Wax off….
I take my daughter to parks frequently. In my part of town a long-ish bike trail, the West Orange Trail, runs by most of the parks. It is part of the local Rails-to-Trails project, in which old unused rail-beds get converted to bike trails. So I see lots and lots of cycling enthusiasts. Not just people out cycling with the family, or enjoying the Great Outdoors, but hard-core cyclists, complete with the funny shoes and all the spandex.
What I don’t get are the guys that ride bikes and wax off their body hair and wear all spandex. Now I get why professional racers do that, to cut down drag. But they’re actual, you know, racers, doing it not just for fun but for profit, and eliminating every last bit of drag is a professional necessity.
But if you’re just some guy doing it to stay in shape (and not all of these waxed be-spandexed folks have achieved that goal), why cut down drag? Wouldn’t more drag help you get into shape faster? And it isn’t like these guys go whizzing by much faster than the Moms and Dads out cycling with their five year-olds that just took off the training wheels last week, either. A little faster, yes, but Lance Armstrong they ain’t.
WTF, Cycling Guys, WT-f’ing-F?
Ambiance 
karen said,
September 28, 2012 at 9:26 am
Why does this post remind me of a Seinfeld episode?
Heh- you could link that video, too:0).
amba (Annie Gottlieb) said,
September 28, 2012 at 9:28 am
Silly, they do it for the same reasons hobby motorcyclists grow long grey beards and wear studs: it’s the fashion statement in their world, and a tribute to their heroes. Imitation is the sincerest form, etc.
Icepick said,
September 28, 2012 at 10:14 am
Well, I never have gotten fashion, though I like some (female) fashions better than others.
wj said,
September 28, 2012 at 10:27 am
For some, definitely a fashionn statement. For others, a tribute to their heroes.
But I suspect for many, it is part of living out their fantasy: that they really might, some day somehow, actually be part of the world that they look up to. Whether it is bicyclists in spandex, or motorcyclists in beards and studs — realistically they aren’t going to go there; but fantasizing that they might is part of how their mind copes with the real world.