bring a spare pair for thru the day/ride home... It doesn't cause me any chafing issues to do so.

I probably wouldn't worry, I'm certainly not a neat freak, but I have a vague fear that my chamois would get sort of... uncomfortable being used 2x with nothing between me and it... and only one pair begs me to reuse as often as possible between washes. why do they have to be so expensive?!

The only reason I *don't* wear my undies under my bike shorts when I ride to work is because then the undies would be sweaty. So I wear just the shorts, wipe down and pull on undies when I get to work, then pull my bike shorts back up over my undies at the end of the day. Chamois Butt'r is never slimy--always fully absorbed into either me or the chamois!

As a women's health care provider, I would rather use my own bike shorts twice than overclean myself. Our culture is so obsessed with being "clean" that women are taught to over-clean, over-perfume, over-deoderize their vaginas, and it causes no end of misery. Many infections are caused by "feminine cleansing products". Our bodies are self-cleaning in that sense. When we interfere with over cleansing, the "bad" bacteria proliferate, because the "good" bacteria aren't there to control them.

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Watch out Cheri and Postie!- the forum anti-pantiliner/babywipe police are going to come after you!

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yeah I'm pretty scared:p

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Originally Posted by Kitsune06

and only one pair begs me to reuse as often as possible between washes. why do they have to be so expensive?!

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I hear ya.......although I have 2 pairs...just a tad better than having one

I'm with Postie on this one.

carefree barely there liners are FANTASTIC with bikeshorts. I have a pack at work and a pack at home and just rip em off when I get to work.

In my little cubicle I have a bar under my desk where I can dry my cycling gear so all the cycling gear is there drying during the day.

[QUOTE=light_sabe_r;126429]I'm with Postie on this one.

carefree barely there liners are FANTASTIC with bikeshorts. I have a pack at work and a pack at home and just rip em off when I get to work.

QUOTE]

I'll wear them once a month (I'll spare the description of the "when") only when I absolutely have to. I find they get all wadded up and in the way through pedalling when I wear them. Yuck. :(

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Hey no fair. I don't work 200 days. :p I have commuted 106 days this calendar year. Not bad when you consider I have the summer off.

V.

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Yeah, but then there are those beautiful summer days when I am stuck on the inside wishing I could be outside and you can just hop on you bike and go! I envy your summers off! ;)

Then according to Sue's Rules of the World, you are allowed to count other trips you take with the bike instead of a car. You could end up ahead!

letting stuff dry out really helps with the smell. not allowing it to dry creates a big stink...

when I first got shorts, I'd wear them 2 days, 4 trips of about 8-12 miles each, so that i could make them go.
now I have enough for each day of the week. I keep to one a day. occassionally if i come home and need to leave in an hour or so, i'll change, but that's only because i've had issues with the jock itch stuff, and walking around long term in wet chamois isn't always the best. no issues if i let it dry out though.

i never needed the creams, but as i lost mass, i am having issues. my theories are either I can't find a good fitting short, or my saddle no longer fits.... even so, I only use it on long trips of over 60 miles.

I hang my stuff to dry on hooks in the cornor of my office, and wear it home. I also shower upon arrival (lucky me to have a shower at work!). I find the chamois butt'r is all absorbed, so not slimy. BTW, I prefer chamois butt'r to assos cream. The assos cream stung and I had to wash it off immediately when I first tried it. I tried mini pads once but it all made a wet mess if you know what I mean. Not for me.