Road Bike Racing - B.O. in the peloton

Do us all a favor and wash your cycling shorts after ever ride.

That is all.

Deodorant too.

This problem is far, far worse in the MTB world where patchouli and reefer mixes with BO and dirt. The horror.

I agree, but I don't have these concerns. Can't seem to find anyone racing with me.

BO i can deal with. It's the cheap bastards with transparent ancient or bargain basement bibs that irk me.

BO i can deal with. It's the cheap bastards with transparent ancient or bargain basement bibs that irk me.

Or white. USAC's banned short sleeves in the name of aesthetic concerns. Why not white bibs? I'd rather see shoulders than arse.

back in the days of yore, on pcad's beloved Nyack ride there was a regular who had a scary man crush on a pro rider (read: restraining order). it was so bad that the only jersey he wore was from this rider's team, and it seemed to go unwashed for several seasons.

Or white. USAC's banned short sleeves in the name of aesthetic concerns. Why not white bibs? I'd rather see shoulders than arse.

The good ones are much better these days. I was worried until my kit arrived. I realized that the central panels are actually gray, with a white outer surface. They're actually less transparent than nice black bibs.

Or white. USAC's banned short sleeves in the name of aesthetic concerns. Why not white bibs? I'd rather see shoulders than arse.

i rode alongside a guy at a race last week, and said to him "hey guy, what's with the white shorts? didn't you know there's a rule against them?" in broken dutch. in typical dutch fashion, he gave me a black look. at least it wasn't raining that night.

BO i can deal with. It's the cheap bastards with transparent ancient or bargain basement bibs that irk me.

Maybe it was because I was at my usual 20-minutes-into-the-race-suffering-point, but when I found myself on Mr. B.O.'s wheel I nearly vomited.

Snuff-

I know what you mean about the MTBer's. Whats even worse than that is the MTBer who decides to try his hand at a RR/crit in said fragrant and dangerously thin shorts.

There was this dude back in Austin that was pretty crunchy, Berks, long beard, and I don't believe he bought into the whole "soap" thing. Man it was self preservation not to ride his wheel.

There was this dude back in Austin that was pretty crunchy, Berks, long beard, and I don't believe he bought into the whole "soap" thing. Man it was self preservation not to ride his wheel.

Dude, I used to work with that guy (he's a talented 3d animator in the gaming industry, former BMX racer). Luckily, we didn't share an office. The funny thing was that it was always mentioned in his reviews, but never did anything about it. Nice guy though. He's actually getting some placings in the 4s this year, and he's shaved :)

if you find yourself staring at a mans white bibbed hairy arse after smelling it - attacking would be on my short list

Dude, I used to work with that guy (he's a talented 3d animator in the gaming industry, former BMX racer). Luckily, we didn't share an office. The funny thing was that it was always mentioned in his reviews, but never did anything about it. Nice guy though. He's actually getting some placings in the 4s this year, and he's shaved :)

Where will the squirrels live?

Where will the squirrels live?

They seem to like my attic...

They seem to like my attic...

You too? I've become quite the squirrel trapper lately...

As far as the BO and see through shorts go, what more motivation do you need to either attack or get dropped?

Az

Yeah, I've trapped about 50 lbs of squirrels in the 8 years we've lived at this house. I relocate them to the office parking lot :D

Hmmm, now that I'm riding every day, I may have to re-think this strategy. I could throw him in a Pringles can or something, and keep him in a bottle cage

In Austin, on my early South MoPac loop ride there was this very hot woman who's shorts were rather see through....I tended to slow a bit as I caught up to her...sometimes cheap see through shorts aren't so bad :)

You're all missing the point, its a race strategy...if you're behind him your gonna suffer and your performance will decrease.

Seriously though, I don't race but, yeah, some people need to rotate through their cycling clothes.

Who rides with dirty shorts? :eek: That's just disgusting.

stinky guy stories:

there used to be a bunch of bike messengers around here who raced for a team called taco shack or something like that. they were gross stinky. IME bike messengers usually suck at racing, and are just stinky and in the way until they get dropped and go have a smoke, but these guys were a bunch of 1s and 2s that would show up to races with their dirty selves, dirty bikes in the back of a dirty pickup truck, piled atop each other. some are still around, and still race well, but the taco shack boys are legendary for their pig pen aura.

I used to do the "goon" ride on occaission, that one guy who was on LSV/Kelly would do, I think it was his 2nd ride of the day, but no shower or bib change, of course we all called him smelly kelly. fighting to stay off his wheel was like bumping drills.

^^^^
Sounds like a team I knew of in Iowa called the Dead Bikemen (coincidence with the Taco Shack reference?) They were all 1s and 2s, raced in ripped-to-shorts-pants and flannel shirts. Crashing was like a race strategy. One of them moved to Denver and I started training with him some. Very entertaining. Not stinky at least.

He really helped me with my trackstand stability, as he would try to push me over at every light (he was trackstanding too). Man, he was nuts on the mountain bike off road too.

I used to do the weeknight group rides with a guy, Dave... lots of stories about Dave, but this one is, he drove to the ride straight from work and kept his stuff in the car. All the time. Oh man. And the thing was, Dave could climb and TT like nobody's business, so you had to be on his wheel at crunch time, or you're gone. It was brutal.

Haven't seen Dave in a few years, but lately on the Tuesday night crits, every once in a while I'll catch a very strong whiff of cologne. I mean, how thick do you have to spray it on that it makes my eyes water 3 guys back with a strong crosswind? Please!

stinky guy stories:

there used to be a bunch of bike messengers around here who raced for a team called taco shack or something like that. they were gross stinky. IME bike messengers usually suck at racing, and are just stinky and in the way until they get dropped and go have a smoke, but these guys were a bunch of 1s and 2s that would show up to races with their dirty selves, dirty bikes in the back of a dirty pickup truck, piled atop each other. some are still around, and still race well, but the taco shack boys are legendary for their pig pen aura.

I used to do the "goon" ride on occaission, that one guy who was on LSV/Kelly would do, I think it was his 2nd ride of the day, but no shower or bib change, of course we all called him smelly kelly. fighting to stay off his wheel was like bumping drills.

part and parcel.

I think everyone's got a story like this.
There are 2 guys in my group ride who've been wearing the same bibs for the past 4 seasons, these things are soooo worn out they are practically transparent - and I should add, these are a couple of hairy dudes. It's like a bad accident, you try not to look, but.......
Obviously we try to limit their pulls.

Having played three years of hockey and having a toddler, I guess I'm a little desensitized to such things. The worst BO smell I've ever experienced was behind the bench of a low minors pro hockey team. We had to move back to the cheaper seats because my wife just couldn't stand it.

This actually kind of reminds me of BRAG after the third day.

Ninth grade basketball. We had a game one afternoon and I had a teammate who had a Dr.s appointment and asked me to pick up his "game" socks from his locker. His mom drove him to the game and met the team. I will swear to my deathbed that in addition to the stench, a green cloud surrounded these socks. "Game" indeed. I had to hose out my gym bag when I got home.

A few weeks ago at the Tuesday nighter this old guy (he won some national championship back in the Team Raleigh days) kept on getting in front of me, and I had to get out of his wind. It was painful.
I've smelled some awful things in my life, from the the sharpest to the dullest of putrid smells, but thsi just had me gagging. This was worse than all of the times that I've stunk myself out of a room with a nasty egg-fart, or even diarrhea beached up on the porcelain.