Whip Six Womens Active Running, Triathlon, Cyclist Apparel

Unless a rider is engaged in competition, he or she is cycle training. Whether it may be some activity as innocuous as “noodling” down the boardwalk on a cruiser, or powering heavy wattage down the road over a three hour stretch — perhaps an intense two hours on a compu-trainer or even a forty-five minute spin class — all constitute cycle training.

When one trains, it is imperative that the rider understands the dynamics of proper clothing and how it relates to the three contact points of cycling: 1) Hands, 2) Undercarriage and 3) Feet. These are the three places that touch some elemental structure of the bike. There are three major considerations for each point of contact known as the PCP’s in cycle wear design — PROTECTION, COMFORT and PERFORMANCE. In this blog, we’ll go into each in depth and demystify the questions one by one as they relate to each contact point, beginning with Protection.

PROTECTION
Obviously, the most important consideration when choosing cycle wear, but which of the three contact points warrants your greatest attention? Even in group indoor cycle classes, most instructors and participants would say “one’s feet” are the priority. Now, let’s explain why this is “something less than correct”. If you had only one piece of gear that you could invest in it should be bottoms with a protective chamois. Your undercarriage, or the places on your body that makes contact with the saddle, is the body part that has the most opportunity for irreparable damage.

Undercarriage
For both men and women, major blood vessels and nerves that supply the sexual organs are present in the perineal area — this would be the pudendal artery and nerves in females, and the perineum arteries and nerves in males. It has been scientifically proven that it takes only 11% of ones body weight to compress the arteries that supply these parts, and this constant compressive action, like the repetitive “squeezing of a straw,” eventually could lead to blood vessel damage and ultimately potential anorgasmia or erectile dysfunction. One can readily see the folly of not wearing any protective or padded bottoms, which is the norm for the majority of indoor cyclists. One could make a very strong argument that an indoor cyclist, who is pedaling furiously, unprotected on a mis-fitted saddle for forty-five minutes, is doing more damage to themselves than an average road cyclist who is properly attired with a professional bicycle fit pedaling steadily for three hours.

So what does all this mean? DON’T CYCLE TRAIN WITHOUT WEARING A PROTECTIVE CHAMOIS PAD! The pad disperses pressure in the perineal area affording protection to your sensitive blood vessels and tissues. If one wanted to really be proactive, combine a well-padded bottom with an anatomical saddle (one with a cutout at the perineal pressure point) to eliminate most major concerns.

Padded cycling bottoms and chamois come in all shapes and sizes. An indoor cyclist doesn’t need to look like she’s “kitting-up” for the Tour of California. Basic solid color shorts, capris, tights and even skorts come with varying chamois densities, from unobtrusive triathlon-type fleece chamois to 14mm thick distance pads. The smart choice is to at least invest in some type of protective bottom, whatever agrees with your own aesthetic sensibilities. Just don’t ever get on a saddle without it!

Feet
The next most important point of contact to protect is one’s feet. Often you see indoor cyclists and even outdoor riders wearing soft-soled shoes, such as running shoes. Whenever outside or in, a stiff soled shoe is a prerequisite in cycling as it prohibits the bending or swaying of the foot’s arch with each pedal stroke. This flexing could lead to numbness at best, and ligament damage at worst. Plantar Fasciitis is a byproduct of incorrect cycling footwear. Flexible soles can also create issues with other joints like knees and ankles if used frequently in cycling.

Hands
Finally, the hands are the third contact point in cycling. There is some confusion, mainly amongst indoor cyclists, on why hand protection is necessary. Many wonder why would one use cycling gloves for an indoor class — the chances of falling off a spin bike are minimal. True, but that’s not the primary function of gloves, even in outdoor cycling. The primary reason for padded gloves — both outdoors and indoors — is to protect the median and ulnar nerves that travel trough the wrists through the palm to our fingers.

Whether we like it or not, unconsciously we add pressure to the handlebars through our grip, and this has an adverse effect on our sensitive nerves. The median leading outward from our wrists through our thumb to the index and ring fingers, and the ulnar to the pinky and ring finger.

So what does that mean? Your hands could go numb if you don’t protect them with decently padded gloves. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is another nasty byproduct of unprotected hands. Secondary safety issues are a loss of grip due to excessive perspiration, and the aforementioned occasional outdoor spill.

My next blog will focus on the “C” or Comfort as it relates to the three contact points.