"I wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of cycling shorts!" At least that is what I thought when I first started riding until my daughter gave me a pair for father's day about a year-and-a-half ago. I tried them on for the first time and said "No Way in Hell!" Then I changed my saddle on my hybrid from that thick, useless one that came on it to a road bike saddle and found out I needed more padding. So, I put on the shorts and rode with them in the neighborhood where nobody would see me. Then I started doing club rides and everyone wore them, including riders older than me. That kind of took the edge off of being seen in public with them on.

I now wear them on every ride and have no problems with what people say about wearing tight spandex shorts, especially since my legs have built up some pretty good muscle mass since I have been cycling. I used to get teased at work when I first mentioned it to my male co-workers that I ride in cycling shorts. But then I asked them, "If men riding in spandex cycling shorts is sissy like, then what do you call football players that wear spandex knee-knockers?" No one has teased me about the shorts since then.

I think this has to do with getting comfortable with yourself and not caring what others think. I have a saying that "If they don't eat at my table or sleep in my bed, I really don't care what their opinion of me happens to be." I like my cycling shorts, my wife likes them and that is all that matters.