Shaved?

Bigbananabike said:

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Hi. Yep, it does seem unlikely - but true🙂 .
I did say that I'd race on/off - not all of those years.
17 - 24 I was all go then in the last 4/5 racing again. A few in between those years a bit too.
Only club events and organised fun(still competitive) rides too.
I'm not particularly competitive(i.e. I not a win at all costs guy) and usually not in the big sprint finsihes etc and avoid danerous looking riders/situations - so tend to keep out of trouble too.
I've had guys crash off around me - but I've avoided them/been lucky.
Long may it remain😉
Ironically I've worn a hard shell helmet way before we needed to for racing and I've worn it for years before they were required training/on the road too.

I'm in New Zealand - so not USCF and USACycling organized events.
Most races are well organised but the roads are often not up to race standards - they're ok(we are a civilised western country) but could be better. The club I race with at the moment doesn't even bother to sweep corners before the race - which annoys me.

Why dont YOU volunteer to sweep the corners for your club. Im sure the other riders would appreciate a fellow club member looking after their welfare by pitching in. One of the things that makes cycling clubs in Australia and NZ such an enjoyment is the selfless dedication of many club members. Most of which carry out the tasks that no one else wants to do but is essential. When everyone pitches in, the clubs run so much more smoothly.

MPCRUSHER said:

Why dont YOU volunteer to sweep the corners for your club. Im sure the other riders would appreciate a fellow club member looking after their welfare by pitching in. One of the things that makes cycling clubs in Australia and NZ such an enjoyment is the selfless dedication of many club members. Most of which carry out the tasks that no one else wants to do but is essential. When everyone pitches in, the clubs run so much more smoothly.

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You're right but...I already do marshalling(as my wife has done - though having to manage two boys - 11 months and 2 years 10 months stops her).

Also as I've only had one season with this club I need to find my way...with even who to ask about it...and put to the committee that the marshall assigned to the corner have a broom and do it - rather than one person try to do all corners + prepare for the race themselves.:o

I was an area representative in a previous club. I've just resigned being secretary for 5 years of a motorcycle club. I think I know a thing or two about contributing...and I too wished a few more people would instead of just looking out for themselves😠

Bigbananabike said:

I'm 44. I've been racing since I was 17 - on and off and have NEVER CRASHED. Of which I'm very thankfully🙂 so the bandages/infection thing has no meaning for me.🙂

Wow-I got scars on top of scars on my left hip from crashes in races. And although it doesnt sound like it from this post, I was not a crasher by any stretch.

I am not shaving till right before I am ready for my first "comeback" race in 2007!! Not because i dont believe in it-I just dont want to add shaving to my weekly routine till I have to. I think tanned shaved legs on men look awesome and I am hetero!! I honestly am looking forward to seeing my legs shaved next year...but in no rush right now....

I decided that next season I would shave my legs on the basis that it would look better in the race photo's. Anyway, I got carried away and found myself in Boots buying a jar of expensive brown sugar. Let me tell you, it took quite some time to wax the legs. In fact, after completing one leg I ended up enlisting the help of the wife to complete the other😄

So, the initial pain of waxing is replaced by a sense of elation as the endorphines flow. This is followed by increased skin sensitivity that lasts for a day or two along with a feeling of coolness all over the legs. It's easier to scrub the legs in the shower, the wife likes it (although she found it a little odd for about a week). Wax every 6-8 weeks or so, it costs me £5...

A sports person's grooming essential🙂

Lepanini said:

It's all about the crashing for me!! Once you start to shave you legs, you get used to it after a while. I think alot of people also "associate" shaved legs with cycling.🙄

I thought a lot of people associate shaved legs with women. :eek:

bladegeek said:

I thought a lot of people associate shaved legs with women. :eek:

You mean that women are going to be more attracted to you if you shave your legs 😕

I have stopped shaving. I now strip naked and have my wife pull each hair from my body, one-by-one, with tweezers.

DM4 said:

I have stopped shaving. I now strip naked and have my wife pull each hair from my body, one-by-one, with tweezers.

