When to wear shorts

Over the past few weeks I have noticed the annual phenomenon of MWS appearing on almost every road I travel.

Mamils Wearing Shorts appear out of many a byroad as the longer evenings begin. Experienced cyclists are well aware of the potential damage to their knees if they head out on cold mornings or evenings with their bare legs exposed to the elements.

However, many hurling or football, rugby or soccer players have turned to the bike as a form of refuge as injury or old age put an end to their previous sporting endeavours. Wearing a pair of shorts jogging around a field is fine but when you take in the wind chill factor and the amount of movement that your knees make during each of the ninety pedal revolutions per minute on a bike it is a completely different matter altogether.

So, when should you wear shorts on a bike ?

The answer is pretty simple.

When training or just going for a spin on a nice dry morning or evening it needs to be 16 degrees plus to wear shorts. You should still be wearing a long sleeve jersey at this stage.

It needs to be 20 degrees plus to wear shorts and a short sleeve jersey without arm warmers.

There are those who feel that anytime the sun is out, there is an opportunity to work on the tan lines but the healthy choice is to forget the vanity and stick with the sanity.

Barry

www.thecyclingblog.com

 

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3 COMMENTS

  • Emily

    I wear short of the time i go out for cycling. Actually, Wearing a short sets me up in right frame of mind and help achieve my daily target of riding 15 miles.

  • Old Fox Cycling (@oldfoxcycling)

    I don’t wear shorts under 20 degrees, except in competition. Also I often start my training with leg warmers on, it’s never too late to take them off if feeling a bit too warm in the middle of a climb, for example. Nice blog. cheers !

    • Barry

      Leg warmers can be very handy. Good point

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