Ladies - I want your cycling shorts.

[Reynard]

A mate of mine was a masseur type guy in his retirement. He became closely involved with British Cycling, and through that he got to know some of the long distance guys.
There was an attempt at the mixed tandem LeJog record, and he was asked and agreed to be soigneur/masseur/support person. All was fine until somewhere in Scotland when the lady part of the team began to have problems "down there". Chafe etc., all the usual long distance complaints.
She asked him to treat those regions with his various potions and creams and dropped her pants for him. He did the job and they carried on - and got the record.
Funny thing is...several of us and our wives were out together one night and this story came out in conversation. All 4 guys just shrugged their shoulders with the view that the treatment was all part and parcel of long distance stuff. The women all went berserk. His wife still holds it against him more than 20 years later!!!

Blimey!

I'm with the guys on this one. I file it in the same category as a male nurse doing a smear test - it's inside the boundaries of the job, ergo I have no issues with it.

 

[mudsticks]

Blimey!

I'm with the guys on this one. I file it in the same category as a male nurse doing a smear test - it's inside the boundaries of the job, ergo I have no issues with it.

Yes I'd say the same, given the objective circs..

But then we don't necessarily know the whole story .

 

[battered]

Blimey!

I'm with the guys on this one. I file it in the same category as a male nurse doing a smear test - it's inside the boundaries of the job, ergo I have no issues with it.

Precisely. I was in hospital here in Leeds after the crash and the nurses who did my necessary showering and bumwiping (I had 2 broken arms, amongst other things) were all women. It's what they do, it's not as if they were touching me up. Quite apart from anything else their general demeanour was such that nobody would get the wrong idea. "Raaaght then luvveh, let's get you squared oop then, eh? Ev yer finished yer breakfast? Good. Can't ev you sittin' araahnd all day wi'ahht evvin' 'ed a shower, can we? Can you walk yersen' to t' shower? Coom on then..." etc.
It was all about as sexual as someone doing the washing up. Which was of course the way it should have been. The one day when I had a very young, attractive female nurse doing the job I'm not sure which of us was the more embarrassed. I suspect that she was so new in the job that she'd only seen a handful of naked men in her life and that her general exposure to such was in a romantic context, so she looked and no doubt felt very uncomfortable in the presence of a naked man that she didn't know. The usual nurses were all 40+ and generally gave out an air of "Ah've bin marrid 20-odd year, Ah've got 2 sons, both grown up nah, there's nowt Ah've not seen when it comes to men and boys and Ah'm sure that you're ner different. You and all t' rest on 'em on this ward."

 

[battered]

In response to the initial query, there are lots of shorts with padded lycra liners that don't get sweaty and clingy and just look like shorts when on. Obviously I'm a man so I don't know how this works out for women, but it ought to work. In addition, if you do get a chafe, then Savlon (or similar) is your friend. I do know that cotton underwear is absolutely horrible on a bike, it rubs holes in you.

 

[KnittyNorah]

there's nothing to be embarrassed about, after all - and I guess I would find it difficult to put myself in the shoes of someone who can't talk about these things as easily as I do.

I'm with you on that one - despite my advanced age!

TBH, with a grandmother (sadly, deceased long before I was born) who was one of Charis Frankenberg's helpers in Manchester (read here) and a mother who told me many stories about her , and about her own youth, I do find it hard to understand people who keep all evidence of (especially female) bodily functions hidden - even to the extent that they won't talk about damage or injury or disease. I do wish I'd've known my maternal grandmother - she sounded like a formidable woman in many ways, but very caring nonetheless.

 

[mudsticks]

I'm with you on that one - despite my advanced age!

TBH, with a grandmother (sadly, deceased long before I was born) who was one of Charis Frankenberg's helpers in Manchester (read here) and a mother who told me many stories about her , and about her own youth, I do find it hard to understand people who keep all evidence of (especially female) bodily functions hidden - even to the extent that they won't talk about damage or injury or disease. I do wish I'd've known my maternal grandmother - she sounded like a formidable woman in many ways, but very caring nonetheless.

Thanks for the link..

What a strong minded woman..I'll bet she came in for some flak too.

I think formative experiences, and messaging play a big part in our attitudes.

But social pressures, and bad experiences along the way can hamper things too.

Look at the way women are still portrayed as being of principal interest, either sexually, or romantically in our mainstream media.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

I went to Marie Stopes for the snick, many years ago.
I had to have a full interview with a (lady) nurse. She kept on about what my wife thought of me having the op. I silenced her when I presented my payment - a cheque drawn on my wife's account!

 

[Reynard]

I'm with you on that one - despite my advanced age!

TBH, with a grandmother (sadly, deceased long before I was born) who was one of Charis Frankenberg's helpers in Manchester (read here) and a mother who told me many stories about her , and about her own youth, I do find it hard to understand people who keep all evidence of (especially female) bodily functions hidden - even to the extent that they won't talk about damage or injury or disease. I do wish I'd've known my maternal grandmother - she sounded like a formidable woman in many ways, but very caring nonetheless.

I think you had to be formidable in order to do that sort of thing back then, given the opposition.

My maternal grandmother was a very well-known midwife in Ghent (Belgium) during the inter-war years, and mum says that all the exams were done "under the skirt" so only be feel. Plus you didn't mention certain body parts by name, the issue was, erm, skirted around...

Mum also trained as a midwife, but then decided she preferred nursing. She ended up as a Matron in the Belgian army, so it's just like what @battered says about being around naked blokes etc.

 

[pawl]

Bicycle mechanics and repairs has disappeared Help please

 

[KnittyNorah]

I think you had to be formidable in order to do that sort of thing back then, given the opposition.

My maternal grandmother was a very well-known midwife in Ghent (Belgium) during the inter-war years, and mum says that all the exams were done "under the skirt" so only be feel. Plus you didn't mention certain body parts by name, the issue was, erm, skirted around...

Mum also trained as a midwife, but then decided she preferred nursing. She ended up as a Matron in the Belgian army, so it's just like what @battered says about being around naked blokes etc.

I believe my maternal grandmother was 'recommended' to the Mother's Clinic by the panel doctor, Dr Valdez, in the part of Manchester where she lived, as being an ideal 'candidate' for the 'intelligent, sensible and respectable working-class women' Charis Frankenberg wanted to recruit among 'the poorer classes', to be a sort of unofficial advisor and guide - which she was already was, via Dr Valdez. If he needed a non-nurse woman to help him with 'sensitive' things, he would ask his wife to call round (as that was less subject to gossip, doctor's eccentric wife friendly with a working class woman, what is the world coming to? How strange!) and off they went ... Because she didn't mince her words, she shocked some people but IMO only those who deserved to be shocked, from what I've heard!

 

[KnittyNorah]

Back to the subject 'in hand' (well no not exactly in hand but ...)
Here are some hints and tips specifically aimed at women's comfort in the saddle, from BBC Woman's Hour with a physiotherapist

 

[Blue Hills]

Back to the subject 'in hand' (well no not exactly in hand but ...)
Here are some hints and tips specifically aimed at women's comfort in the saddle, from BBC Woman's Hour with a physiotherapist

Interesting though seems essentially the same good advice as for blokes.