I made it out today for a 20 mile ride. The key was to not get suited up for shorter city rides. It's psychological. Short ride, why look like a dork? OK, I wasn't going to mention this, but last week when I was trying to get my ass in gear to go for a ride, I was trying to figure out something to do as motivation. I can't spend any more money on cycling gear, so that removed a whole range of options right there. So what other low-cost things do cyclists do? They shave their legs. So I did. It was a mental thing, "I'm gonna do this as encouragement to get out of the house and ride". So, um, what do you all think about guys who shave their legs? I'm just curious.

Hey, don't touch that mouse, I'm going somewhere with this. As for reasons cyclists shave their legs, I often hear that it lessens wind resistance so you don't tire out as quickly. I always thought that a pretty dumb reason for a hobbyist to shave his (or her) legs. My brother rode seriously in high school and college and was on racing teams, and he said that he shaved his legs because if you take a spill, it's a lot less painful to dress. But I don't race, and all the times I've gone down has been during regular city riding, never on a "ride".

Well, guess what I did today, yes, I fell off my bike (from a practically stand-still position, mind you, I basically just fell over, not clicking out fast enough, uncredibly stupid). I scraped my knee, and suffered my way home, more from embarassment than the scrape, and dressing it was clean and relatively painless! It was pretty affirming. Not that I'm gonna go out hoping that I'm gonna take a spill. It's just a precaution. Like . . . wearing a helmet.