Day 23: The "Hey, Roomie..." Discussion

Since it was a flat and "short" day of just 118 miles through soybeans and corn it seems like the right time to have the discussion. Yes, that discussion, the one you've been wondering but afraid to ask. Because you can't help but wonder: even though we're counting down the days to the Atlantic, we're still counting up the number of hours (184 so far according to Tom) we've been sitting on about 6 square inches of saddle. Sure, you have 5 contact points on a bike including hands and feet but most of a rider's weight, where they feel the frost heave lines and road joints and cracks, that would be in the tush.

So the butt talk. For now, happily (!), our butts are doing fine, bruised of course from sitting on a little saddle but no open sores or issues. We are regular users of chamois cream both to start the day and with reapplication available at all rest stops. It takes some getting used to to watch (the guys in particular) get a squirt of it and then see their hands disappear down both the front and the back of their bike shorts (front for inside side of legs, back side for where you sit). Usually this is done just prior to getting on bike and riding off so it's not like they jump back in the food line without washing by the way. Post ride it's time to wash any tender areas and at night a little Bag Balm (or A&D ointment or Neosporin) on any raw areas and next day you're ready to go.

Not everyone is so fortunate though in the healthy bottom discussion. Not this trip, but in 2007 Jerry\MN had to drop out and go home for surgery on an infected spot on his you know what. And several guys have recently resorted to the "double shorts" approach of one pair of bike shorts on top of another to get extra padding if it hurts too much with just one. Apparently if you really want to maximize effectiveness of this approach you wear the outside pair with the chamois facing out so the two pairs fit lycra to lycra and therefore create fewer hot spots. Nobody, however, has opted for this which would give them a big orange patch across their bottoms like a babboon at the zoo.

And bottoms aren't the only issue. I have a rub mark on the front of my thigh (why?) and many guys have sore nipples from being rubbed raw by sweaty biking jerseys. What causes this is back pockets full of stuff which creates a lot of pull on the front of the shirt and hence the drag against the front of the chest. I wear my shirt open not for the macho thing (sorry, Julia), but because it helps avoid the pain. The picture of Karl putting on little round band-aids in the photo list speaks to the issue, he's certainly not the only one. Even if guys with headlights from band-aids do take getting used to.

And lastly, as delicately as possible, there are the powders. Hammer Corp nutritional powders (HEED, like Gatorade, plus Perpetuem long distance fuel and Recoverite for the end of the day) are in the silver trailer for adding to water bottles in the morning and available at every rest stop. People swear by them and use them non-stop, as well as the Electrolyte tablets (I take 8 or 10 a day post South Dakota). The powders however take some getting used to in the beginning. May I suggest leaving the room so you can blow a 4 second note on a tuba in private prior to rejoining polite company. No, it's not just me.

Which brings us to the last point, the "Hey Roomie, can you look at this?" discussion. Tom and I have happily avoided anything close to this, but very funny to hear how people deal with needing, um, assistance with a medical applications to parts they can't easily reach with precision. As one person said, "hey, it's a PACTour thing, you'll never see them again so if you have to ask, no big deal". In the meantime, Tom and I preface at least a sentence per day with "Hey Roomie..." just to be annoying to each other.

So that's what you really wanted to know, the black magic procedures for riding long distances over many days without issues in the shorts seems to be mostly tribal knowledge so we'll continue to report on what we find.

Day 23, oh that, 118 miles, a lousy and long (3 pages!) route card for a journey that kept us on just 2 roads. East, east, east. It's not complicated. We lost an hour due to time zone change, we crossed into Indiana, we saw corn and soybeans on quiet roads. The two of us with Ernie and Jerry\MN (and Karl later in the day) just bolted it out, our 2nd fastest day of the trip in a tad over 6 hours ride time or just under 20mph. At the end of the day I got to see Kathy's aunt and uncle for a bit which was great (we went to a laundromat!) and dinner was with Jerry\MN and Swiss couple at Ruby Tuesday next door. Anderson, Indiana, is all atwitter, the Colts (US pro football team) are here for 3 weeks of training camp, about 5 to 8K people go to watch, the kids next to us had their Colts jerseys and Payton Manning signatures to show for it. Bedtime, late start tomorrow for the short day (85 mile) day. Happy birthday mom!