Hair is holding me back

[Offthegrid]

I've enjoyed reading these forums! I've been a recreational rider off and on for several years. I'm quite overweight, and want to begin bike commuting in the spring to lose weight and to end my 40-minute car ride to work 9 miles from my house.

I'm fortunate that a bus does stop on my street, but I can't take it to work because it doesn't run after 5 p.m. (I'm required to stay late at a moment's notice). So to start I could take the bus in the morning and ride home at night. I'm also fortunate that my company has bicycle lockers available. As far as I know, showers are not available, but I will find out.

I also am required to take a laptop home every night, so was wondering if any of you have tried this pannier: http://www.twowheelgear.com/features.php

But the thing that is really making me nervous is trying to figure out what to do with my hair. I have a very hilly 9-mile ride to work, and I sweat a lot. Do you wet your hair in the sink then blow dry? I have short hair and have to dress professionally.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

How about wearing a good wide sweatband around your head under your helmet? That might help keep the sweaty head thing in check. If your hair is short (like mine)- you have less to fuss over to get it looking normal again. I never get any "helmet hair" that can't be fixed with a hand or washcloth quickly run through it. About just running a damp washcloth over it and then a brush and/or dry washcloth?

[Squeaky]

Keep toiletries and a blow dryer at work and leave yourself enough time to freshen up. If I didn't have a shower at work, I would wet my hair down and then dry & style it. I'd also have some wipes to freshen up with (arm pits, etc.). It's totally doable with some coordinating, so don't let that hold you back.

Mondays I will usually drive to work, and I'll take all the stuff (clothes, food, etc.) I need for the week.

You are gonna have soooo much fun commuting!

[Aggie_Ama]

When I was in college and had to take gym I always ran into this problem. I had longer hair but a bandana kept the sweat under control. Then dampen with COLD water and blow dry. I also found getting a cold towel to lay over my shoulders helped bring my core temperature down.

I wish I lived close enough to commute!

[mimitabby]

coworkers i know that run, swim and bike routinely walk around with dampish hair. You just explain to folks that you were exercising on your time, and they will be impressed!

[Geonz]

Excuses, excuses... Do it first and figure it out as you go!!!

http://www.living-room.org/slackers.htm has a little guide for riding without sweating - "for slackers"

It is part of my mission to redefine normal, and I want "normal" to include riding a bicycle to work, so I don't mind if people can tell that's what I did (basically by that helmet on my shelf over my desk )

[lph]

Yep, redefining normal is a good way to go People no longer ask me if it's raining out when I join them for morning coffee with wet hair (I have curly dry hair that dislikes hairdriers), they know by now that I just got out of the shower.

But then - I don't have to dress very professionally.

(Heh - and if anybody does comment on it I pass it on by asking my fellow bike commuter why HIS hair isn't wet. He's 60 and his hair is max 2 mm long...)

[Dianyla]

But the thing that is really making me nervous is trying to figure out what to do with my hair. I have a very hilly 9-mile ride to work, and I sweat a lot. Do you wet your hair in the sink then blow dry? I have short hair and have to dress professionally.

Some kind of absorbent handkerchief/buff/headsweats type of headwrap helps a lot with absorbing sweat. Could you possibly go for more of a hair gel/product hairstyle that will disguise it a little bit? I do think that sweat/oil excess is much more noticeable on shorter hair. If hair is long enough to be smoothly brushed back into an elegant french twist or bun it looks just fine, sweat and all.

[CommuterChick]

Some kind of absorbent handkerchief/buff/headsweats type of headwrap helps a lot with absorbing sweat. Could you possibly go for more of a hair gel/product hairstyle that will disguise it a little bit? I do think that sweat/oil excess is much more noticeable on shorter hair. If hair is long enough to be smoothly brushed back into an elegant french twist or bun it looks just fine, sweat and all.

One suggestion I haven't seen is a spritz bottle. I have long thick hair and in this cooler weather usually all I need to do is spritz it a lot, scrunch it with my hands, and I am good to go. I keep supplies at work - a comb, some hair pins - but with short hair you're in great shape! I check my email for anything urgent before changing, and my clients (both inhouse and external) are always impressed/jealous that I am riding to work. In hot weather I'll either do the full shower or if short on time I'll stick my head in a sink -- I keep a towel at work. A pack towel, the kind that dries fast, works well for this.

On the food front I stoke up before I go, then tea and almonds when I arrive, but I'm a morning piglet.

Bike commuting -- best health benefit I know.

Marcy in Colorado

[pooks]

I do think that sweat/oil excess is much more noticeable on shorter hair. If hair is long enough to be smoothly brushed back into an elegant french twist or bun it looks just fine, sweat and all.

I think a lot depends on the texture of your hair. My hair is very fine and straight and I have an oily scalp. If I don't shampoo every day by the middle of the second day it looks so dirty and limp because the hair near the scalp is so oily. Wearing a helmet made it worse. I have started keeping it very short since I started cycling this summer, and have discovered that the shorter it is, the better it looks. On a few days when emergencies called me out of the house before I got shampooed, I was able to use a little mousse, do a little bit of fluffy-spiking and it looked okay -- something that I could never get away with when it was longer.

When my hair was really long (past my shoulders) if I tried pulling it back on the second day, it still looked dirty. Oily roots are nasty looking, alas. So sometimes it's not just sweat that's the problem. Sweat dries, but oil doesn't.

Anyway, for this thread's purpose -- I've discovered that I'm loving short-short hair. I have it highlighted so that it has a more interesting "texture" when you look at it, and have gotten a lot of compliments on it.

[mscommuter]

Good for you! I bet you will come to love it as I have! :-)

I've been commuting 6 miles each way since about June, and also have to dress professionally - my hair is a little longer than shoulder length. However, though the amount of sweat varies a bit, I've really found it's not nearly as big of an issue as I originally thought. We don't have showers either, I bring a change of clothes in my backpack and freshen up at work. My hair near the nape of my neck is damp, but really not so much and it dries quickly.

I'm betting that you will sweat much less than you think once you get used to the ride, and of course, it helps that it's getting cooler now.

Planning for clothes is always an aspect. I love that so many nice dresses are made of jersey and other wrinkle-resistant materials now!

[HipGnosis6]

OMG.... I want to commute again soooo bad.... but I have a few little holdbacks, like the length of my total commute (21 miles each way, and that's if you take the highway which I can't do on the bike) and the amount (and size and wierd shape) of stuff I have to drag back and forth to design school. The garment bag pannier looks interesting indeed....

[Geonz]

I've always wondered if other folks still had teenage-oily hair well, well, well past the teen years! Can't go two days either.

I really only punched into this post because I figured the subject **must** have changed from hair... I was wrong!!

My hair is either at an annoying lenght, or I need to change 'poos, 'cause it's developing this weird cowlick in a weird place. (At least I hope it's the 'poo or the length, and not one of those hormone things...)

[run it, ride it]

A good way to avoid helmet hair is a french braid. Doesn't have to look pretty when it goes in, and it's uniform when it comes out.

[Bad JuJu]

Hair: mousse it well the last time you shower before your commute, then all it should take is a spritz from a spray bottle then comb it into place. Still a little damp, but neat and stylish.

Food: I've read somewhere that an hour to an hour-and-a-half of exercise before eating in the morning can help lose weight; I don't know the science behind it, but apparently your body is more likely to burn fat in this situation. But any longer than about 90 minutes and your body starts eating into its healthy muscle. So make your breakfast choices based on how long a commute you have.

You're so lucky to be able to bike to work. Enjoy!