Bums and bits!
Jul. 8th, 2012 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonRecently, I was chatting about my increased cycling with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
raitala, and she gently mocked me for buying lycra bike shorts with a padded arse. But the thing is, they're not a fashion statement, they're a necessity.
Something non-riders don't know is that cycling can put a lot of pressure on one's nether regions, and there's only so much you can compensate for that with a comfy saddle and a good bike set-up. So if one is putting in a bit of distance over a week, one can end up with problems in one's lady parts, if one is a lady, and anything from mildly numb groin to a bad case of cyclist's todger if one is not.
All of this is easily avoided with those ridiculous-looking pants, which have padded and absorbent sections that wick away sweat and stop issues developing. You don't need details. Unless you are a new lady cyclist with questions, in which case DM me and we'll talk.
But there are other products that are recommended, too, mostly along the same lines as the barrier creams/chafing cream that runners and equestrians use. Let's just say that they're a bit like lube in their ability to make things enormously more enjoyable, while not being really like lube and for the love of god do not let me catch you using them as such even in fic because most contain tea tree oil.
Now, as you can see by the above evasions, it's one of those things that cyclists talk about without talking about. But a lot of product names throw modesty to the wind, which is you can buy Hoo Ha Ride Glide, Chamois Butt'R, DZ Nuts High Viscosity Chafing Cream and, my fave, Aussie Butt Cream: for comfort down under.
In the bike shop today, I was pottering around while waiting and took a look at the chafing cream shelf. There, among the out and proud labels was a discreet, demure little pot in subtle green and white. 'Robbie McEwen Anti-Friction Chafing Cream', the label proclaimed in a manner designed to suggest one may require a tiny amount for dealing with an uncomfortable bra strap, or possibly a sock/ankle issue. It was the WASPiest cream in the world. I turned it over to check out the price.
You've guessed it. $6 more than the unsubtle ones.
raitala, and she gently mocked me for buying lycra bike shorts with a padded arse. But the thing is, they're not a fashion statement, they're a necessity.Something non-riders don't know is that cycling can put a lot of pressure on one's nether regions, and there's only so much you can compensate for that with a comfy saddle and a good bike set-up. So if one is putting in a bit of distance over a week, one can end up with problems in one's lady parts, if one is a lady, and anything from mildly numb groin to a bad case of cyclist's todger if one is not.
All of this is easily avoided with those ridiculous-looking pants, which have padded and absorbent sections that wick away sweat and stop issues developing. You don't need details. Unless you are a new lady cyclist with questions, in which case DM me and we'll talk.
But there are other products that are recommended, too, mostly along the same lines as the barrier creams/chafing cream that runners and equestrians use. Let's just say that they're a bit like lube in their ability to make things enormously more enjoyable, while not being really like lube and for the love of god do not let me catch you using them as such even in fic because most contain tea tree oil.
Now, as you can see by the above evasions, it's one of those things that cyclists talk about without talking about. But a lot of product names throw modesty to the wind, which is you can buy Hoo Ha Ride Glide, Chamois Butt'R, DZ Nuts High Viscosity Chafing Cream and, my fave, Aussie Butt Cream: for comfort down under.
In the bike shop today, I was pottering around while waiting and took a look at the chafing cream shelf. There, among the out and proud labels was a discreet, demure little pot in subtle green and white. 'Robbie McEwen Anti-Friction Chafing Cream', the label proclaimed in a manner designed to suggest one may require a tiny amount for dealing with an uncomfortable bra strap, or possibly a sock/ankle issue. It was the WASPiest cream in the world. I turned it over to check out the price.
You've guessed it. $6 more than the unsubtle ones.
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 10:49 am (UTC)We used to wear the padded lycra pants for rowing, too. Especially in the cold weather, it really makes a difference!
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Date: 2012-07-08 11:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 12:34 pm (UTC)I found the padded pants more interesting info, though I hadn't known about either. I remember those bones(?) hurting.
I'm burned on any skin bit by TTO.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 12:52 pm (UTC)I can certainly see why you'd want padded pants.
I tend to get issues in summer at times with chaffing. I avoid creams like 3B though as they tend to dissolve my skin. Chemical sensitivities and all. Coconut oil was a great discovery. For many reasons (we now make our own deodorant from it that works much better than ones we've had before and doesn't destroy my skin \o/)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 01:29 pm (UTC)Would you mind taking a pic of the shelf of unsubtle creams the next time you're in the bike shop, and posting it here? The names of those products are cracking me up.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 03:51 pm (UTC)If I ever, ever make my way Down Under, I MUST buy one of those.
No, two: one for me and one for my best sex-crazed gay mate who often has troubles with his butt (and those don't have anything to do wtih his sex-life, which is a tragedy in itself and it took him half a year to convince his doctor that those butthole troubles were NOT due do the gay sex - his butt makes me laugh often, I have come to regard it as an being of its own).
HOrseback riders sometimes wear special padded underpants, I only wish I'd known of them back when I was riding. ouch ouch ouch and blood.
I don't think I've ever seen anti-chafing creams over here though, weird. There must be a market for them with all our psycho cyclers...
no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 06:04 pm (UTC)We use butt pads for dragonboating, it saves us developing what are flatteringly referred to as 'butt calluses'. (We also unrepentantly call things out at very loud volumes over areas of the dock, i.e. 'Hey, lend me your butt pad!')
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Date: 2012-07-08 10:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 03:05 am (UTC)I to use the exercise bike thing at the gym and I have to say, padded pants sound like a great idea!
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Date: 2012-07-09 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 12:58 pm (UTC)I have to use the chafing cream on my bra line. :(
no subject
Date: 2012-07-10 06:20 am (UTC)