Drying bicycle clothes and shoes

I keep reading “tips” on the best way to dry rain-soaked cycling clothes and shoes. Many say “Stuff newspaper in your shoes." That's just a plain ol’ bad idea. Stuffing newspaper in may absorb a bit of moisture, but mostly it traps the moisture inside where you don't want it.

The trick isn't newspaper, or even heat; it's airflow. What you want is a lot of air moving past your your soaked items and carrying the wetness away.

I bought a very small — just a few inches tall — electric fan at a hardware store. It was less than $10.00. It's cute (like that matters) and doesn't make much noise. Even with fenders and a rain jacket, and sometimes rain pants,  on a really rainy day my cycling stuff can get pretty wet on the way to work. Just aiming this fan at my shoes and socks is enough that, when I'm ready to go home, my stuff is dry. Just the blow-past wind aimed in the general direction of my outer wear drys it off as well.

It’s works well enough that I have another tiny fan at home too. Aiming it at soggy shoes drys them out overnight.

Next time someone suggests newspaper in your shoes, feel free to roll your eyes and just move along, secure in your new superior dampness-fighting knowledge.