Today begins my second week of “bike every day” madness. I don’t anticipate anything coming up that will force me to drive. Next week, we have the holiday on Monday – but I’ll have to drive on Wednesday due to choir rehearsal. That said, I should be able to manage those three days – and then I should be able to handle Tuesday through Friday for the rest of the month (can’t do Mondays because of symphony rehearsal).
But I am writing because of a disturbing bicyclist trend: leg shaving. I understand, if you’re racing, that there may be some psychosomatic benefit of shaving your legs . . . you’ll feel more aerodynamic. Heck, you probably would be more aerodynamic – I mean, the drag from all that leg hair might add two or three seconds to a century ride – and those last two or three seconds are the worst!
I realize that bicyclists have nice legs, and that most bicyclists are vain at some level. Heck – even before I started biking, I had nice legs (one of the benefits of being overweight, I guess, is that your legs need to work harder to take you from point A to point B than Skinny Jim’s do . . . and when you prefer to walk places than to use a telephone, the steps add up), and right now my calves can best be described as “turkey legs”. I’m quite proud of the way they look – but I’m not about to shave, just to make them stand out more.
Today’s ride was much nicer than any of the rides last week. Even though I got rained on for a little bit (and I’m half-dreading the storms they’re calling for tonight), the temperature never dropped below 55°, and that is a lot more bearable. Still, after last week’s temperatures (I’m still convincing myself that it’s August), I bought myself some knickers (or really long bike shorts), a few head scarves, some arm warmers, a reflective bomber jacket, and a fleece-lined reflective vest. I will deal with the cold — it’s the dark that scares me.
