Don’t You Get All Sweaty Riding To Work?

I had a late start at the office yesterday, arriving just in time for lunch. One of the questions I was asked as I locked my bike up,  by a colleague who lives just around the corner from me was,

I’d quite like to ride to work, but don’t you get all sweaty?

I laughed out loud at this - yesterday was bastard cold - so much so that I was wearing my skiing mittens rather than mere flimsy cycling gloves. Even at mid day, the temperature was still hovering around freezing. To work up a sweat in these conditions would be a serious achievement!

The obvious answer to his question though is:

  1. Ride appropriately. The sit-up-and-admire-the-view riding on my Pashley isn’t sweaty even in the middle of summer, as I’m just too stylishly cool to get warm enough to sweat.
  2. Dress appropriately. If I’m riding in on a road bike (head down, bum up, cyborg cyclist), I wear the fewest layers of breathable materials that I can get away with, and then change as soon as I get to work.
  3. If you have ended up sweating (i.e. got carried away with the fun of it), have a wipe down as soon as you get to the office, and then dry off.

When I got home though, Wife explained it more succintly:

If work was close enough to walk to, no-one would worry about getting all sweaty & needing showers. If people ride like the walk, there’s never a problem.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 02/11/2010
  • Total Time: 2:50:00.00
  • Calories: 2069
  • Distance: 45 miles
  • Average Speed: 15.88 mph
  • Max Speed: 28 mph

Filed under: Ashington, Bike Culture, Bike to Work, Cycle, Whitley Bay

2 Responses to “ Don’t You Get All Sweaty Riding To Work? ”

  1. MarkA on February 12, 2010 at 10:28 am

    Whaaaat? You cycle 45 miles to work?! And you don’t get sweaty?! Surely that’s not possible!

    In fairness I think the whole sweaty thing can be a bit genetic at times - I sweat like a paedophile in a playground in the summer just looking outside let alone riding in it, but you know what, I still get to work no more sweaty than the people who have endured 50*C on the Tube and I’ve had more fun. And there are showers and deodorants and wet wipes and fresh clothes available, it’s not a big deal, it’s just another excuse people arm themselves with to not cycle.

  2. Von SmallHaussen on February 15, 2010 at 9:33 am

    When people ask me this question, I explain that at the speed I cycle IN to work, it’s just not possible to work up a sweat, going home on the other hand…