When I was a kid life was easy. You picked up your bike from wherever you had previously left it...and as you run it down the sidewalk you jump on and ride around the neighborhood for hours.

HOURS?

I want those days back because somewhere in between THEN and NOW, something changed. The two most obvious things on that list would be my age and my anatomy. I am no longer 11 (with the chubbiness that came with it) AND I have birthed three babies. Put those two qualifiers into the picture and tragically I cannot just hop upon my bike and ride for hours. Because now instead...

I must prepare!

So today I stopped by my favorite bike shop HubBub. My mission was to get the biggest tube of chamois butter known to man. I wandered over to the shelf to find a variety of ....let me call it what it is....crotch cream (cc). Believe it or not, there are cc's for men and cc's for women...and if you are a woman you better pay attention to this warning: CC for men is medicated and rumor has it....medicated cc is not enjoyed by any woman. So we have our own, which of course can be used by a man. Here is what I purchased:

"Paceline Products takes its original Chamois Butt'r and makes it better by giving it Euro flair."

Euro flair? They are joking, right?

"It delivers all of the non-greasy, antichafing qualities of the original with an added cooling and soothing effect that has to be experienced to be appreciated. (!!) The chamois creme makes long days in the saddle a joy rather than the uncomfortable grind they can be. It feels more like Stay Puft Marshmallow than Preparation H or Vaseline."

Did they really just call the creme that I am going to apply lavishly onto my 'sensitive area' STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW SAUCE??!!

WHOA! Or perhaps I should say....Woe is me.

Now that I found what I came for, I turned to leave but was called back by Diane & Brian. And so began the passing of wisdom from sage to plebe.

The next absolutely necessary item placed on the counter....

Taken from the SportLegs website:

What’s in SportLegs?

The active ingredients are premium natural-source European lactate compounds of calcium and magnesium plus Vitamin D.

Why haven’t I heard about SportLegs before?

In a nutshell, human nature. Athletes are naturally competitive. They discover SportLegs works, they immediately think, “Wow. I’m gonna tell exactly NOBODY about this stuff.”

Is it my imagination, or does the "burn" really get worse with age?

It's not your imagination: The "burn" and the next-day soreness really do get worse with age. It's the biggest reason people quit sports during their peak earning years. The older you get, the more you'll appreciate how SportLegs lets you figuratively turn back the calendar. You don't have to act your age.

Is SportLegs safe?

SportLegs’ ingredients have been Generally Recognized As Safe by our FDA for more than twenty years. At the appropriate body-weight dosage, the federal Institute of Medicine recognizes these ingredients as safe enough for a one-year-old.

It almost feels like cheating. Is SportLegs legal?

SportLegs’ ingredients remain legal for all competition.

SAFE and LEGAL? Good to know. Truth is....we tried this a month ago when they were giving out samples on a ride we took in Burton...and it does work.

No one likes 'the burn' so SportLegs will be traveling with me.

On to the next pharmaceutical magic wand:

NUUM
Isn't that a funny name!

You Sweat - Nuun Active Hydration Replenishes

ELECTROLYTE ENHANCED DRINK TABS DESIGNED TO KEEP YOU OPTIMALLY HYDRATED WHEREVER YOUR ACTIVE LIFESTYLE TAKES YOU.

Packed with electrolytes, light flavor, no sugars or carbs, and portable, Nuun Active Hydration is the perfect sports drink.
The electrolytes found in Nuun will help alleviate cramps, help muscles function, communicate and burn energy efficiently.
NUUN ACTIVE HYDRATION comes in 11 flavors: Banana, Orange, Lemon Lime, Strawberry Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Kona Cola, Lemon Tea, Tri-Berry, Grape, Tropical, and Citrus Fruit.

Diane & Brian say this product may be the most important of all...it replaces your gut electrolytes.

(God knows, you don't want to run out of those.) Easy enough, you just drop one tab in a bottle of water and VOILA! You got yourself somes gut electrolytes. psst...they told me not to share these so they must be important.

The last product I almost left without...until I had a flashback. It was thursday during last years ride when my lips protested...and did so loudly. Riding from west to east every morning put my lips in direct exposure to the summer sun. Thursday they just gave up...red, tender, swollen and peelings, I was convinced they would fall of any second. We pulled over to indulge ourselves in a weird PB&J sandwich...under a tree was Amy Howard. Amy was not only the recent CEO of the Davis Phinney Foundation, but she was on our team...we just had never met. She did two things for us that day....she gave me a precious supply of this:

ZINC OXIDE. It was a bit late for my severely sunburned lips but I used it none the less and vowed I would bring some with me this year. AND I am.

I mentioned Amy had 2 things for us so I will close with the following video....which made us happy and gave us the extra push to finish off the week. So here is Mr Davis Phinney, olympic cyclist...