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What they don't tell you on bikeability...

(29 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by Greenroofer
  • Latest reply from gembo

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  1. Greenroofer
    Member

    I'm torn between being quite pleased and a bit annoyed, and thought I'd see which you think I should be. So here goes...

    I'm a regular cyclist, doing about 60 miles a week every week year-round to and from work. I don't do any recreational cycling at all, so do about 2,600 miles a year, and have done for the past four years. I don't see myself as a 'serious' cyclist in any sense: HankChief keeps trying to persuade me to do a Sportive, and I keep declining. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just riding a bike to work.

    The trouble is, I've recently noticed that my thighs have started touching near the top and that none of my jeans fit comfortably any more round the thigh. I've not got thighs like Sir Chris (or that scary German whose thighs are bigger than my waist) but they are definitely growing.

    Oh, and my forearms are growing too, as a result of clenching the handlebars. However they started from such stick-like proportions that this isn't a problem yet...

    So should I be pleased about my improving muscle tone and bulk, or should I be annoyed that my clothes aren't comfortable, and it's hard to find ones that fit my increasingly unusually-proportioned lower body?

    ...and should we insist that Bikeability training have a warning added along the lines of:
    "Caution Cycling is a highly addictive activity. If you start, you may not be able to stop. This can lead to undesirable muscle growth and unwanted damage to clothing.

    :-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  2. HankChief
    Member

    I'd suggest being pleased... your body is just reacting to the demands you're putting on it.

    You should try a sportive - it's just like the canal path albeit a bit hillier, longer and everyone is going the same way. Oh and there's people on really expensive bikes that only come out a few times a year for you to overtake :-). I'll even lend you a racer if you don't want to do it on the Brompton.

    And remember Strava calls you an athlete...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  3. Greenroofer
    Member

    See? I told you he keeps trying to persuade me to do a sportive...

    Posted 10 years ago #

  4. gembo
    Member

    I bought a new overcoat in the sales As my old one is from 1990s and very long and also too big in shoulders as I am back down to 38 from 40. The new style, lot shorter and neater and I would say they all make my backside look extensive. However, this is something I have known about for many years and certainly exacerbated by cycling. I did London revolution which is like two sportives the day after each other. Guy did the 180 miles on a Brompton, also in a long sleeved t-shirt made to look like dinner jacket and bow tie at end on tube home he alighted at Putney as we had predicted. He was only chap in group of women. At the stop offs they eschewed the queues for freebies as parents had a range rover with tail gate down and lovely spread laid out. If asked to say whether I was jealous I would say yes. However, always good to overtake the cat and put some distance between the two of us.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  5. MeepMeep
    Member

    In the same predicament. It's not vanity to take pride in your hard-won gains!

    It's a real source of satisfaction to me that I can no longer find clothing that fits as it should - trousers/jeans, shirts/tees... That is, until the dreaded time comes that I have to look for new clothes.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  6. SRD
    Moderator

    Easy solution: skirts and tights.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  7. MeepMeep
    Member

    Beats a potato sack!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  8. condor2378
    Member

    I've suffered from this since my teens when I was a competitive swimmer. I've never yet found a pair of trousers which fit and always have had to go up a size just to get my legs in. Now I do triathlons and marathons it's gotten worse as my waist has shrunk even more and it looks ridiculous. 30" waist, 22" thighs, 32" inside leg, and all the material bunched up at the top just to stop them from falling down. :-(

    Posted 10 years ago #

  9. wee folding bike
    Member

    Ditto, Jim Beam's outfitters in Ayr never really dealt well with my chunky thighs till I got into men's sizes.

    These days I just go to outdoors shops because I'm too old to care. Also I don't go everywhere on a 70" fixed wheel anymore which probably helps.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  10. DaveC
    Member

    Have you considered an Audax? More gentlemanly sport (in a non sexist way SRD!!) as its not a race but a navigation and endurance sport, certainly on the longer rides.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  11. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @Greenroofer - I can only sympathise. A lifetime of cycling and hill running have left me taking jeans in a waist size three inches above what I ought to take, and then gathering in the excess fabric with my belt - all to fit in my thighs and behind.

    Makes me feel like some sort of T-rex shaped freak, when it's the buttockless, sedentary stick-men that ought to be struggling for clothes to fit.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  12. Smudge
    Member

    (un)fortunately my liking for beer and cake has saved me from that waistband/thigh mismatch :-/ that and wearing baggy craghoppers...
    @SRD, sadly society only allows that solution for those with the other set of chromosomes!

    On the whole though, be happy, it's probably a healthy problem!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  13. Greenroofer
    Member

    @DaveC. No, an audax wouldn't be suitable either. You see, I'm not a serious cyclist. I'm just riding to work...

