General Cycling Discussion - Bathroom

Okay, so I am watching the TdF for the first time in a real serious kind of way because Lance Armstrong just has to be admired. But I am watching this and it comes to mind, these guys are riding and riding and riding and RIDING and they never stop to pee or anything. So what's up with that?

I may regret asking this, but what about going to the bathroom? How do they do this without going to the bathroom? Or do they do it like hiding behind one of their team cars or something. A friend told me they do it while they ride...but how would that be possible? :eek: Bike shorts don't have zippers...do they?

Is this too weird? Hah! Just one of those things that you think about. :rolleyes:

I think you'll find they do stop to "go to the bathroom" on the side of the road. I understand there's a kind of "unwritten rule" that the peloton slows down and waits for people to do it (or maybe they all do it at once). Perhaps it's one of those things that the TV cameras prefer not to show.

Look here Nature calls (http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=57312)

:beer:

Maybe they just sweat so much that they never need to urinate?

The little bit that I was able to watch (at The Local bar, head turned uncomforortably to look at a mute TV screen behind me - why is this only on cable?) I did see a lot of the riders drinking though... What shocked me more was seeing how much coasting they did, and seeing people hanging on the windows of cars and getting draged while they were handed little styrofoam cups.

I dunno - not stopping and just going might cool you down a bit... Probably evaporate pretty quick too...

If they're not drinking enough to pee, then they're not drinking enough. The peloton will start to slow down when everyone feels the need to make a pit stop. Phil Liggett addressed this question a couple stages ago. You could see several riders standing on the side of the road facing away as the camera went by. A couple riders were in the process of pulling their bibs back up and jumping back on their bikes.

There was a great pic posted here a while ago of a line of at least 30 riders peeing in the bushes during a race:D

why don't they just whiz in their shorts? i mean.. why do they care as long as they win?

I thought Bob Roll mentioned something about them using catheters a few days ago.

Will someone hurry up and simply post a photo of a cyclist peeing as he coasts while a couple of team members push him from behind so as to not lose any time?!

Will someone hurry up and simply post a photo of a cyclist peeing as he coasts while a couple of team members push him from behind so as to not lose any time?!


i would think you could still pedal while peeing. although you may have to coast until the stream starts.

I thought Bob Roll mentioned something about them using catheters a few days ago.

Bob said that tongue-in-cheek. They don't really have catheters.

Will someone hurry up and simply post a photo of a cyclist peeing as he coasts while a couple of team members push him from behind so as to not lose any time?!

eeewww.. i would hate to be one of those teammates behind him or riding besides him.. u'll get splashed on... won't u??

Here's one picture.

... Lol.

Bob said that tongue-in-cheek. They don't really have catheters.


Yeah, I didn't really think that seemed plausable, at the same time though, I didn't think it was funny at all, so it sort of left me wondering if he was serious or not.

Hah, great pic.... I really need to go now.....

Here's one picture.


AAAKKK! Call the Bicycle Fit Police from the recent Cheryl Crow thread! A bunch of them are on the saddle with one foot on the ground! Heresy, SACRILEGE!

I once drove a support vehicle following the provincial road race championships... I saw every variation of peeing including the "team member push". LOL.

On many cycle races, a portable pissoir was used.

The guy on the motocycle cant see enough.

The guy on the motocycle cant see enough.


yeah. why is he staring?

The pusher rides on the upwind side if there is a crosswind

If there is just wind, everyon rides in front of the source of the wind

If the source of the wind is meteorological everyone rides downwind, except the one in front.

If the one in front is also a wind source, it's called a breakaway if Phil Liggett doesn't know about the non-meteorological source of the wind

If it is a headwind, no-one pushes unless the road zigzags, thereby changing the apparent wind direction and enabling the domestique to push.

Unfortunately the road only zigzags on place like Alpe d'Huez (seen the crowds?), so no-one takes a leak when the road zigzags unless it's downhill.

At the speeds riders descend, the zigzags come toooo quickly unless you want to try zigzagging at 40mph one handed while trying to check if the wind direction is suitable

This may be further complicated, depending on wind direction (which is variable in the mountains), if there is a non-meteorological source of wind ahead of you on the zigzag descents. Slow descending may indicate a poor/frightened descender or it may indicate someone with exceptionally delicate olfactory nerve endings with a non-meteorological...etc.

If, on the other hand, a rider is a nervous descender and is a source of non-meteor...etc., the sphincter paralysing effects of descent-induced fear means that those of an even more nervous disposition can ride behind him without nasal discomfort.

Unfortunately, when he reaches the bottom....
This leads to riders "going off the back", or a mass sprint, on flat sections between mountains, for no apparent reason that Phil Liggett can see.

No-one ever humourously lights non-meteorological sources of wind in the peloton since a rather unfortunate incident on a mountin descent overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the Tour d'Albanie in 1952. This, incidentally led to the introduction of bib shorts, which in turn led to a well-known lager brewer stealing the the slogan "High knickers repress the farts other pairs cannot breach". I don't know if this reference has any cultural resonance in the USA.

I trust all is now abundantly clear - unless, of course, you are riding behind a non-meteor...

By the way, since diarrhoea cannot, unlike urine, be aimed, it has been known for a rider not to bother stopping... (when he can't stop, so to speak.

The visual effect of this led to the Eureka! (as opposed to the You Reeka!) moment when the idea for the first fake tan occurred

Ugh.

Give me the catheter and a cork.

all this could be avoiding by just peeing in their shorts.

all this could be avoiding by just peeing in their shorts.

You do know that that is not the reason for having a diaper in the shorts? :o

/Csson

You do know that that is not the reason for having a diaper in the shorts? :o

/Csson


yeah. but it prevents all the wind issues and such. and pee has amonia in it so it will kill the bacteria.

yeah. but it prevents all the wind issues and such. and pee has amonia in it so it will kill the bacteria.

Right, and who wants to smell like amonia? A few times, when scuba diving, I've peed in the wet suit, and it smells like nothing else until you've thoroughly hosed it down and soaked it a few times. Personally, I'll hold it until I can deposit the waste somewhere other than my clothes or person. :o