To Shave or Not to Shave

You had to know that as a Fred I was going to address this issue at some point. Well, after a long few days on the bike I think the time has come to dive right in!

A topic of great debate for recreational cyclists has been whether to shave your legs or not to shave them. I've heard compelling arguments for both sides. I honestly think the choice is yours. I mean, if you want to go ahead and shave your legs so they match with the tan lines you already have on them then be my guest. If you want to ride with legs that look like this:

Well, you can do that too! The choice is yours. Even though your riding buddies may be appalled at that bush sticking out from under your riding shorts. But with hair that thick there's no way you can get road rash, right?

To be honest, when I first got into cycling in 2004 I resisted the temptation to shave my legs. It wasn't that I had some kind of phobia against it. I had shaved my legs in college while playing basketball. We did it for much the same reason that some cyclists shave their legs now...to make them look more muscular. Aesthetics aside, there is a more practical reason to shave your legs: road rash.

It's going to happen, you know it and I know. At some point you're going to bite the dust on your bike and it's going to hurt. There are no two ways around it. Everyone in the world that has ever ridden a bike has taken a spill on the bike. If there's a person out there that has never crashed then I want to meet them. That has to be a Guiness world record. Now that we know you're going down at some point you have to start thinking about the after-effects. You'll have to clean and bandage the wound(s). Cleaning and bandaging will be much easier on the legs if they have been shaved. The bandage tape will stick better and you'll avoid the doctor having to shave your legs if you have to make a trip to the ER. A scene from the cycling documentary, Hell on Wheels, shows former rider Rolf Aldag standing in a hotel bath tub shaving his legs and giving this exact reason for doing it. As a side note, if you've never seen the movie it is available for streaming on Netflix. You can also purchase it by clicking on the Amazon widget link on the right side of this blog.

The million dollar question now is, are you going to do it. And this applies mainly to the male riders...although there are some females out there who shall remain nameless that like to keep their legs hairy. For some reason I just can't see myself cuddling with my wife and feeling her hairy legs against me, but hey, that's just me! Let me know your stance in the comments...do you shave or stay hairy?