No showers at work

[Becky]

What about hair? I've quite short hair and the helmet does a number on my fine hair...

I keep a spray bottle with water and a bristle brush in my toiletry kit at work. Spray, brush flat, let air dry, and style with hair goop of choice.

I also wear a wicking beanie under my helmet. It helps to prevent that "sucked through the vents" mohawk that we short-haired chickies get.

ETA: Darn, Crankin beat me to it

[malkin]

My hair sticks up and looks stupid all the time anyway, so it's hardly worse after a helmet.

Wet hands or a little gel can sort you out.

[Kerry1976]

I look at this a little differently....now I can blame my helmet on bad hair days. This is a tool that could come in very handy.....

[Kerry1976]

a recent magazine mentioned Paper Shower as a "shower-free" shower option. Seems a little pricey to me. Has anyone used it?

[Melalvai]

I bring a small dry towel and a clean shirt & bra. I wait 10 minutes, then dry off and put the clean shirt on.

If I don't wait 10 min, I'm still sweating when I put the clean shirt on. May as well not bother.

I find that I don't need water, if I have stopped sweating when I dry off. It's not that I'm lucky to have sweet smelling sweat--honestly I smell like cat piss when I've been sweating. But once the sweat has dried I don't smell, maybe the shirt sucks up all the odor because the shirt sure smells!

[Tri Girl]

Ya know- I have a private shower at work (my office is where the nuns used to live at the school and I have a private bathroom). Anyway- I rarely shower at work. I don't ride fast to work, mostly because mornings are so quiet and calm on the streets and my life is hardly ever threatened on the way in (now on the way home, that's another story).

Anyway, I will do what others have said: I will wait about 10 min. until I've cooled down (turn on my computer, unpack my pannier, etc), then change clothes, brush the hair, use a washcloth if I really need to, and generally freshen up.

This weekend I made my own deodorant (finally scared enough of the link between commercial deodorants and cancer and the natural brands don't keep me from stinking). My homemade deodorant creation works REALLY well- the last two days I have sweated a little on the way to work, but don't stink at ALL (and the odor protection lasts all day long, too).

[Kiwi Stoker]

Dry spray on shampoo does really work such as Baptiste. Just make sure you brush it out well. Also now there is foaming dry shampoo which probably doesn't leave a residue.

+1 baby wipes. I couldn't shower for 3 weeks after surgery (was allergic to the waterproof dressing) so used baby wipes to clean up when I couldn't do the wet face cloth thing.

[Antaresia]

I don't have showers at work either, but my ride to work is mostly down hill - except for the ramp to get up onto the bridge.

I get to work early - not only does it give me more time to get ready for the day but it's a bit cooler, before the sun really gets going.

I wear a bandana under my helmet, it keeps my hair from getting wild.

a good anti-perspirant. I used my google-fu a while ago - and ended up reading back posts on a body builders form. They had the opinion that Certian Dri is the best brand - and I have to agree. Holy, that stuff workes 3X as well as any other I've tried (use as directed; you put it on at night, not when you wake up). I can even skip a day, which is CRAZY because I sweat a lot.

Oh ya, and I wear one piece no-seam spandex, uh, I guess "yoga bra" would be more accurate than "sports bra". They are much more convenient to put in the wash than normal, fancy lace-padded-underwire bras. And they dry overnight easily enough. I get them at mec.

[chincitop]

If you have access to a small locker at work, or somewhere you can lock down some belongings, you can do something similair to what I have set up: Package of baby wipes, extra socks & undies & change of clothes, deoderant, some makeup, body spray, hairbrush & product. Also, Secret Clinical Strength Sport deoderant is my best friend. EVER. You apply it at night before you go to bed, and it seriously is amazing stuff.