I always wear shorts (loose, no lycra) and have the luxury of showering and changing at work.

But a few weeks ago I rode to an after-work retirement party at a restaurant, and then home from the restaurant, in jeans the whole way. It was one of the worst riding experiences of my life. To the restaurant was all coasting downhill, so that was OK, but the whole way home (mostly flat), I was flexing both ankles outwards to try to keep my cuffs from rubbing (even though I did roll up my right cuff), and it quickly got painful in my IT band.

What I was tempted to do the whole way home, I should have done, which is to duck into a semi-private niche and quick-change back into my shorts. (I had black boxer-briefs on, so anybody that accidentally saw me for a second would not be that traumatized). Or really, I should have changed in the restaurant bathroom.

Never again! I can't understand how anybody could ride more than half a mile in denim