This is why I'm hot

Once you get into cycling, you realize that very little of its culture fits in with the world beyond cycling. Things everyone else steers completely clear of are exactly what cyclists gravitate to. Perfect examples:

1. Spandex


2. Carbs


3. Sodium

The spandex is bad enough on its own, but leave it to cyclists to take it from bad to worst by padding the crotch.

We wear helmets that might make us look a little dorky, but they save our lives. We walk around with grease from the chains and dirt from the tires on our legs and hands. We drink pickle juice by the bottle.

We stand in line for porta potties, and because we don't have the luxury of "real" bathrooms, we can go hours and hours without washing our hands. We're lucky if we have hand sanitizer.

As if all of that didn't make us weird enough, we wind up with tan lines in the most random, hard-to-hide places.

(Note the shorts line AND sock line!)












(Also featuring two lines -- the gloves line and the participant bracelet line!)

(Note to self for next year: Don't forget to put sunscreen on the sides of your neck. The sun does actually hit there. And when you reapply sunscreen on your arms, legs and face later in the day, don't forget to reapply on your neck and your chest!)