Bike shorts = AWESOME

Here’s a conversation I had with my fabulous coworker Agnes:

Beth: "It turns out that bike shorts have a bike seat-shaped pad right in the middle of the crotch! THAT’S what makes them bike shorts!"
Agnes: "It’s not just they are spandex and super short and black?"
Beth: "No, it’s all about the big pad between your legs."
Agnes: "I cannot believe I have been on this earth 35 years without knowing this."
Beth: "I know, right?"

Because it’s exactly like a bike-seat-shaped maxi pad, people! 

If I sound blown away by this detail, it’s because I AM blown away by this detail. It’d be like if you thought you knew what a pea coat was, of course you do because you see them all the time, but then one day you got a REAL pea coat and discovered it actively facilitated in the eating of peas. This is a game-changer. It’s a very important detail that no one ever tells you, not even when you complain about bike seat pain and they say you should get bike shorts. Even when I knew the padding existed, I just thought it was a butt-pad, see. So for the record, if someone whines about the seat hurting in spin class, the correct response is “You should get padded bike shorts, they have a thick pad right where you want it most: between your legs.” Because there’s no excuse for all of this dancing around the subject, okay? Just be direct and descriptive and don’t assume everyone knows about the padding, thanks. 

Yeah, I went to spin class yesterday with my new exciting crotch-padded bike shorts (capris, really) and it didn’t hurt at all. HOORAY. It was a glorious day. Well, except the pedal straps squeezed and chafed and generally just really hurt my feet (have to get new gym shoes) and my quads are sore enough to have me whimpering all day today. But I did better even just on this second try – stood up in the pedals more, got a better handle on the bike’s resistance levels and was less shy about upping the resistance. I’ll go again tomorrow, I think, if my new shoes get here on time. (Really, with all my foot/arch issues, I don’t think it’s a good idea to do something that makes me limp for hours afterward. And I’m pretty sure the shoes are the issue since the old pair I’m using now are open at the top of the foot. So no more demon pedals until I have better shoes.)

Also – look! My team is here in the cyber-world! HERE IS THE TEAM PAGE! So you can make donations to all of us, if you want, or just some of us directly, but in any case we are a team and we will fund-raise together and just generally be collectively awesome. 

Later I will tell you about how I have to go bike shopping. But that will be later. :-D