Ok so winter is coming and all that and it means im going to be striping off covered in mud. In previous years its been in the kitchen and its made a right old messs so im going to try and move it to the garage (assume it isnt attached to the house )

Where do you store all your muddy wet kit? how do you dry stuff and how do you keep everything clean?

All outer stuff (jacket, waterproof shorts, overshoes etc.) Does not get washed. If required it gets a hose down. It all then drys in garage or on line if weather good for it. It all lives in the garage as mine is well ventilated.

All other clothes straight into washing machine, which also lives in the garage.

Bike gets hosed down if required, lubed, and brought into the house to properly dry off (winter).

Winter night riding and the need to undress in the freezing garage was one reason why after 21 years I moved over to road cycling. Now after a night ride I can come straight into a warm kitchen or even get as far as the bedroom before having to undress.

You mustn’t leave wet kit lying around as bacteria will grow and kit will get stinky. Shoes need to have the insoles removed and then be left in a warm dry place. Clothes need to be washed and dried. Bikes need hosing down as a minimum as accumulated mud or road salt will rust them.

We don’t store it.

Properly filthy = strip off at the back door, hose muck off clothes and persons as needed, clothes then go a couple of metres to the right into reading machine, body upstairs to shower.

In the car we have a couple of IKEA bags and a Curved box or two as needed.

ok store your lid? your lights? your backpack?

everything im wearing goes in the wash.

Shoes are the hard one to solve.
My solution is three pairs to avoid any issues.
I remove inner sole and hose the shoe. I then try to dry on line, or in porch etc. I try not to put on a radiator (can stink house out), I will put on the dehumidifier as the exhaust air drys them quickly with little or no stink.

I strip off behind the back door where there is a wooden floor which is easy to clean. I put filthy outside kit in a large plastic bucket to avoid backsplash while I take it to the bathroom. Kit is then dumped in bath and thoroughly rinsed so it can then go in washing machine ( wife accuses me of being the washer killer with my gritty mtb gear and says I should pay for next one out of my own money)
Shoes then go on top of ch boiler.
Waterproof stuff gets washed less often-usually left to dry in garage and brushed.
Now I have written all this out I am astounded I ever go out in the winter at all!

Hose or bucket and brush to get rid of the worst of the muck then everything into appropriate washing device/area.

Shoes are the awkward one especially for rides on consecutive days/nights. Remove insole, clean, stuff with newspaper and into airing cupboard.

Oh, and fit mudguards, tssk!

Strip in the garage and change into bike working clothes, take offending items outside and blast with hose attachment and brush to remove mud then hang in garage and turn on the dehumidifier to dry

Same with shoes but remove in soles to aid quicker drying, i wear waterproof socks so if still wet for the following ride it makes no difference

I bought a boot dryer earlier this year. Makes such a difference. Works with gloves too.

Inner layers go straight in the washing machine.

Outer layers hang in utility room or garage and are brushed clean when dry. Occasionally washed, though I try to restrict that.

Helmet and stuff is in the house. Again, I prefer to dry stuff and then brush it clean. That includes the bikes.

Strip off in the garage, muddy gear hosed down to get the worst of the mud off then everything gets chucked into a drying cabinet. Shorts, t-shirt and flip flops go on to get back into the house.

Same thing for wet road rides, commutes or motorbike rides, strip in the garage and the wet stuff goes in the dryer. Dry clothes on to get back into the house.

http://www.pekodryingcabinets.co.uk/products/peko-ets-1900tr-drying-cabinet/
These things are a godsend in the winter.

I bought a boot dryer earlier this year. Makes such a difference. Works with gloves too.

Slight hijack, I just bought a boot dryer too, but it’s shit and doesn’t dry boots. So if you bought one that works, could you tell me which one it was please? TIA

I strip off in the back garden. Clothes into a bucket and rinse in rainwater. Shells then hung up to dry by the boiler and the rest into the washing machine. Shoes in front of the stove, or if I have remembered to use overshoes then they might still be dry inside so just put them on the shoe shelf.

