Fragrant roadies - coincidence or what?

[danphoto]

I'm very friendly, and I smell lovely. Maybe I'm the exception?

So it would seem. You certainly didn't pass us yesterday going over the Ashdown Used-To-Be-A-Forest ...

 

[Cubist]

Pray you aren't behind me as I sweat my way home after my shorts have spent the last few hours hanging in the drying room (what a bloody misnomer that is) reeking of second-hand sudocreme......... I hate this rain.

 

[ed_o_brain]

I have a theories.

The Type A cyclists are happy to break wind. (I mean fart). This makes them happy.
The Type B cyclists are so anally retentive they can't. This makes them unhappy.

Happy to help.


Joe24, if you were behind me I'd try not look back. Actually, I don't look behind me, at least not to make eye contact with other cyclists. Too busy concentrating on the traffic light waiting for the change.

 

[Joe24]

I have a theories.

The Type A cyclists are happy to break wind. (I mean fart). This makes them happy.
The Type B cyclists are so anally retentive they can't. This makes them unhappy.

Happy to help.


Joe24, if you were behind me I'd try not look back. Actually, I don't look behind me, at least not to make eye contact with other cyclists. Too busy concentrating on the traffic light waiting for the change.

So you mean you dont look behind coming up to the traffic light and slowing down, and keep a check behind when your at the traffic light?
My god I think you concentrate on the road too much, relax.

 

[Randochap]

Dunno about you but I like nothing better than to bathe in eau de cologne, go for a nice long ride and scowl at nubes along the way. Got a problem with that?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Dunno about you but I like nothing better than to bathe in eau de cologne, go for a nice long ride and scowl at nubes along the way. Got a problem with that?

Sounds good to me!

 

[lukesdad]

I'm currently dabbing a little 'L'eau d'Assos' behind my knees on club runs these days. What's everyone else using?

Lard what else!

 

[danphoto]

Dunno about you but I like nothing better than to bathe in eau de cologne, go for a nice long ride and scowl at nubes along the way. Got a problem with that?

Not at all sunshine. If it feels good, by all means do it

 

[Fab Foodie]

Lard what else!

Damn, forgot about that. An old fave, bit high Cholesterol for my liking these days and frowned apon by the veggies.

 

[Globalti]

Back to the OP.... I happen to work for a company that makes industrial perfumes, which are used in fabric conditioners and washing powders etc. What you are smelling is probably the fabric conditioner or laundry powder fragrance that was absorbed into the rider's clothes last time they got washed. Synthetic fabrics like polyester are very retentive as the aroma molecules will actually penetrate the molecular matrix of the yarn and then evaporate off slowly. You probably already know how a polyester or polypropylene base layer retains armpit odour! The perfumes used in these products are designed to be sticky and retentive on textiles with lots of things like synthetic musks. They are also "trickled down" from fine fragrances so will often smell very like an eau de toilette perfume.

 

[very-near]

Dunno, saw some guy from Ashfield RC see me and my mate out today, and he thought he was above us.
Looked like a right tart.

And some guy on a carbon cboardman bike in tarty gear blanked me at some lights, knew i was there but wouldnt look.
I was trackstanding just behind him, lights went green and i was off. Turned around and had left him for dust. Id already done 73miles by that point aswell on some large hills, and this tart couldnt even keep up or catch up.

However, i do know some people that look abit tarty, but will give a wave. So not all the same.

Has it occured to you that he might have just done a 100 miler himself, or he just didn't feel the need to do the willy waiving thing ?

If everyone else on the roads got into a full blown race at every set of lights, you wouldn't want to get on your cycle with them at all

 

[fossyant]

You probably already know how a polyester or polypropylene base layer retains armpit odour!

Any good way of removing this.......

My kit is washed everyday, but the commuter kit can get pongy after a spell of warm weather. Tried fabric conditioners, an even went back to simple soap which actually helps. Low temp washes with non-bio powder.

Ideas...freezer ????

 

[gavintc]

Not long back from a spin in the countryside with, for the first time in maybe 10 years, the lady wife along on her trusty Dawes Street Sharp, and I have a question.

We were passed on many occasions this morning by the gentlemen of the local club engaged in some form of race type thing, and it soon became apparent that they were of two distinct persuasions: Type A bade us a cheery "mornin!" as he came by, but Type B was above that sort of thing. Which of course is fair enough, and nothing new there.

What we'd never noticed before though was that most if not all of the Type B's trailed behind them a strong pong of the tart's handbag kind.

My question therefore is - are the roadies who smell pretty always the ones who don't acknowledge lesser mortals?

There are 2 issues that just jump of this comment:

1. Why are all cyclists 'expected' to acknowledge each other?
2. How do you stop smelling when you are working hard and training. Sweat smells! The implication is that 'trying too hard' is just not acceptable

I think you should just enjoy your cycling and leave others to enjoy their cycling.

 

[belairman]

I see all sorts of cyclists on my country rides, from elderly ladies fetching milk in a handlebar basket, to the full-on lycra-and-pointy-helmet type on the drops.

I always raise a hand or say hello, just as you would if you were out walking in the country and passed another walker. Mostly I get some sort of acknowledgement back, if I don't, so what? I can't get worked up about it

I am sure it is different in towns and cities, just as it would be odd to say hello to everyone you pass on the pavement in the city centre.

As for the fragrance - is it the chamois cream? Ive never used it so I dont know what it smells like.

Cheers Tim

 

[Globalti]

Another point worth remembering is that the human nose is at its most sensitive in cool wet conditions and especially outdoors in the fresh air. Riding in the slipstream of somebody who smells fragrant you may just be picking up the scent of the soap they washed with that morning.

I once had the amazing experience of smelling a tiny whiff perfume from somebody who was about 500 yards upwind of me on a wet cold day, which alerted me to the fact that I wasn't the only one plodding up a long bridleway straight into a westerly. I thought it was a woman out walking but when I caught up with the walker it was an elderly gentleman, so I must have picked up his soap or fabric conditioner.