Good choice, there, as they get caught between the teeth otherwise. 😄

I passed the thought of shaving past the misses once, and she informed me that she doesn't sleep with people who have shaved legs. 🙁 As I'm rather against sleeping with people with hairy legs, it seems to work out fine (although that pretty much rules out any 3-way kinky stuff in our household). 🙂

frenchyge said:

Good choice, there, as they get caught between the teeth otherwise. 😄

I passed the thought of shaving past the misses once, and she informed me that she doesn't sleep with people who have shaved legs. 🙁 As I'm rather against sleeping with people with hairy legs, it seems to work out fine (although that pretty much rules out any 3-way kinky stuff in our household). 🙂

Three-way with shaved leg people...Oh Lordy, the stories I could tell...but that would likely lead to misfortune...

I started shaving myself three years ago
Then I switched to wax (girlfriend helps) or hair removal lotion (once per week) from chest to ankle (excluding arms and armpits).
Next step, January 2007, laser hair removal treatment (girlfriend and I will go together)
"That's one small step for a man ..."

When reading this thread I keep thinking of the waxing scene in 40 yr old virgin movie....and cringe

If youre a hairy guy there not many viable options and why do your legs if your torso - front/back is carpeted? would appear a little wierd. Where do you start and stop?

According to Discovery, the average male has 5 million hairs growing out of them. A common theory is that hair evolved from reptile scales. However, this does not explain the phenomena of goosebumps, normally associated with feathered or fury animals. Another theory suggests that "body hair of men and women is purely vestigial," a useless evolutionary leftover from when we were ape-like animals.

Reasons to keep body hair

(1) To keep warm
(2) To fluff-up and make yourself look bigger to attact a mate, you will need to meet someone that gives you goosebumps though.
(3) To scare people
(4) To soak up sweat and make yourself stinky - also thought to attract women
(5) To remind you of your "ape-like" ancestors
(6) It can reduce friction (pubic hair, armpit hair)
(7) Your wife will not sleep with you anymore, conveniently freeing you up to go sleep with someone else's wife.

Body hair is so damn useless...😎

All been said, but I started shaving because I was the only one in our club race with hairy legs.

That said, I had a bad fall about 4 weeks ago and the cleaning of the legs was a hell of a lot easier and recovery was quicker.

It is not always about the look.

I have straight coarse black hair -

1) Winter:
Tight lycra moving over and across unshaved legs or arms for me is like getting a perpetual waxing exept without the end result. :eek:

2) Summer:
Same as #1 +, some of the better sunscreens are just slightly white and shiny. Looks like a$$ over the hair.

I never bought into the "it makes it easier to clean or reduce infection" malarky. I always found those pesky bit of gravel, glass, rubber 'beads' from tires way way harder to get out than a piece of hair. You just gotta get in there ASAP with some mild disinfectant and a brush, "man up" and scrub.

If you're more worried about human hair, which has probably been washed in the last dozen hours or so, begin a cause of infection rather than a surface which will remove layers of skin in an instant that's coated in some quanities of petrolium by-products, rubber, dog [censored], various quantities of some kids soda, ice cream and acid/chernobyl infested rain then I think you have other issues.

It makes it less painful to remove bandages? Really. So having your legs waxed on a weekly/bi-weekling basis, which in essance is and all over band-aid removal process is "less painful". Shaving takes lots of time... time I could be spending with the feet up relaxing.

But if it wasn't for the masseuse then I'd never have done it....

Let's face it, it's about "mojo" for most of us. It's a cult thing. Like a sailor getting a tatoo, we shave our legs to be a "kool kid", part of "the in crowd". When I see unshaven legs in bike shorts now, it just looks absolutely awful to me.

Though, the times I have crashed, I have been glad that I did shave ahead of time because it most certainly does aid in bandage application and removal. Especially if you use stuff like this that you leave on for days at a time.

My masseuse is also very appreciative as well. 😎🙂

Steve_B said:

Let's face it, it's about "mojo" for most of us. It's a cult thing.

Word, bro!

Steve_B said:

Like a sailor getting a tatoo,

Duh. Everybody has a tattoo now though. Oh well, you get the point.

Steve_B said:

Duh. Everybody has a tattoo now though. Oh well, you get the point.

🙄 Conformists. 😉

um, have you people never had road rash before. I have ridden quads, dirt bikes, go peds, scooters, and crotch rockets. I have had plenty of road rash. never once did my fur impede any of it. When I see another guy with road rash I am like, "pro crash man". who are you guys so uptight about it?