Embrocation - The Burn, The Love

No one will dispute that cyclocross is a unique sport. It's a cycling sport that has cyclists riding road bikes off road and if that's not enough you've got to periodically get off your bike to jump over barriers and run up hills that are too steep to ride. Outside of Triathlon, it's the only cycling sport that requires some running.

Another aspect of cyclocross that is relatively unique is embrocation. Sure, it gets used by roadies when the weather turns cold but how long into Fall do they ride anyway? Embrocation is almost celebrated in cyclocross. You're standing at the start line and you smell the pungent smell, spicy, aromatic, and you see the shaved legs glistening in the morning sun. It's great to be alive. The sight and smell of embrocation often has a place in a new racers description of their first races.

Embrocation is usually an oil, though sometimes a lotion, that delivers, among other herbs, capsaicin to the skin. Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers that makes them spicy. The same feeling you get on your tongue is now on your legs and it feels great. At least it feels great until you get home for your after race shower and forget to clean it off before the hot water amplifies the heat on your legs to a scorching level.

A lot of cyclists, including mountain bikers, roadies, 'crossers, triathletes, etc, like shaving their legs. Along with providing a real, or perceived, increase in speed and performance they also like that it shows off their well toned legs and makes them feel strong. I am not one of those people. I reluctantly shave my legs several days before the first 'cross race and then each Thursday thereafter so that they're ready for embrocation on Saturday.

Trust me you don't want to shave on Friday night or Saturday morning then rub embrocation into unseen nicks and cuts, owwwww! After shaving, my legs feel exposed, cold and weird. I really only do it so that the embrocation doesn't turn into a big goopy mess, clinging to my leg hairs.

There are a couple of embrocation products I use. For mellow fall rides I use a lotion type that doesn't have much capsaicin and just sort of wakes up my legs. But, for 'cross races in the cold and rain nothing beats the Mad Alchemy - Medium, except maybe the Hot, but the Medium gets so hot just driving in the car I'm scared to try the Hot. I go in the bathroom for the manly ritual of rubbing spicy oil onto my shaved legs about half an hour before I leave for the race. It seems to add an exclamation point to the excitement of the day. Sort of like, the chill in the air on a Fall day at a football game...or a cyclocross race.

I'm often a little worried about how hot my legs get in the car and try to aim the heater vents at my body core instead of my legs, but once I'm in the middle of a cold and rainy, or snowy, race I'm quite happy my legs have their protective, warm, oily coating. Rain, mud, snow, would all start to sap energy from my legs and make me cold otherwise but with the embrocation on it all just beads up and slides off, preparing the way for a solid mid-pack, C class finish.