I always was my cycling clothes each day after I finish my ride. They are sometimes dry by morning, and sometimes they need to hang out on my trailer or panniers during the day's ride to finish drying. You would think that one set of off-the-bike clothes would be enough, but when I occasionally find a laundromat (or a washing machine in a hotel) I like to get my stuff a little cleaner than seems possible with hand washing. And it's really nice to have something to wear while I'm doing the wash! Funny, I remember talking about this with Mickey, a cross-country cyclist who I met in Missoula on my 1998 tour. He had just one set of off-the-bike clothing, and when he used a laundromat he usually timed his washing for late in the day when it was empty. That was because he only wore a pair of underpants while he was doing the laundry. One evening a couple of older women walked in as he was waiting for his laundry to complete, so he dropped the newspaper he was reading on his lap. He said that the way that they looked at him made him realize that these poor women thought he was doing his laundry in a public place but in the nude!
A skirt?
Yes, I really do carry a skirt. It's a Terry wrapper, which is very lightweight and folds up really small. It gives me another option for those hot hot days, and on warmer weather tours it's not really extra - it's my second set of off-the-bike clothes.
A pair of shoes in addition to my biking shoes?
Comfort! I prefer really stiff biking shoes - Sidi Dominator mountain bike shoes - and I really prefer not to walk in them. On a summer weather tour, my Chaco sandals are my choice for my off-the-bike shoes. Depending on my expectations of weather, or my other planned activities (like a little bit of hiking), you might find me in running or hiking shoes.
