Do you cycle to work? Your S&B hacks please.

[MsUnderstanding]

pre DC I had a leisurely cycle to work, shower, change, makeup, coffee Facebook now I have exactly half an hour to do school drop offs and be at my desk looking professional.
I can't do make up before because it just slides off in a slick of sweat.
I feel limited clothing wise, no gusset flashing skirts.
They don't even have a shower in the building, so making sure I don't smell is another issue.
How do you manage to look and smell good if you cycle?

I have to say the best thing about cycling, fashion wise, is that I can wear nice shoes with heels and not have to worry about walking!

I think this is all very interesting, maybe because cycling is more seem as a sport than as a normal way of getting about in this country, we are maybe going a bit too quick! According to fit bit steady cycling should burn no energy than a brisk walk. You won't have a shower or a complete change of clothes after a half hour walk.

So we're the paddling pool then, are we FormerlyCatherineDeB . Be mindful that the bigger biking routes here tend to be crowded by the Tour de France aspiring assholes most of the year who aren't all that friendly on the road in the name of sport. Although in fairness we're not all that much better in the cities... I do hope DD actually enjoys biking, my heart always sinks when I see a despondent child trailing after their parents.

Interesting, I'd always assumed that like distance your body got used to it when it's a daily thing as physical condition improves and that long term it would be less exerting but hills don't seem to impact that then.

Yes, it's definitely great for fashionable footwear. I wear heels all the time and you know it's never going to be much of an issue. My general rule is if I'm wearing a thick sweater then it's a thinner coat and vice versa. Thermals (bottom) only in the dead of winter and it's usually down to wind not temperature.

The worst thing, even if I didn't sweat like a pig (10 miles each way) is helmet head. Fortunately we have showers so I take everything I need in panniers and cycle in Lycra, have a full shower and hair wash! Top hack is have spares of everything in your desk drawer, I have forgotten knickers, bras, socks, once managed to take two odd shoes, and have forgotten my skirt (blush)

Hills are interesting I think DH rides 200 miles a week and doesn't notice them. I do 60-70 or so and struggle but I am talking a 20% gradient. My fitness is ok but i think I would have to do a lot more to whizz up the hills.

DD is 10 bo, cycles to school and at weekends with us on a tandem, loves it - happily does 25-30 miles in a day with coffee shops, lunch, tea. We have friends with a son the same age and have a fab time generally - not much from now til spring though. We did France this year on the tandem but as she wants to ride her own bike we thought (and we want to visit anyway) somewhere flatter would be good.

As for speed, I am not fast, 12mph. Way of life attitude here rather than a sport and I like admiring the view.

My question was a shorter, more inarticulate, version of Botemps. ;)

I've always cycled and never bothered with showers or worried about sweaty clothes. I'm not Tour de Francing though. My longest bike commute (that I didn't do daily either, I alternated with taking the bus) was about 17 km one way. It took me 55 minutes on my granny bike with a front basket (the only bike type worth its salt in my opinion, but now I also have a huge basket on my book holder at the back and it's FANTASTIC) and I never bothered showering or anything. Granted, at the time I was a prison warden so when I arrived I changed into uniform, so there was a change of clothes, but I never showered.

I mean, some days I get sweaty and bothered walking and taking the train, but I don't shower when I get to work then, even though I'm as sweaty as I might have been cycling all the way. I'm not POURING with sweat. So my main concern is can I ride comfortably and safely. ;)

Pencil skirts are bad, unless jersey or up-hoik-able. Wide trousers need clips at the bottom. Thin layers are better than bulky thick things, and gloves are a must if it's cold. When it gets to -5 and below covering the ears becomes important.

Considering that most sport cyclists here are men or women with a very slim frame I assume body type plays into it at some point. They're not usually the broad shouldered athletic types. We have the myth of cycling calves here but professional cyclists only seem to really develop their thighs disproportionately so I don't really know what the truth is in all that. I do wish cycling shorts would offer better coverage though, I'm sick of seeing all the bare behinds through the thin material.

I honestly don't know my speed, I get clocked by the ones for cars now and then at 23-25 km/h but I doubt that's my average. I probably bike faster than most other leisurely folk but not by a lot. I've always assumed that the touring bikes encouraged speed more as that's what they're built for and aren't as comfy. It is very often recommended as a gentle form of exercise here (on the standard bikes which are far more affordable) as you can do it for a long time without asking too much of the body and build up gradually.

I really miss cycling to work, I live in a hilly West Country city and there doesn't isn't a route to my current job where I'd feel confident to climb the hills without getting off to walk. I do the 20 minute, uphill cycle ride to uni once a week, that's fun on the way home!

