Shaving Challenge!

WOW, a whole year has gone by already! My commitment is over, so I no longer have to shave my legs, but surprisingly I choose to continue. And, although Annette says a bunch of her lady friends will be disappointed if I stop shaving, my decision actually isn't about looks. After a year I've found that it's not as big of a pain as I thought it would be, my legs are cooler in pants in the summer heat, it's easier to put lotion on when my legs get itchy, leg warmers feel better because hair isn't poking through and quite honestly I've gotten use to it.

05/06/2006

Yes, the hair is gone! My shaving challenge has been met... May 4th, like December 7th, is for me a day that will live in infamy! That is the day I received a check for $1,000 made out to the Alzheimer's Association and for the first time ever a razor touched my legs! I should have thought about this more... Anticipated the possibility... Maybe put in a caveat that excluded immediate family! But I didn't and my father-in-law, Marty Segol, has made a very generous $1,000 donation to the Alzheimer's Association! I made a commitment below that if anyone made a $1,000 donation I would shave my legs and keep the hair off for a year and the commitment will be met.

But don't let this stop you from making a large donation to the Alzheimer's Association! I'm open to suggestions as long as it results in a big donation to the Alzheimer's Association. So send me an email and let me know what it will take to get that donation! I would still like to raise that $10,000 and have a long way to go!

Mike

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Let's raise $10,000 or more for the Alzheimer's Association!!

So here's the challenge... If any one person or company donates $1,000 or more to the Alzheimer's Association OR we raise more than $10,000 from my cross state record attempt, I will shave my legs and commit to keeping the hair off for a year! This is no small commitment from me!

I've been cycling for quite some time now and am one of the few cyclists I know with hairy legs. I've resisted the peer pressure to shave and have endured comments and even a disposable razor left under the windshield wiper of my truck. I don't have a problem with shaving, I'm just lazy. Heck, I have trouble shaving what little I do of my face more than twice a week and sometimes forget to trim my beard once a month!

So why do cyclists shave their legs anyway? Scott Martin who writes articles for the Roadbikerider.com newsletter wrote in newsletter issue number 144:

Hairy Situation

Noted bicycling expert Abigail Van Buren once wrote in her Dear Abby newspaper column that cyclists shave their legs so they won't get hair caught in the chain.

Now, I always defer to Abby on sneaky spouses, meddling in-laws and anybody else who needs to Wake up and smell the coffee! But here I think she might've been sniffing something besides espresso.

So why do cyclists shave? Should you? Let's examine the pros and cons.

Pro: The Crash
You'll wish you'd shaved when some ER intern who hasn't slept in 29 hours starts wire-brushing Route 66 out of your gams. Believe me, extracting gravel from flesh is worse with hundreds of tiny, dirty, grasping hairs in the way.

Con: The Hassle
It's tough enough brushing your teeth and combing your hair every day. Do we really need one more item on the personal-grooming agenda?

Pro: The Rub
If you get massages -- and you're a sore, lactic-acidy fool if you don't -- you need bare legs. Why? Massage oil + hair = Superfund cleanup site.

Con: The Look
You're wearing shorts at the family picnic when soused Uncle Sal the Teamster wonders aloud why (a) you shave your legs, and (b) any grownup with a driver's license rides a bike in the first place. Go ahead, you explain. I'll be over by the potato salad.

Pro: The Other Look
Shaved legs make your muscles appear bigger. Other riders think you're serious. Maybe they won't attack you on Vomit Pass. If they do, you'll glance at your bulging quads, get inspired and hang on.

Con: The Con
You and your hairy legs show up for a group ride. Somebody snickers. On Vomit Pass, you attack. The snobs are too stunned to respond. You break away, leg hairs waving goodbye in the breeze.

Another answer (from http://www.grennan.com/BikePower/cycling.faq):

Why shave legs (Jobst Brandt jbrandt@hpl.hp.com)

Oh wow, after the initial responses to this subject I thought we could skip the posturing. The reason for shaving legs is the same for women, weight lifters, body builders and others who have parts of their bodies that they choose to display. It is not true that General Schwarzkopf had all the troops shave their legs and arms before going into combat to prevent infectious hair from killing injured soldiers, and I am sure it will never happen.

Not only the shaving but the rub-downs with all sorts of oils at the bike track are for the same reason bodybuilders oil up. It reflects well from the muscle defo. Of course there are others who claim you can't get a massage without shaving. There is no medical proof that hair presents any hazard when crashing on a road with dirt that gets into a wound. It must all be thoroughly cleaned if it goes beyond superficial road rash.

From my experience with cyclists from east block countries before Glasnost, none of them shaved because it was not in their charter to look beautiful but rather to win medals.

I think shaved legs look good and I don't mind saying so. I just find it silly that those who shave need to put it forth as a preparation for crashing. Is it necessary to find a reason other than vanity? If you believe these stories then you might consider the whole pile of lore in bicycling that also has no foundation in fact but is often retold. But then some bicyclists and followers of other pursuits, want to believe in the mysteries that are handed down by the elders and must be taken on faith. It forms proof of initiation for some.

05/08/2007