    Must...resist...temptation...to...become...serious...cyclist.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  14. Smudge
    Member

    Come to the dark side, we have cake stops..... ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  15. fimm
    Member

    Greenroofer, what's wrong with being a serious cyclist?
    (or do you want to be a frivolous cyclist instead?)
    ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  16. Smudge
    Member

    @fimm "..a frivolous cyclist instead..", I like the sound of that :-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  17. Greenroofer
    Member

    @fimm: mainly that it would mean the purchase of n+1. I don't think it's practical to do audaxes (audaces?) or sportives on a flat-barred hub-geared hybrid with studded tyres and a dynamo or, despite what HankChief suggests, on the Brompton you* persuaded me to buy. I haven't got room for the n+1 I would need to be a 'serious cyclist'.

    I think I'll just to resign myself to being a frivolous cyclist with tight trousers.

    *It wasn't just you.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  18. Smudge
    Member

    Someone was mentioned in the last Audax Uk magazine who had completed a Super Radonnuer(sp?) series on a Brompton ;-) iirc thats a 200,300,400 and 600km Audax all completed inside a year...
    I've seen a slick tyred MTB and a Pashley Guvnor both going round a 100km BP faster than me on a "proper" road bike.
    Give a wee 100km one a bash, what's to lose ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #

  19. Snowy
    Member

    @Greenroofer's original comment...

    Concur...for the last few years I've been a bit concerned that jeans last just 6 months before wearing out between the thighs. Something needs to be done. Possibly involving teflon.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  20. Bhachgen
    Member

    Having cycled a lot in my teens when my body was developing I have always had that problem with jeans and indeed all kinds of trousers wearing out rapidly between the thighs.

    Even during the many years when I did very little cycling and way too much eating. That got rid of the issue of superfluous material at the waistband but didn't stop the thigh wear.

    Having been back cycling regularly for nearly 3 years now I have dropped 3 jeans sizes and could drop another size at the waist band if only they made the thighs big enough!

    On the subject of sportives I tend to avoid the ones with the big entry fees and adverts in the glossy magazines. They seem to attract too many clueless wannabes in full Sky team kit. Look for the local volunteer-run charity events and you should have a good day out. If you're used to riding a decent number of miles on the commute every week you shouldn't have a problem doing a longer single ride on the weekend on the same bike. As an example I did the Wild Wales Challenge last year. 80-odd miles. Nearly 10,000 ft of climbing. Have a look at the photo slideshow on their landing page. Most of these were taken at around 65 miles. Plenty of road bikes on show but also a number of recumbents, hybrids, and a great pic of a smiling lady on a vintage "sit up and beg" with swept-back handlebars. There were a few nutters taking part on mountain bikes that hadn't even switched off the fat knobbly tyres for something slicker.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  21. Tulyar
    Member

    I used to slide in to Dorothy Perkins to buy Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, having tried on a pair and found that the cut for a smaller waist-bigger hip suited the way I used to be when I cycled more often. The other answer is braces (or suspenders as the US calls them). Another (male) friend wore Joan Collins jeans for the same reason

    I still suffer from the thigh-waist issue but not quite as severely and braces are the answer folks. Oh and Slaters for trousers - they have free alterations service, and huge range of 'fits'.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  22. Min
    Member

    Haha, that is funny! I get round the ill fittedness of womens trousers by buying mens!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  23. gembo
    Member

    Gloria vandebilts were not cheap. You can see them on the top of the pops 1979 programme worn by The Nolans if you are interested.

    Braces good but would still leave a fair bit of waistband flapping? What about belt and braces?

    Posted 10 years ago #

  24. chdot
    Admin

    "I used to slide in to Dorothy Perkins to buy Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, having tried on a pair and found that the cut for a smaller waist-bigger hip suited the way I used to be when I cycled more often."

    I can understand the logic, but how many women's trousers/jeans are made with long enough legs??

    Posted 10 years ago #

  25. gembo
    Member

    The Nolans had long legged types as they were also in high heels

    Posted 10 years ago #

  26. Min
    Member

    They all have long legs.

    (maybe it just seems that way to me)

    Braces good but would still leave a fair bit of waistband flapping? What about belt and braces?

    You could get quite a good bit of resistance training in with that though. I can imagine a sort of "clown bum" effect from wind inflated troosers when one is on the drops.

    Posted 10 years ago #

  27. gembo
    Member

    Ah yes min apparently some of the ski jumpers were disqualified because their breeks were too flappy

    Posted 10 years ago #

  28. Min
    Member

    Oh I didn't know that. I noticed a bit of overly mobile breekery but didn't consider that it might actually increase lift!

    Posted 10 years ago #

  29. gembo
    Member

    Yes apparently the material has bigger holes in the front to let air in and then smaller holes in the back to stop it getting out??

    Posted 10 years ago #

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