Posted by Lloyd on December 10, 1998 at 12:07
In Reply to: Re: How do female racing cyclists do it? posted by Lloyd on December 10, 1998 at 11:31
Hi, all, I see I should elaborate on this a little. I've had some experience with this subject, having been a cyclist myself, and there is actually quite a lot of literature which is recommended for budding cyclists, that deals with the subject of having to drink quite unusually large amounts of liquids (at least a litre an hour, for instance) and having to pee it out at significantly high rates as well. This is because the blood has to be kept thin, and that means the kidneys work overtime.
It's a fairly common thing to call the lining of cycling knicks the 'drip tray' which is an inelegant way to refer to padding that soaks up liquids. The idea is that the liquids concerned are absorbed by the padding and then 'wicked' away from the skin, usually to end up spreading out all over the cycling knicks, and ultimately, running down the legs. This is actually not that bad, as it then evaporates there, cooling the legs. Also, the urine is so dilute as to be almost water, and so it's hardly correct to call it urine - it's actually probably more dilute than the cyclist's sweat!
The other important thing about the lining (padding) of cycling knicks is that they are designed to prevent or minimise chafing. This means, for some, that there should not be any underwear under the knicks, but lots of cyclists still wear knickers (panties or underpants) under their knicks, particularly women, to protect their delicate bits. After all, peeing through a pair of knickers isn't all that bad, now, is it?
Hope this has helped.