Wearing the same bottoms...questions for the other ladies

[jbennett]

Ladies - How do you handle wearing dirty shorts/bibs? I'm considering my options and thus far the only thing I can come up with is to just pack extra bottoms and wash them every few days, being sure to have a clean set for each day.

Tops don't bother me as there aren't as many consequences to wearing a dirty top.

I'm interested to know how other ladies handle this bit.

[John Nelson]

Not a lady obviously, but I wash my riding shorts every night and wear the same pair every day. It's simple, you only need one pair, and you wear clean shorts every day.

[staehpj1]

Not a lady obviously, but I wash my riding shorts every night and wear the same pair every day. It's simple, you only need one pair, and you wear clean shorts every day.

I do almost the same.  I also put on running shorts upon arrival in camp to air out.  I take one pair of bike shorts and wash them out most nights.  Sometimes I put them inside out in the sun either instead of washing or in addition to it.  The sun is a powerful disinfectant treatment.  It kills what ever is trying to grow there.

Wearing underwear with bike shorts is not the norm, but the two gals I rode the TA with did that.  That way they could carry a few pairs of underwear which packed a lot smaller and lighter than carrying that many pairs of shorts.

[indyfabz]

Another male here, but I have toured with my female partner. Like me, she tried to wash her shorts every night. Like me, she carried a second pair in the event conditions were not good for drying and riding in wet/damp shorts the next day might have been a bit uncomfortable (e.g., cold temsp). I also crossed the country many years ago with a group that included five women. They did the same. I wouldn't sweat the few extra ounces.

Wash (I usually combine washing with my shower, assuming I have one) ASAP after the end of the day's ride to allow as much time for drying as possible.

[lkcavanagh]

I wear under wear and wash my single pair of bike shorts occasionally,  maybe every 5 or 6 days. I never really considered doing it otherwise,  though just yesterday after about 2000 miles of bike touring I started having some chaff issues, so I may have to reconsider my plan. Yesterday was probably my sweatiest day of biking yet...and its only gonna get worse as we ride west to east.

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[pptouring]

My wife and I just finished a very long bike ride and our daughter joined us for the final 6 months of it and all three of us just wore underwear. We personally know of another young lady that spent over 3 years solo and all she wore was underwear too. 

[staehpj1]

though just yesterday after about 2000 miles of bike touring I started having some chaff issues

I have found that zinc oxide based diaper cream (like Balmex) worn overnight works like magic on chafing.

I have also found that wearing shorts that fit really well with no bunching avoids almost all chafing.  Is it possible that your shorts don't fit as well as they did 2000 miles ago?  Both your body and your shorts can change a good bit during 2000 miles of touring.