Citius, fortius....altius?

The Moose was a brutal drag back to reality for many of us. As well as the (possibly) unwelcome sensations of pushing your body slightly beyond it's accepted limits (burning lungs, burning legs, an uncontrollable need to vomit and/or quit) there were all the other signs that race-season was back; packing on Saturday night for all weathers and eventualities, getting up early on Sundays again, the race-breakfast (oatmeal, oatmeal and more oatmeal or if you're Rami a Maple Glazed and a black coffee), the Immodium (or generic substitute), the pinning of the bib (is it straight?), the long queue for the bathroom (how long does it take for Immodium to kick in anyway?) body-glide and, of course, remembering to shave our legs on a Saturday night.

In fact, I'd like to add another line to the "you know you're a roadie/triathlete/runner when...." jokes like "your bike costs more than your car" and "you get up earlier on Sunday morning than you do to go to work" and "you think of each hill as a cyclist/runner, even when driving a car". I'd add "you shave your legs on Saturday night in case you get lucky on Sunday morning" (rather than the other way around).

The reasons for shaving are legion, and I don't want to get into the whys and wherefores. So let us assume you have been the races, seen the guys with the shaved legs and decided it's time to go to the smooth side. Now what? As newbies (and I'm talking to the guys, you ladies know it all already) you've pondered the mechanics of it, may even stood in the shower and eyed the missus' Gillette Venus, but always stopped at the last minute as no-one ever tells you how its really done! I mean, its not really one thing one dude asks another, is it? As guys, we've got the hang of shaving per se, but the one great unasked question is always "where do you stop". We've seen guys stop shaving where their cyclinng shorts start, with the result that the look like Mr Tumnus. This, we suggest, isn't quite high enough. But how high is?

So as a public service announcement, we bring you the major anatomical landmarks of the leg (even if you can't see 'em, you can definitely poke 'em) and the relative position of triathlon specific clothing. We're not necessarily advocating any line as the right one, we're just laying it all out there for you to decide.

So, grab that razor and get hacking. Welcome to the smoooooth side

AD