OLD GUY LEFT ALONE

     Marilane’s recent trip to Europe sparked an internal competition to see how many days of her absence I could go without washing bike clothes.  She will be gone eighteen days and I have ridden fifteen days in a row.  It turns out that I have nineteen pair of shorts (I refuse to call them bibs unless they actually are bibs, I have three of those).  She will be home tomorrow (Wednesday) and I finally washed clothes today.  For those counting, I had three days of bike clothes in the hamper when she left.  I didn’t get the emergency pair from the car. 

First, a breakdown into shorts categories:

Trainer - Old, serviceable but too worn to be ridden with a group (4)

One hour - Old, can be worn in public (2)

Two hour - Newer (7)

Four hour - Comfortable enough to wear on long rides (3)

Skin suits - For time trial races (2)

One and done – Kept in the car for emergencies, very worn. (1)

     Further explanation: when I say old, I’m talking about twenty years or more.  Newer is less than ten years old.  I actually have a new Rapha that was a Christmas present last year.  Very nice.

     I have two sets of gloves I use in rotation.  For this experiment each set was used for a week.  I also have a team set that I wear when wearing the team kit.  Used once.  I had just enough socks without breaking open the new ones that are waiting for old ones to wear out.  Some of the socks are also over twenty years old, they just don’t wear out.  Jersey selection wasn't a problem, I have 37 currently.

     I reduced riding long distance by myself just in case something happened needing assistance.  In using the trainer shorts I didn’t expose myself to anyone.  These were worn in a park while I did various drills or recovery.  I brought out the time trial bike for two days in the skin suits. 

    Marilane usually washes bike clothes once a week.  Until now I had not operated the new washer.  Full disclosure, it took two loads, shorts in one and everything else in the other.  She doesn't get in until late tomorrow, so I'll get in a good workout in the morning.