Cycling Weekly – August 22, 2019

Cycling Weekly | August 22, 2019 | 49

slugs and snails produce slime? It ’s so
they don’t get cut to shreds over pieces
of sharp ground and rub off all their skin.
Same with you, my friend. Be more slug!
You need a lubricant that is not rapidly
absorbed and which is non-perfumed
and kind to skin.
The Paracycling physio is K atie
Flatters, who is also head of saddle
comfort. While guesting at the
Paracycling World Champs last year,
I quickly realised that K atie was the
capable one who isn’t afraid to call a labia
a labia — and most importantly doesn’t
beat around the bush. Naturally I asked
her about pubic hair. “Keep it because it
protects. Trim rather than shave. If you
must remove it, laser treatment is better
than waxing.”
Emily has worked with a laser hair
removal clinic to understand exactly what
and how the procedure works. Like me,
she has a biomedical science degree and
keeps abreast of recent research. Laser
removal of hair is costly and painful, but
it k ills the hair follicle, minimising the
risk of infection; hair cannot regrow to
become a point of abrasion.
Hair is the first point of antibacterial
resistance: it keeps bacteria and sweat
away from the vulnerable skin. A nd
unlike lube, it ’s completely free. Of
course, personal choice is protected;
Emily makes sure her riders can style it
out any way they choose — while being
well informed.
I fell in love with the BBC presenter
Shari Vahl, who interviewed me
after my article was published. She
was captivating, interesting, and her
statement glasses and cherry-pattern
rockabilly dress were perfectly
coordinated. More importantly, she told
me she had started cycling in her 40s
to gain some fitness and accidentally
became a long-distance tourer — and
she swore by her gel saddle cover.
A mong the companies that got in
touch, Gelovations in Britain uses
medical-grade silicon, while the crowd-
funded Ultrapedic in the USA makes
bespoke covers of “auto-conforming
inter-lock ing gel springs” — both are
wonderful, especially on long rides.
Pellitec offers anti-chafe blister pads
that contain silipos, a very thin type
of silicon that can be stuck in shoes

or on saddles to combat specific areas

of chafing — perhaps the perfect

compromise, more discreet than a

gel saddle cover but offering extra

protection where it really matters.

Fit for comfort

Ultra racer Jasmijn Muller has had two

surgeries very similar to mine, and has

recovered from both to keep winning

the horrendously long races she loves.

Her advice?

Get a bike-fit

with pressure

-mapping:

“You can

spend all the

money in the

world and buy

all the wonder

creams you

like, but

with a bad bike-fit

you will always

continue

to have issues.

We are all a bit

wonky after all,

be that in leg length

differences, muscle

imbalance or oddly

shaped labia.”

My medical team

at the Scottish

Institute of Sport

paid for my bike-fit

— I’m the first to

admit, fitting can

be costly. But as

Muller points out:

“It will save you

a lot of money on

discarded saddles

in the long run.”

She’s right: the most recent bike-fit I

had at Crimson Performance, using their

accessible jig, would have cost me no

more than a couple of saddles.

Crimson’s lead bike-fitter told me

that too many people start out buying

lots of different saddles but that ’s the

wrong approach to take. During a bike-

fitting service with pressure-mapping,

you can try multiple different saddles

and then invest in the right one for you.

Critically, it is not just about the saddle

but also about the other pressure points

FITNESS

— the handlebars and the pedals, and

how your weight is carried through

these points.

I hope that in the future bike

manufacturers or bike shops themselves

might offer free bike-fits with any road

bike that puts them in an aggressive

riding position. If you have saddle

discomfort, especially numbness

or swelling, you must get your fit

professionally assessed.

How to find the right saddle?

I wanted to find a saddle that hadn’t just

taken the classic design, cut a triangle

out of the middle and slapped on a ‘for

women' badge. Instead, I was look ing for

a saddle that had been entirely designed

specifically for the female form — and

I found one. Specialized drew on

feedback from 20 women including

A lison Kendrick, another pro cyclist

who has had surgery like mine.

At the time when the Specialized Power

Mimic was sent to me, I couldn’t do more

“I was looking for a

saddle that had been

designed specif ically

for the female form”

Ultra racer Muller’s had surgery twice

and recommends getting a bike-fit