Shaving for Acceptance — Velo Club Traverse

Nah mate, I will never shave my legs. Why would you do that? Lycra, that is a bit weird, you would not catch me wearing that stuff. How things change hey! Cycling back in the day for me was mountain biking, which meant adventures around the South of England, camping in the New Forest, hitting the trails around Box Hill and being very bad at jumps. The idea of squeezing into lycra and shaving legs was well off my radar.

With my shaved legs, I easily snuck into the Ineos train without them noticing

As I migrated towards the road, it seemed that if I was to be accepted, then lycra was necessary. Everyone was wearing it, I am a sheep afterall. Actually, the idea of struggling up a hot, long climb wearing heavy shorts and t-shirts was not that appealing neither. I guess you gain an aero advantage as well.

Then about 15 years ago, I was cycling up the Col du Galibier. I was actually feeling quite strong and enjoying it. I came up to a group of guys from a Yorkshire cycling club. We were chatting away and I specifically remember them asking me why I did not shave my legs. I was a bit taken aback by it, it was the first time in my life that I have been asked that question. I can't quite remember my answer but I do remember thinking it should have been me asking them why on earth they do!

Over the years, I have heard a lot of questionable reasons as to why it is necessary to rid yourself of leg hair if you want to be a roadie. It is faster, it is better for the healing process after you crash and it is better for massages; are reasons often given. Clearly none of these are really that relevant to your average cyclist, it all seemed a bit of a joke for me. If I was not going to be in the Tour, then why bother? I used to specifically think it was better to overtake the shaved leg brigade with full leg hair on show. I would never shave my legs.

The doubt started whilst watching the Tour du France on the Mont Ventoux stage. Bedoin, the village at the base, was packed and we found a bar to watch some of the race before it arrived. There was a larger group of cyclists, being rather annoying and loud, on one side of the terrace, whilst two others were sat calmly watching the TV on the other. These were very cool, I wondered what the difference was, it couldn't be their shaved legs could it?

I pushed the idea to the back of my head, I was not ready to confront this thought. I thought maybe it could be unpacked by a therapist later on in life. In the meantime, I just had the Tour to watch and then we were off to a wedding where there were normal people, not into cycling and who certainly didn't shave their legs- but there was a niggle......

Years passed, I was loving the Alps and cycling with the groups of people out here on my trips. I really was enjoying making jerseys and shorts for VCT and Traverse; it is something that I get a buzz out of. It struck me that if I did want to make the photos of the shorts look a little more pro, then maybe I should consider shaving my legs. It would be no biggy, the hair would grow back. Maybe it was time?

Then all the questions, how do I do it? Razor, clipper, wax? Where do I do it? How high do I go? Are there lotions needed? Who should I seek for discreet advice? It was a minefield. I realised that acceptance was just the first step.

Just a load of guys in lycra without a hair in sight

I remember the shame whilst first doing it, then the relief and satisfaction. I stopped just above the short line. I felt like a new man, a cyclist. I went out and smashed some Strava records. I got the photos and thought that they did actually look marginally better. I had to admit to myself though that the photo reason was just a little trick excuse to get me over the line.

I even started to like the process, I realised that I needed to go higher as it looked weird in normal shorts, soon I was fully embracing it. I would, though, need to come up with all sorts of plausible excuses as to why I do it, but I guess the truth is, I just like how it feels to touch.