Rain dance brings wet clothes – Logistics and discussion

This topic has 18 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 8 months ago by vvill.

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November 16, 2011 at 4:16 pm #910616

pfunkallstar
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I thought I would throw a logistical question out to the forum’s collective conscious – NO DAVE!

Anyways, how do you deal with wet clothes? I’m not afraid of the rain and tend to indulge in much puddle exploration. However, upon arriving at my office I’m left with a sodden mess that I drape over my bike, hoping and praying that it drys just a bit for the commute home. I’ve contemplated bringing along a second set of gear, but that seems somewhat “Kindergarten wet pants backupy.” Similarly, I’ve worn the full Tyvek suit dealies that make you sweat like a beast, thus defeating the whole “rain protection thing.” So, I’m left with my dank office drying and funny coworker looks.
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November 16, 2011 at 4:26 pm #932610

americancyclo
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I have a small fan that I aim at my kit on a hanger next to my desk. I use it even on dry days when I sweat. kit is always dry and ready to go, for the ride home, or even lunchtime rides on the days when it’s slightly nicer out than now.

November 16, 2011 at 6:00 pm #932617

MCL1981
Participant

Well this will depend on a few dependent dependencies.

1) Where do you park your bike? If it is outside/garage, nothing will dry in the winter. Also security could be an issue.

2) Where you sit at work? Hanging wet tights at your desk may not be appropriate in a cubical or open desk. If not, where else??

3) Instead of taking a change of cloths with you everywhere, just leave one change of cloths at work. If you need it, use it. If not, they stay put.

November 16, 2011 at 6:10 pm #932620

vvill
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@MCL1981 10861 wrote:

3) Instead of taking a change of clothes with you everywhere, just leave one change of clothes at work. If you need it, use it. If not, they stay put.

This is what I do.

November 16, 2011 at 7:16 pm #932622

5555624
Participant

I guess I taje the “Kindergarten wet pants backupy” approach, because I tend to treat rain the same way I treat riding in July — I wear a differnt pair of shorts and jersey home. I do have a fan blowing on my wet clothes to dry them out, so I could wear them, but usually I wear the other clothes.

On the other hand, I can’t seem to remember to bring in a second pair of socks. I think I’ve done that twice in the last ten years to so. Normally, if my socks get wet in the morning, I skip the socks in the afternoon, unless they are dry — if it’s cold and I’ve switched to wool socks, I’ll wear thoes if they are still damp.

November 16, 2011 at 7:23 pm #932624

KLizotte
Participant

If you have your own office, perhaps something like the contraption below would work well. Bring in some clothespins to hang anything awkward and hang a towel in front to hide the apparel.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]476[/ATTACH]

Similarly, if you type “clothes drying rack” into Google shopping you will find a lot of options presuming you have an office or a cubicle with a fair amount of floor space.

Or you could buy those cheap plastic stick-on hooks and place them on a wall/back of door and hang your stuff using regular hangers. I do that and it works quite well (does look a bit odd but my office is casual).

November 16, 2011 at 8:18 pm #932628

RESTONTODC
Participant

I hang my wet bike clothes in the telecom closet next to the big network equipment. It dries and very warm within 2 hours. I love to ride in the warm dry socks.

November 17, 2011 at 12:12 am #932677

OneEighth
Participant

I wring out socks, gloves, etc over the plants in my office—grey water management, how green is that? I’ve also found that the chunky old-school TV is really good at drying and warming things like gloves and socks over the course of a work day. Good thing I’m tucked away in a corner office, though.
The bike gets wiped down when I enter the building and is mostly clean and dry by the time it’s parked by my desk. I put an old cloth diaper under the chainring and each wheel to catch any water I may have missed.

November 17, 2011 at 2:38 am #932698

Greenbelt
Participant

Portable space heater under desk works great for drying out wet road shoes and glove liners. Also, I’m gonna get some of these: http://www.stuffitts.com/

November 17, 2011 at 2:57 am #932700

eminva
Participant

For drying shoes, I recommend:

http://www.dryguy.net/DG10.html

Liz

November 17, 2011 at 8:50 am #932707

5555624
Participant

@eminva 10891 wrote:

For drying shoes, I recommend:

http://www.dryguy.net/DG10.html

Old newspapers work great, too. Just stuff the shoes with newspapers and let them absorb the water. You might need to change the newspapers after an hour or so. The newspaper can still be recycled.

November 17, 2011 at 6:56 pm #932659

pfunkallstar
Participant

That boot dryer is the bee’s knees. @eminva 10891 wrote:

For drying shoes, I recommend:

http://www.dryguy.net/DG10.html

Liz

November 17, 2011 at 7:10 pm #932661

Dirt
Participant

I have a little clothes rack that fits under my cube at work for hanging stuff out. If it is really rainy, it doesn’t all dry. I either carry dry ones with me on the way in, or ride home damp.

Shoes get newspaper stuffed in them upon arrival. I change the newspaper at lunch and then take the newspaper out an hour before going home. Shoes are almost completely dry in time to ride home.

I wear my wet socks around the office all day and by mid afternoon they’re dry. Anyone who a) subscribes to the “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have” theory; and 2) wants a better job, probably shouldn’t do this. I’m a pretty good worker bee and okay with that, so my weird socks are tolerated.

Love,

Pete

November 22, 2011 at 3:30 pm #932885

vvill
Participant

Great tip on the newspapers in shoes. Trying that today and so far seems to be going well.

I have hangers and hooks in my cube for regular clothing items. Inside out MTB shorts on a hanger don’t look too professional but I’m dressed at work for comfort anyway. I also have access to a climate controlled (computer) server room that I’m sure would dry the stuff faster but I don’t know if they’d appreciate a laundry line…

One thing I’ve found is that a little fan will help dry out some of the smaller items really quickly. I have one of these in my office cube
http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile-Fan-External-Cooling/dp/B00080G0BK
Geeky looking and a little noisy but very effective, USB powered, small, adjustable speed, and it lasts forever (I’ve had mine for 5 years and it still runs great.) It’s basically just a fan that you would find in a desktop computer rigged up with an adjustment dial, stand and USB power – so it’s cheap, and it’s much better than the fans that come in most of those rip-off laptop cooling pads.
I just keep it under my desk and drape stuff gloves, socks, etc. over + around it. Even soggy leather gloves can be dried in an hour. (Normally I use it to cool myself down when they go crazy with the heat in the winter.)

November 22, 2011 at 4:10 pm #932890

PrintError
Participant

I hang wet clothing over my perpetually overheating piece of junk work computers and they’re dry by noon every time. On days like today though, it doesn’t really matter. It all gets wet again for the ride home.

As for actual “rain gear”, I use none. I’m waterproof. I shower as soon as I get home, so who cares if I show up wet?

November 22, 2011 at 5:08 pm #932893

culimerc
Participant

I bring in the week’s clothes on Monday (I have to drive in on Mondays). Then since I’m the OPS guy at our office I have full run of the server room, I use a drying rack in a secluded back corner on the wettest days. Otherwise its simply hangers on the back of the office door. I do keep a spare pair of socks as an extra back up. And as was said ^^up there^^ newspapers in the shoes work great. I do have rain gear, but really only use it once it starts to get cooler. During the summer, riding in the rain isnt so bad.
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