Chaffing
We took the kids over to Dinton pastures, a country park close to home, today, and after a long cold walk stopped for relief and refreshments at the cafe there. The kids, of course, wanted ice lollies rather than drinks - brrrrr.
Anyway, two friendly older gents were sat at the next table to us, wearing bright yellow and purple cycling gear. They were riders from the now defunct Swan riders, who used their old gear (a) because of the cost of replacement and (b) because it's so visible.
These two riders were well seasoned and happy to offer advice.
The first bit was obvious and an area where I'm sadly lacking: get out and practtise - a minimum of two miles a day on the bike to maintain anything like the fitrness level required, and at least one or two 50 mile rides before embarking on the 100.
The second was regarding riding buddies, and finding someone going at your own pace. I plan to ride alone and find other riders along the way who may be doing similar speeds.
And the third was kit. Get a gel saddle (done), decent gel gloves (noted), advised on pedal clips, and the big one.... shorts.
Very genteely they advised me to get some cycling shorts before anything else. Six or eight panel, masses of cotton padding. Apparently gel saddles may mould to shape, but because they lack any of the absorbency of old fashioned leather saddles, the sweat lurks, causing rubbing problems. And don't wear pants underneath unless they have long legs. On reflection this is good advice - bits of nylon rubbing against just one part of your leg for 100 miles can cause nasty abrasions. Yeuch!
They were both looking at my ample hips whilst handing out the advice, and it wasn't too hard to see what they were thinking.
So I have hardly sat down since and have kept my somewhat rotund pins moving in the hopes that 10 months of this will slim them down to a less chaffable size. My Christmas request has, obviously, now been amended.
Lets hope it works, or the end of August's blog may simply be carnage.
Anyway, two friendly older gents were sat at the next table to us, wearing bright yellow and purple cycling gear. They were riders from the now defunct Swan riders, who used their old gear (a) because of the cost of replacement and (b) because it's so visible.
These two riders were well seasoned and happy to offer advice.
The first bit was obvious and an area where I'm sadly lacking: get out and practtise - a minimum of two miles a day on the bike to maintain anything like the fitrness level required, and at least one or two 50 mile rides before embarking on the 100.
The second was regarding riding buddies, and finding someone going at your own pace. I plan to ride alone and find other riders along the way who may be doing similar speeds.
And the third was kit. Get a gel saddle (done), decent gel gloves (noted), advised on pedal clips, and the big one.... shorts.
Very genteely they advised me to get some cycling shorts before anything else. Six or eight panel, masses of cotton padding. Apparently gel saddles may mould to shape, but because they lack any of the absorbency of old fashioned leather saddles, the sweat lurks, causing rubbing problems. And don't wear pants underneath unless they have long legs. On reflection this is good advice - bits of nylon rubbing against just one part of your leg for 100 miles can cause nasty abrasions. Yeuch!
They were both looking at my ample hips whilst handing out the advice, and it wasn't too hard to see what they were thinking.
So I have hardly sat down since and have kept my somewhat rotund pins moving in the hopes that 10 months of this will slim them down to a less chaffable size. My Christmas request has, obviously, now been amended.
Lets hope it works, or the end of August's blog may simply be carnage.
posted by Waving hello! @ 3:05 am
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