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| If I had put bacon in there, it would have all three of my most favorite things in the world. |
So what's up in The Greatest City in America, you ask? Well, it's been hot. So hot that I almost considered giving up the bike for a week or so but... no, couldn't do it. Just the thought of having to leave the house a whole ten minutes early, then being interrupted in my reading by the light rail bull every five minutes to make sure I've bought a ticket (and seriously, Baltimore, come up with a better system already. In Pittsburgh you had to buy your ticket on the train and honestly that makes a lot more sense to me), and THEN having to wait for ANOTHER train on the way home. Point is, I think I made the right call. Although I did make the sacrifice of putting a bottle cage on my hybrid. I hate the way they look, but when the temperature's cracking a century, looks ain't worth a hill of beans.
I recently discovered a little tip that makes riding in 90+ temperatures slightly more bearable and even though I didn't know about it when it was really bad, at least I'm discovering it now. Cycle chic fans will hate me for this, but the secret is: men's boxer briefs. (Under your dresses or skirts.) Originally I was wearing nothing, but wound up getting terrible saddle sores and had the saddle pressing on me in all the wrong places. Then I graduated to wearing women's athletic shorts under my skirts*, but they were much too hot. I pinged to using boxers when putting away my husband's drawers and damn, do these things ever work! No saddle sores, no inadvertent flashing (not that I really care about that), and the cotton breathes like the poly blend athletic shorts never could. Yeah, it looks super dumb when you're off the bike, but again, hot weather + ease of use = don't give a crap. I'm using the Hanes brand. Maybe they make a "women's" version of boxer briefs but if they do it probably comes at half the durability and twice the cost. So dude panties it is!
*Taking off the skirt never occurred to me; I hate dressing multiple times throughout the day. If I lived in the desert or Florida or something, maybe I'd feel differently. But in Maryland? And with a half-hour commute? Just make clever use of layers, put on some deodorant, and deal with it.