Then loudly announce I am streaking and run around naked and finally into the shower.

Slight hijack, I just bought a boot dryer too, but it’s shit and doesn’t dry boots. So if you bought one that works, could you tell me which one it was please? TIA

Forced air boot dryer, shoe dryer, and glove dryer works simultaneously on up to four garments https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LZEF17K/

Ring door bell
Take winter boots of and change to ‘garden shoes’ that wife hands to me
Give her the boots
Carry bike through house and into garden (we don’t have a back gate but, luckily, it’s a straight line through the hall/kitchen)
Hose down bike
Lube where needed
Put bike away
Stand in garden, with arms outstretched, slowly rotating, whilst the sadist – err, I mean ‘wife’ – hose the mud off.
Strip off in kitchen
Outer layers hang up and drop into a bucket
Other layers go in washing machine.
Bob goes in shower
Beer goes in Bob

🙂

I usually drive to local trails so strip off and change at car. Keep an old car mat to stand on, magnetic light attached to car boot for night rides. Clothes and bike get hosed down with worx washer, 20ltr of water in container in boot. Clothes go in a big bucket. Once home I have a cheap washing machine in garage for muddy clothes. Hang waterproofs to dry in garage (don’t wash them). Shoes onto not dryer.
Much prefer the summer!

So those that keep their waterproofs in the garage have you got any storage solutions for those or just hanging from the nearest nail?

Never underestimate how much lots of mudguards will keep you clean.
I get a few splats on my back pack and dirt up to my shins. Apart from that I’m clean.

A few things that make life easier

Hot water hose pipe so I can wash me the bike n kit off with out frost bite

Shoe drier

Greenhouse type tube heater under my clothes hooks

A moonmat which is a water proof mat that turns into a bag for moving wet kit….

Oh n scotch

ok store your lid? your lights? your backpack

Good point.

We have snug downstairs cupboard all shelved and hooked out around the warm boiler. We also have dehumidifier as needed.
Lower hooks for packs.
Upper hooks for jackets.
Other wall the same but more for mucky kit.
Canoe paddle in corner.
Canoe helmets on ceiling.
Bike helmets on slatted shelves.
All shoes in same slatted shelves.
Two shelves above and next to boiler for proper wet kit.
Curver boxes for all other kit like gloves, hat, over trousers etc.

This week we’ve been cycling twice, canoeing once and running a few times.
There is also a tent in here, wet.

I feel like I run an outdoor centre shuffling all the kit…

Have to say fitting a mudhugger rear guard and rrp front fender has been a bit of a revelation for me, despite the aesthetics. Muddy shoes and shins, that’s it.

Bike into car
Strip off in pub car park and put on jeans/t-shirt
Filthy kit in big blue IKEA bag
Go for lime and soda and crisps
Drive home
Unload, hose bike if can be arsed or scrape worst of mud off.
Muddy kit gets hosed or at least rinsed in a trug or the downstairs shower (last one bad idea)
Kit in machine and switch it on
Bike put away

When we extended our house we had a specific design requirement for a route to a shower straight from the back door with no carpets. 🙂

Good mudguards make a shed load of difference to filth levels.

Finish at the Car with Clean Clothes in it and a mobile Bosch pressure washer.

Hose all the mud off the bike with the Bosch.
Put all dirty clothes in a bag and change to clean clothes and shoes.
Put bike on car tow-bar mounted rack.
Drive home.
Dirty clothes straight into washing machine.
Shoes go into garage with “Shoe Drying” heat tubes.
Bike is clean and dry at this point and goes into garage ready for next ride.

I average 4 MTB rides a week. I have had to work out the quickest system and invest in the kit that will make the job easy.

Given how Winter-like this Summer/Autumn has been this year it is pretty much business as usual when Winter actually does arrive.
Actually it might even be a bit cleaner if we get a reasonable amount of snow and frost days.

