So you shave your legs
Based completely on limited personal observation and complete fabrication, here's my analysis of what different leg shaving practices by male cyclists signifies. (I will try to withhold judgment)
Behavior: What? I don't shave my legs.
Analysis: Obviously not a bike RACER, must just be a recreational rider. Or he's just starting to race but doesn't have any other friends yet who bike race so the peer pressure is all on the side of leaving the legs hairy. yuck. oops, yuck would probably qualify as a normative statement, sorry.
Behavior: Shaves from top of sock line to lower band of shorts.
Analysis: This is the guy that, while still very new to cycling, has noticed that everyone has freshly shaven legs. In fact, he's probably noticed that men's field seems to keep up better on their leg shaving than the women's field. Why is that? So, this guy's figured out that it's the norm for everyone to have shaved legs but he obviously hasn't crashed yet otherwise he would have shaved all the way up the outsides of his legs! Also this cyclist shaves due to peer pressure and not vanity, hence the furry cuff around the ankles.
Behavior: Shaves ankles, legs and outside of hips.
Analysis: Kudos for tackling the tricky ankle area-- that's sure to cause a lot of painful nicks to suffer through before you figure out how to maneuver the razor around the little ankle bones. As the most standard male shaving practice, this covers both vanity and practicality, removing hair from visible areas (even when wearing short socks or sandals) as well as removing hair from any area likely to get road rashed.
Behavior: Shaves feet, ankles, legs up to...?
Analysis: I agree that having shaved legs with hairy feet does look a little, well, odd in the flip-flop days of summertime so really shaving any foot hair off makes sense. And if you're going to shave the hair of the top of your foot, better make sure you get any hair on your big toe too. This cyclist probably doesn't have a job or he would be too busy to contemplate whether or not to shave his feet. He also probably doesn't live or even interact very much with non cyclists otherwise he'd be teased out of such excessive shaving. This cyclists shaves more for the look and feel of freshly shaven legs than for any practical purposes.
Now I am leaving on the ferryboat for AK and there certainly won't be any leg shaving until I get there. Probably no more blogs until Thursday either. I will, therefore, leave you with a challenge. If you can exactly guess how many sit-ups, push-ups, OR minutes on my trainer that I complete on the ferry, I'll... I'll make and send you some cookies. (I was going to say that I'd send you an autographed picture of myself but I didn't think that I could tempt anyone into guessing with such a paltry prize!)
So...
sit-ups: ?
push-ups: ?
trainer time: ?
Behavior: What? I don't shave my legs.
Analysis: Obviously not a bike RACER, must just be a recreational rider. Or he's just starting to race but doesn't have any other friends yet who bike race so the peer pressure is all on the side of leaving the legs hairy. yuck. oops, yuck would probably qualify as a normative statement, sorry.
Behavior: Shaves from top of sock line to lower band of shorts.
Analysis: This is the guy that, while still very new to cycling, has noticed that everyone has freshly shaven legs. In fact, he's probably noticed that men's field seems to keep up better on their leg shaving than the women's field. Why is that? So, this guy's figured out that it's the norm for everyone to have shaved legs but he obviously hasn't crashed yet otherwise he would have shaved all the way up the outsides of his legs! Also this cyclist shaves due to peer pressure and not vanity, hence the furry cuff around the ankles.
Behavior: Shaves ankles, legs and outside of hips.
Analysis: Kudos for tackling the tricky ankle area-- that's sure to cause a lot of painful nicks to suffer through before you figure out how to maneuver the razor around the little ankle bones. As the most standard male shaving practice, this covers both vanity and practicality, removing hair from visible areas (even when wearing short socks or sandals) as well as removing hair from any area likely to get road rashed.
Behavior: Shaves feet, ankles, legs up to...?
Analysis: I agree that having shaved legs with hairy feet does look a little, well, odd in the flip-flop days of summertime so really shaving any foot hair off makes sense. And if you're going to shave the hair of the top of your foot, better make sure you get any hair on your big toe too. This cyclist probably doesn't have a job or he would be too busy to contemplate whether or not to shave his feet. He also probably doesn't live or even interact very much with non cyclists otherwise he'd be teased out of such excessive shaving. This cyclists shaves more for the look and feel of freshly shaven legs than for any practical purposes.
Now I am leaving on the ferryboat for AK and there certainly won't be any leg shaving until I get there. Probably no more blogs until Thursday either. I will, therefore, leave you with a challenge. If you can exactly guess how many sit-ups, push-ups, OR minutes on my trainer that I complete on the ferry, I'll... I'll make and send you some cookies. (I was going to say that I'd send you an autographed picture of myself but I didn't think that I could tempt anyone into guessing with such a paltry prize!)
So...
sit-ups: ?
push-ups: ?
trainer time: ?
posted by LAV at 19:53
2 Comments:
So the flip side should be that X-C skiers shouldn't shave at all to add that extra, natural layer of insulation...??
I shave my ankles, leave the feet though, I'm blond enough for it to be pretty un-noticable. I'm also kind of bad about keeping it up too, so I'm in a constant state of stubble, my girlfriend laughs at me,......
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