I’m off for a three week bike ride in Spain in a couple of weeks. I’m confident I can ride the 35 miles a day I need to average, but not sure how my botty will hold out. To this end, (see what I did there ) I’ve bought some bum cream.

I have a question:-

I’m hoping to bivvy some of the time, so won’t have access to showers every night. A clean-up and re-apply shouldn’t be too hard to manage on those days, but I won’t have access to laundry facilities either. So what to do about removing the days sweat and old cream from my shorts? Many of you have done epic treks, so how do you deal with this?

Should do it and not too heavy / bulky.

Two pairs of shorts and a bar of soap. Wash in the sink and then wear the others while they dry.

Three weeks its a spare pair you wash.
Flannel.and soap to wash me

Are you using padded shorts?

I always use bum butter on multi-day trips but have never had a problem with build-up of residue if you keep things spick-&-span.
The key to having a happy botty is keeping it as clean & dry as possible..

As above take more than one pair & rotate.

Make sure all shorts are freshly laundered at the beginning of the trip, antibacterial sports wash is a good shout.
I've had problems before with a clean pair of shorts that hadn't been used for a few months.

In this instance anti-bacterial wet wipes are your friend.
Even after washng wipe down your gooch & shorts every evening.
I always sleep in different shorts, if i don't, i may as well swap the sadle for a cheese grater. But you maybe ok.
Consider another wipedown in the morning.

Get some air down there when possible.
Padded shorts complicate things by increasing & then holding sweat. They're a pig to dry after washing.

Wet wipes for a camp clean up. Then shower when you can with you kit on, stripping off in the shower and stamping the soap into your clothes in the tray before wringing out.

Extra bonus cred points for hanging your damp (bib)shorts off your saddlebag whilst riding to dry in the breeze.

Wet wipes help loads. You can buy in small packets which should be good for a few days

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 7:56 am Should do it and not too heavy / bulky.

Aaahh Ha Ha Ha! Thanks for that - it’s given me a right good laugh. Thanks for that…

frogatthefarriers wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 10:38 am Aaahh Ha Ha Ha! Thanks for that - it’s given me a right good laugh. Thanks for that…

Ditto

Killjoy alert - don't like wetwipes. Bloody scourge they are. I've been known to cart round an ultralight silnylon sink (50g?), scoop water into that from stream/wherever, and wash my nether regions then shorts in that with biodegradable soap - does the bumcream removal fairly well too. Quite a contortion to squat over the sink, then lean back supporting with one arm using the other to do the job. Strikes me that this weekend I took my u/l (60g?) ultrasil backpack which would work just as well. Also this weekend, I used yet another method: whenever I passed a loo, I washed my bum in the sink - highly amusing from behind, and indeed for any observers. Probably Too Much Information here.

Not entirely unrelated, had no spare clothes at all for the last four days. Washed my bamboo base top, fleece, and BB jersey at a cattle trough today. Put 'em straight back on and they dried quick enough (NB. possibly not a recommended winter technique I grant you, but it's not winter). Sweet as a nut I am. Honest, guv. Spare shorts... whatever next.. spare bike?

Eeewwww, TMI!!!!

I hope we didn't shake hands at Lydney Station

I have some 100% bamboo travel wet wipes, biodegradable

Verena wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 7:00 pm I have some 100% bamboo travel wet wipes, biodegradable

<grudgingly> go on then ( )

frogatthefarriers wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 7:30 am So what to do about removing the days sweat and old cream from my shorts? Many of you have done epic treks, so how do you deal with this?

Nothing. As the noble dames of old used to plaster layers of white wax ontop of each other for a week before scraping it off and have a bath and seemed to have enjoyed life, I try to do the same. I layer fresh Assos cream in the morning, sometimes even in the evening. Sometimes don't change bibs and keep on doing it until there's an easy option for a wash. During a trip in 2019 this meant weeks between washing. My skin was absolutely fine.

I'll hop in a lake or river, but surely not with any kind of soap (nor should you) to properly clean myself.

During the HT550 I remember having a good idea before my second breakfast in Ullapool and got some wet wipes to clean the gritty dirt from ankles and feet.
Wasn't bothered with my bum.

In my experience (with Assos cream and Assos bibs) you - also as a strongly sweating person - don't really need to bother. Re-apply for as long as you like and focus on how flowers along the way smell rather than bother with my body's smells.

If I wanted to wash my bum or crotch, I'd surely just cut an old microfibre cloth (trekking towel or similar) to a small but suitable size and wet it with clean water, wash, rinse and let dry. Repeat.

KISS

I’m off for a three week bike ride in Spain in a couple of weeks.

If you're passing through Southern Cataluña, by all means call in. I've a jet washer that should see off any undercarriage horrors.