My dear friend Natalie asked me to share my secrets of leg shaving. Now I realize that she was completely joking but since she is a great friend, not to mention one of my first from college I am going to take the time to inform you all of the tricks of the leg shaving trade.
When I meet new people and they notice I have shaved legs they often ask why? As a cyclist I am well versed in the "proper" answers that people buy for their utility value.
Most people think that cyclists shave their legs for aerodynamic purposes. If any cyclist ever tells you this, they are lying. It's been proven that the legs cause too much turbulence for any aerodynamic benefit to be gained in bicycle design, much less in the lack of leg hair.
The most justifiable answer is that when you crash (All cyclist do. If they haven't they don't ride enough. And they certainly don't race.) and you get road rash, clean shaven legs make it possible to clean the exposed wound and with keep your legs from getting infected. Uninfected legs allow you to continue to train or race or be awesome.
But, in reality, none of these things are the real reason that cyclist shave their legs. We shave our legs because it feels better. Guys that have never shaved their legs don't know the euphoria experienced by having hair less legs. If every guy did it just once, I almost guarantee that no guy would ever walk around with legs resembling that of Sasquatch.
So, without further adieu, the tricks of the trade that I have learned over 5 years of shaving the legs.
1) If you are starting with years of growth, don't start with a razor. That's asking for disaster. Use a beard or hair trimmer and don't use a guard. This will get it as short as possible.
2) I used to use whatever I used on my face. I have since learned this is both expensive and useless. I transitioned from shaving gel to conditioner a few years back. Conditioner actually works much better than shaving gel, but I have recently discovered that simple body wash works even better.
2a) Body wash works equally as well as conditioner but saves you time because you can use the loofa (sp?) thing that already has excess body wash in it to lather up your legs and then shave. And, on top of the this, you're legs get washed twice so they're extra clean.
3) Lather one leg at a time. Shave that leg. Rinse. Lather other leg. Shave. Rinse. You should have to repeat.
4) From the ankle to the knee shave against the grain (up). Around the knee shave in whatever direction removes the hair. Above the knee always shave with the grain (varies, but unless you're blind you can figure this out) as this will help you to avoid razor burn and in grown hairs, which are annoying.
5) Lotion. After you are done in the shower, do not forget to use lotion on your freshly shaved legs. This will not only feel good in the long run it will also make them shiny which is sort of a fun side effect.
6) Shaved legs look better if they look as though they've powered bicycles over many many mountains and far forgotten roads. The order of acquiring these miles vs. shaving your legs is always up for debate.
And that, is all I know about shaving your legs.
