Not in a Million Years: Hairy Legs and Sharp Razors

“The best reason I can think of for not running for President of the United States is that you have to shave twice a day.” – Adlai E Stevenson

There are points in everyones live where he has to make live chancing decision. It’s a that point and at that moment where growth occurs and chance sets in to fundamentaly change the persons character. At that point live takes a different direction for the better, or the worse. As triathletes we also have fundamental questions to answer.

And my answer to a question that has boggled the  mind of male triathletes for years was: NO. I’M NOT SHAVING MY LEGS!.

How did I come to this answer? Well the weather in The Netherlands has been phenomenal lately and so it was that, for the first time in my triathlon career, I went cycling with shorts on.

As I was rolling down the road in this beautiful spring weather I looked down and something caught my eye: I’m a gorilla with a triathlon addiction. Well, not exactly, I’m not hairy at all but when it comes down to my legs I would like to say that I have enough hair to survive winter without the temperature on my legs dropping to anything below zero. It’s like a very warm blanket that protects my legs from the cold temperatures of the harsh outside world.. until spring comes along and ruins it all.

See, unshaved legs just look strange(?) in cycling shorts. Like god said: “People are made with hairy legs EXCEPT for the ones who will cycle, they shall be different.” and later he modified that statement to: “And the ones that swim shall also shave because it will be commonly believed that this shall make them more aerodynamic” . As a triathlete you swim, cycle and run and because you cycle and swim you shall therefore shave your legs.

Then comes the point that you actually start paying attention to it, ‘Are other people also shaving their legs?‘ And yes, yes they were. Swimmers shaved, cyclist shaved, runners just didn’t care.

Then I realized something:

I have waited my whole childhood to have hair on my legs ( I actually was insulted when the doctor taped my leg as a child and told me that I ‘luckily didn’t have that much hair on my legs yet’) and now I have to shave my legs because of a code that swimmers/cyclist/triathletes have? How about noooooo.

I’m too emotionally attached to the hair on my legs, we have been through so much and I’m just not ready to say goodbye to it.

I may look like a gorilla on the bike and I may not be as aerodynamic as the swimmers that shave their legs but you can be damn sure I will be a proud swimming, cycling, un-aerodynamic, hairy gorilla till the absolute end. I will be an IronGorilla how about that.

To quote *ugh*lady gaga*ugh*:

I WAS BORN THIS WAY!

(Well, I wasn’t born with hairy legs but you get the statement I’m trying to make here)