Neil,

Well, I tried riding with wearing ordinary shorts over a bathing suit today. This was what I did months ago, just after switching to a road bike. At that time I was fine riding the 12.5 miles to Waikiki, but coming back I felt bruised and had a lot of irritation.

Today, like the first time months ago, I had pretty much no trouble getting to Waikiki. Early on I got slight pinches, but it seems that has happened to me every time I've worn something new, including bike shorts. I guess I made a few adjustments in position and it didn't happen again.

But the real test would be what happened on the way back. Just to make sure, I did an extra 6 miles coming home. I think things went well. Don't feel bruised (yet - those things can be delayed) and as for irritation, sometimes I think I might be right on the edge of getting a little irritation, but barely. Considering my prior ride on Tuesday where I may have already started such a problem (when I rode 52 miles with swim trunks under bicycle cargo shorts), I figure this is real good.

I will need to see if I still feel fine tomorrow and also if it gets worse as I do it on consecutive rides, but I'm hopeful.

One thing that did surprise me was that the back of my upper legs felt a bit sore before I started riding and even more after I got to Waikiki. It seemed to go away after spending time in the water. My riding pattern so far this week had been pretty much the same as the prior two weeks. The only difference was that last ride where I didn't ride further, but I was riding much slower. Perhaps just being on the bike longer did it.

Bob