Hygiene on tour

[njdaniel]

I'll be doing my first long tour (6 weeks) this summer and plan on camping at least 80-90% of the nights.  How do most of you bathe or shower while on tour?  I know it doesn't need to be everyday, but I don't want to pull into the final town smelling like i've been camping for 6 weeks. thanks

[ptaylor]

I have always been able to get a campground with water. Worst case has been to do a 'sponge bath' without soap, and with cold water. I am susceptible to saddle sores, and would hate to think of letting bacteria grow overnight in 'the saddle area' ;p. I am also careful to limit shorts to only one day without being washed.

Paul

[sam21fire]

I learned to use baby wipes (unscented) while in the field w/ the military, and they work great on tours also for those 'in between' days when you don't have access to a shower.

Have a great time!
Sam

[JayH]

In addition to the campgrounds with perhaps hot water (in season), there is the option to do quick jumps in public lakes/beaches. In addition to the aforementioned baby wipes, you can tend to hit up the local Chinese restaurants for wetwipes, usually with pictures of cute pandas on them. :-)

Jay

[Peaks]

If you read the ACA maps, most of the camping areas do have showers.  It's usually USFS and NPS camp grounds that may not have showers.  But, there is always water, so you can rinse off, or perhaps a lake or stream to take a quick dip in.

[ptaylor]

This has been an interesting thread.

I never thought of taking baby wipes or similar on tour, but it makes sense. I'm a bike commuter, and I keep Wet Ones in my desk at work...I use those to 'freshen up' after I arrive at work on summer mornings. They work fine. Although I've never taken them on tour before, I will do so this summer.

I'm wondering about the advisability of using unscented. Maybe if I find the right scent, the ladies will overlook my sagging belly and wrinkled skin and find me adorable: wad-a-u think?

Paul

[JayH]

I'm wondering about the advisability of using unscented. Maybe if I find the right scent, the ladies will overlook my sagging belly and wrinkled skin and find me adorable: wad-a-u think?

Do you think that they make enough scented wetnaps in the world to cover the stench of a long distance summer tour?  :-)

But then, perhaps you might run into a lady who likes such stench...Can't win!

Jay

[tgpelz]

When we tour we carry a product we found in Cabela's catalogue which allows us to wash our hair without rinsing.   This really helps on days we cannot shower.

Often, when riding through a community, a public swimming pool is available.  This solves a number of problems, obviously.

However, one problem depends upon the personality of the officials running the pool.  Usually, they will permit us to keep our bikes inside where they can be observed.  One time, the official said "no exceptions" even when we showed him our loaded bikes.  So we pedaled on.

My wife has this thing for bed and breakfasts.  So every 3 or four days, we stop and do that.

I have found that traveling with my wife, I meet more people.  Perhaps she makes them more comfortable.  Anyway, when we come to a small town about 5 PM, we look for places camp.  

In small communities, we have slept in peoples front yards and had breakfast with them.

This happens unintentially.  We stop and ask someone where we can camp for the night.  

Usually, a person points out where the park is.  Occasionally, someone looks us over and then gives us directions to their front yard.

One morning as we were taking down the tent, etc, the woman of the house poked her head out and asked if we prefer bacon or ham with our eggs.

[Styx]

CampSuds soap for everything : body, hair, clothes, and all. Baby Wipes are also a great solution when water or time are at a premium.

[Janie]

You can buy the "baths in a bag" that hospitals use for non water patient bathing in drug store chains like Long's.  These are like baby wipes but thicker and clean and moisturize, they would be very good for skin prone to "saddle sores".  Medline and Sage are 2 companies that make them.