Finally, Real CX Weather

Yesterday's temperatures were ideal for a cx race. Cold, windy, overcast. A raw Belgian day if there ever was. Possibly the only thing missing was some form of precipitation, but I suspect there's plenty of time for that. Seeing as the weather was below 40 degrees, many were faced with the dilemma of shorts, knickers, or tights. Not being a fan of the two latter choices, I opted for the "Belgian Knee Warmers" option and used embrocation. My choices for the day were a double layer of:


Qoleum #3


Mad Alchemy

The Qoleum #3 is the hottest of the trio of embrocations produced by Qoleum. The consistency is somewhat similar to mayo (don't know what it would taste like with frites, though) and it goes on in a sticky fashion. You really have to work it into your skin, but when it's on, it's on. You feel it begin to work almost immediately. When you're not moving around and creating wind chill on the bike, your legs will feel prickly and hot. In other words, you'll know it's working.

The Mad Alchemy medium on the other hand is a easily spread ointment of sorts quite similar to the consistency of butter. Goes on smooth and works into the skin nicely. The added benefit of the Mad Alchemy is the fact that it has a reddish copper coloring to it (all natural by the way) and it gives a nice PRO sheen to your legs. As was reported on Belgium Knee Warmers the natural color of this stuff "would convert George Hamilton to cycling." They are right, this stuff is PRO all the way!

I guess it worked for me, I had my best finish of the year, a 17th place, and my legs were perfectly warm and rockin' throughout the race. Heck, even after my shower this stuff was still keeping my legs warm throughout the evening.