I wear an outer protective shell of lightweight quick drying trousers and jacket,which is taken off before entering house (terrace)-and then jet washed along with the bike and shoes. Cycling clothes- bibs and top worn underneath are kept clean this way and are simply popped straight in washing machine. Simples .

Ikea bags are quite good to get de-kitted standing in. They catch a lot of bum-crumbs.

What rear fatty guard is that Zippykona?

Mudhugger with fat extender and a crud catcher on the seat tube,

A while ago my MIL bought me one of those Dryrobes.  So I strip off in the man cave, dry robe on, kit rinsed with a hose and bucket and transported to the washing machine.

Similar to the above, and I have one of the electric 4 arm shoe warmer things – only gentle heat, so put wet shoes on there and leave overnight – lovely the next day! Got really fed up with wet newspaper everywhere. Fortunate to have a garage (unheated though) to strip worst stuff off in first, then rinse and wash. At some point I’ll get a new washing machine and move the existing one in the garage so I have an easier life! Mudhuggers and Crud Catchers all round on the MTBs and guards on the Gravel bike to keep it to a minimum, and to be fair they stay on pretty much all year round.

I use nappy’s in my shoes to help with the dry out process and works a treat
Also bought one of the big surf robes from decathlon for £15
Waterproof gear ai earthed rinsed and left in van or just left 😱
Other gear whacked in washing machine

Sounds like lots of people ride from the home

I have an unheated but well ventilated garage so I often hang wet kit there if I’m not going to bother cleaning it (e.g. my waterproof jacket)

Inner layers get thrown in the wash bin (I cycle commute every day, same approach for that)

Shorts get left to dry, sometimes get washed and sometimes get worn again.

I wore trousers for my last ride and it makes it a lot easier when it’s wet or muddy

I just strip off by the back door and walk into the house naked….

I don’t really care what the neighbours think.

I usually spend as much time mopping the kitchen floor, rinsing the bath out and removing gravel from the washing machine filter as I do maintaining my bike, this ia a contentious issue in our house!

What I will reccomend – when I redid our kitchen i replaced the rads with Plinth eaters – this gives you blown, warm air, but run off your normal gas central heating and not an expensive electrical heater.

These are excellent for drying clothes, boots etc – well reccomended.

Would be an excellent option for anyone with an un-heated integral garage too – piss easy to plumb and wire in.

If I were building a house, I would be using a few these in the utility/boot room. Super useful and cheap to run.

During the winter I find it very useful to have an outer layer which I can shed outside without exceeding the limits of public decency too outrageously.

I then mostly get undressed outside, and scrape most of the mud off. That way I don’t deposit crap all over the house.

If it’s daylight and sunny, helmet, backpack, and shoes stay outside for a bit of air/UV. Otherwise they dry off in the conservatory. Lights go into a plastic ice cream tub to contain the muck, and get dried in the boiler cabinet.

The rest of my riding gear goes into a tub-trug and maybe gets a soak in warm water if it’s very muddy, before going in the washing machine.

I don’t put a lot of effort into cleaning my lid, shoes, or pack as it’s usually all covered in mud again within a few days. Every so often I’ll give things a good brush down, but that’s about it.

Wife and wean were away all last weekend. I cleaned the bike thoroughly at a leisurely pace, then tramped indoors and dumped my sweaty, muddy gear in a big pile in front of the washing machine, before toddling off for a long shower, followed by a beer.

The thought of it is making me so nostalgic, I could cry.

Same as a lot of others, outer layers hung up in garage & left to dry, inners thrown in the washing machine. Bike cleaned……ahem…. occasionally ….
Our boiler is in the garage so was really to hook a radiator up to it for drying shoes & anything else

I just strip off by the back door and walk into the house naked….

I don’t really care what the neighbours think.

Why do you walk into the neighbours’ house? Is their shower better than yours?

😁