Today was a relaxing day. I was going to race the Marsh Creek MTB race, but after several sleepless nights the past few weeks my body just said no, so I listened. I slept in late. I took a shower. I shaved my legs to prep them for the cooler months and the wonderful balms that cyclists use to fend off the wet, cold, stinging months of late fall and winter. That balm is affectionately known as embrocation. It comes in many styles, mixes, and strengths but I tend to steer towards the hottest stuff I can find- I figure if Im going to go through the ritual, I may as well go all the way, right? I mean this stuff has an entire
magazine dedicated to it so there is definitely a cult status for using it. Right now Im using 'Freddie's Choice Warm Up Xtra' which is a concoction of mineral oil, petrolatum, tea tree oil, wintergreen and cayenne. It works nicely, but I think Im going to move towards something a bit more 'natural' and go with some
Mad Alchemy warm, and maybe even the 'hot- for the truly insane' if I can find it. Until then remember, when using embrocation its
chamois creme first, embrocation second. Try it the other way and you will find out why its a bad idea (not that I would know or anything.) And all of this was to simply go for ride on the area back roads and enjoy a sunny but cool fall day. Yeah, it was worth it.