Cycling
Shorts
The first time I folded my husband’s bike shorts I laughed
out loud. Many thoughts and questions
came into my mind. Why was there so much
padding where the bottom goes? Why that padding is necessary since the seat
already has padding built in? Are cyclist’s
bottoms so delicate that they can’t handle riding without a mini pillow in their
shorts?
As I laughed out loud my husband came over to see
what was so funny about our laundry. I then
proceeded to ask him my questions about his cycling shorts with some gentle*
teasing included. My teasing including
nicknaming his cycling shorts “butt shorts”.
In answer to my questions he explained the ruff
rubbing the saddle has on a bottom and the pain and discomfort it causes.
For over the
last decade I have always called my husband’s cycling shorts butt shorts. It
has come up every time they come through the wash or when he is getting dressed
to ride. My gentle husband has always silently shaken his head at my teasing.
A little bit into our marriage my husband bought me
my own bicycle and pair of butt shorts.
I felt very funny and awkward the first time I put the shorts on. Walking around in them was even more awkward
which of course made me laugh. I felt ridiculous.
Over the next several years my bike and butt shorts
collected dust as I was having children and unable to ride while pregnant. Finally in the last two months I have gotten
back on a bike. I put back on my awkward
butt shorts. My legs felt like jello,
then jello jigglers, then on to really sore as I continued to ride on the bike
trainer.
One night after the kids were in bed I was trying
to get ready to cycle and I couldn’t find my butt shorts anywhere. I knew my energy level was dropping fast so I
asked my husband if I could use his pair.
“Sure” was his response.
I put them on and thought these are more
comfortable than mine until I started to cycle.
In less than three minutes I commented to my husband about how much it
hurt.
“How do you cycle like this?” I asked.
“I am usually sore for a while.” He responded.
“Why haven’t you said anything? You need new
shorts.”
“Because there have always been more important ways
to spend our money. And those shorts never had much padding to start with.”
His Shorts My Shorts
Before
I felt really bad for all the teasing I had given
my husband over the years. It was the equivalent
of the teasing I had received over the last ten years for throwing a pillow at
his nose. Except this was worse. His teasing was justified. The padding in cycling shorts is necessary to
not be raw and tender all the time. I then offered to let him use my shorts,
which he said no thank you too (they are too small for him).
I had to find a way to fix this, the teasing and
the lack of padding in his shorts. The next
day I found my shorts and started to analyze the construction of the
padding. The shape, size, and the materials
it had to be made out of so that I could replicate it for him.
I asked my husband if he would be alright with me trying
to add padding into his shorts. He said “Sure.” I told him what I had realized. The padding in the shorts was made out the
same or similar material to the padding found in a bra and nearly the same
shape but the shape as a pad a girl wears when on her period. I told him I should have been calling them
pad shorts (not in teasing but show my inaccuracies)
He then says” I think I prefer you calling them
butt shorts.”
I thought this will definitely be more comfortable
for him. I was really excited for him to
cycle again. After he had cycled again the
next day I asked how they were and he said he was bruised and raw. I was in complete shock. I had imitated the shape in my shorts as
exactly as I could manage. Why hadn’t it
worked? Now it was worse. He showed me
where the source of the problem lay. In my
desire to add a lot of padding I had
overlapped some parts of the padding which was exactly where he was
bruised.
That night I took the
overlapping padding out.
2nd
Attempt
Overlapping
padding removed
The next time
he rode I was not excite, I was nervous.
I didn’t want him to be worse off from my efforts to help him. I got up my courage and asked him “how was
the ride?” He responded “Mucho mejor bella dama .I love you”
My response was “I love you too. But what does the Spanish mean?”
“The
Spanish means "much better beautiful lady"
I was
dancing in my seat when I go this message back. Yeah! And I am currently trying to only call them
cycling shorts.
Materials
4 bra padding cups- from bras from family that has worn
out 0.00
Thread-
left over from another project 0.00
Paper
– used for tracing the shape of the padding in his shorts 0.00
Total Cost 0.00
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