When I did cycle to work I used to just wear my normal clothes and puff up my hair when I got in. I don't generally wear make up on a day to day basis and I wasn't getting very sweaty. A packet of baby wipes can be used in a pinch in combination with a change of clothes if you don't have a shower at work, deodorant too.

I don't do anything different than when I walked to work. In the Summer, I have a quick swipe with a baby wipe, but that's it. Do you really get a sweaty face at this time of year? You must cycle much faster than I do.

My cycle is only about 3 miles so I don't get too sweaty but I keep baby wipes and deodrant in my desk draw just in case. I prefer to cycle in trainers as I like to have some grip on my pedals so I keep a spare pair of shoes at work in case I forget mine.

Clothes wise, I cycle in my usual jeans/trousers (work isn't formal wear). I wore a dress a few times in the summer but added my running shorts underneath as I felt I was flashing my pants.

I also have a pannier bag as I was getting a sweaty back and back ache with a rucksack.

The only thing I hate is when it's raining as I end up looking like a drowned rat with mascara down my face.

Rain is the absolute worst. I must get one of those plastic poncho things.

The paper powder booklets you can get from Superdrug (like the old 'Papier Poudre' booklets you used to be able to get in the Body Shop back when the Body Shop was good) are excellent for removing the 'glow' from an uphill commute.

Touring bikes are built for stability, load carrying and comfort, sacrificing some of the speed of a road bike for those things, often with mountain bike gearing bo.

Faster than a dutch bike though, the same journey used to take me 15 minutes extra on my trek T30.

I get sweaty on 6 miles - not sure I would have done pre approaching 50 when I find myself generally warmer than I used to be!

Queen, I use a cape if it is raining , amazingly practical and I am less likely to overheat - DH thinks I look like a throwback to the 40s do not laugh.

That's brilliant formerly-I'm tempted.

Im so getting this. I hate how my hair gets wet through the helmet!

I have got one of those too Queen, is now very ancient as it took me a few years to pluck up the courage to go cape, again, DH laughs at it but I really do not care one bit .

I have this with the matching umbrella (which is properly storm resistant) and keeps me dry well enough. Before I just cycled one handed with an umbrella, rain gear never lasted well with me.

Now that's what I'm talking about botemp I need one of those umbrellas.

They're brilliant, I've had mine for years and only ever not used it in fear of it being destroyed with hurricane strength winds and rain hitting me sideways anyhow. Don't get the foldable model though it's not as resistant as the normal sized one.

bo - I am feeling like we must live on different planets now , it is 9 degrees here and the rain is horizontal today (which is not unusual), driving cold rain with a 20mph ENE wind.

I will be wearing my cape on the school run.

I am Dutch, but I live in the UK and I cycle to work.

I used to cycle to school and work and people in the NL never used to shower. My experience is that people cycle at a much more leisurely pace, so showering wasn't really necessary. Also agree with the hillyness factor!

Here, I am gunning it down. There are more and more slower cyclists coming on to the road now though so I am thinking it is slowly changing.

I have the same issue as OP that I now have 2 children and as a result I am more aware of the fact that I need to return in one piece at the end of the day and that I have less time to get everything done in the morning!

I have only returned to work after mat leave six weeks ago so I am still re-establishing my routine. I have started to simply cycle at a slower speed, wear less clothes and do a change in the toilet with a bit of a face wash. I tend to go the gym at lunch time anyway so proper wash can happen then. I have my shoes and make up at work. I pack my back the night before so I am still alert enough to put a bra and knickers in. Two pairs of suits are at work. I did accidentally pack a pair of maternity tights the other day, I could hoist those over my boobs now.

Well let's see, Catherine, there isn't a proper hill in sight, it's about 12 degrees though it was definitely hovering around 6 this morning. It's unusually mild for the time of year as we're lacking the usual arctic winds that make it feel much colder than it is and very little rain. While the wind was at about 31 km/h (20ish miles, I think?) this afternoon they seem to have died down by now and warm weather of 18 degrees and sunshine is promised in the weekend ahead. I have to agree, it's a different planet here right now as I'm not quite sure what season it is anymore , but at the very least you know your DD will be fine doing double the distance she normally does here without breaking into a sweat .

I had a less sophisticated version of that poncho once and all it did was gather a giant pool of water between the arms that inevitably ended up on my legs or face, though more likely both, so umbrella it is. I tend to use it mostly in a light drizzle or a bit of rain though, if it's predicted to be the full on autumn showers I tend to take public transport instead, I don't mind getting caught in a bit of rain now and then but my immune system doesn't like it all that much if it happens too often.

I cycle in Scotland and somehow it always manages be be uphill on both the outward and return journey

In the run up to my wedding I was practicing doing my make up after I had a lesson. I cycled to work in a full face of makeup daily. it's a testament to Estee Lauder than I never had to touch up after a 7 mile huge uphill cycle