Totally off the wall question

[blondiebiker]

My DH asked me if female cyclists ever "lift a leg" to urinate like guys do on long road races. My answer? "I don't think it would work very well, but I really have no idea... oh, I know! I'll ask TE!"

BTW... do guys really do that, or has it grown into an urban legend?

[redrhodie]

I've been watching a lot of old races on video, and yes, guys do it while riding. I've even seen one teammate hold the handlebars of another during the event. Now that's a team player.

I've never heard of a women doing it. I can't imagine it would work.

[Eden]

Guys do it all the time from the bike. Women, not having the proper anatomy to keep things away from themselves and the bike, are generally more civilized about it and pee breaks (where in it would be a VERY big breach of ettiquite to attack or otherwise try to change the outcome of the race) are called. Everyone stops, and discretely as possible does what is necessary at the side of the road.

I have heard of women just letting it go while riding, which seems more acceptable in the high level tri community, but is generally frowned upon in pack racing..... I witnessed a woman who was able to pull back her short leg just a little and let it flow (she must have practiced this move, because she did not get it on herself).... but she did it at the line up for a crit, right on the main street of the little town we were racing in I thought it was pretty tactless, even if no one outside of the race could see her do it.

[Grog]

Not 100% sure, but I think in triathlons it's actually not permitted to go on the side of the road or otherwise "urinate in public." The rules are supposedly so that the people who live alongside the race courses don't get fed up with the lack of... hmm, manners of the racers. Hit the portapotty or be disqualified.

Thus it somehow (in a distant way) makes sense (sort of) to pee in your shorts and wash out with a water bottle if you are going for the money, i.e. top spots.

[Pax]

I can't imagine the amount of chafing you'd have after peeing in your shorts!

[GLC1968]

I can't imagine the amount of chafing you'd have after peeing in your shorts!

Or how painful it would be if you already had some measure of chafing going on!

[Eden]

Not 100% sure, but I think in triathlons it's actually not permitted to go on the side of the road or otherwise "urinate in public." The rules are supposedly so that the people who live alongside the race courses don't get fed up with the lack of... hmm, manners of the racers. Hit the portapotty or be disqualified.

Thus it somehow (in a distant way) makes sense (sort of) to pee in your shorts and wash out with a water bottle if you are going for the money, i.e. top spots.

In general urinating in public is a big no-no in the road racing community too. If you get caught taking a break in the bushes at the start, rather than waiting for the potty line, you will get tossed out. In the race its a bit of a different story, but being discrete is generally a good thing and of course, mind where you are at - not in a residential area please.... There are only a few races long enough that we ladies (and really most of the men's races too) do that justify pee breaks, and the only neighbors around are of the mooing sort, who generally don't care about what's by the side of the road

[Tuckervill]

Thank you, Eden.

I went to see a race last weekend. The start was at an elementary school, with houses and their back fence backing up to the driveway where the start was. It was crowded and the area was compact. No porta-potties...the school was open for restrooms.

Still, I saw some guy scooted up to someone's backyard privacy fence, taking a LONG leak. I mean, what the heck?? You can't walk 15 yards into the school?? You pee'd on someone's fence? In PUBLIC? What are you, FIVE????

\rant

Karen

[aicabsolut]

Guys do it all the time from the bike. Women, not having the proper anatomy to keep things away from themselves and the bike, are generally more civilized about it and pee breaks (where in it would be a VERY big breach of ettiquite to attack or otherwise try to change the outcome of the race) are called. Everyone stops, and discretely as possible does what is necessary at the side of the road.

I have heard of women just letting it go while riding, which seems more acceptable in the high level tri community, but is generally frowned upon in pack racing..... I witnessed a woman who was able to pull back her short leg just a little and let it flow (she must have practiced this move, because she did not get it on herself).... but she did it at the line up for a crit, right on the main street of the little town we were racing in I thought it was pretty tactless, even if no one outside of the race could see her do it.

Really? Before a crit?!?! I know I'm going to have to pee a million times before a crit because of all the water I chug beforehand, especially for those early morning races. I always plan a portapotty stop before heading to the line.

There was one RR incident with a big group peeing at the line that really wasn't our fault. We were staging for approx 2 HOURS, because there were major delays with the early race group, and word didn't get passed along to the staging area. Luckily, my teammate and I got others to hold our bikes while we ran into the school at the staging area after we'd drained another bottle of water just sitting around in a hot parking lot. Other ladies weren't so confident in leaving the lineup. Then we had a neutral roll out to the start line where we'd stop and restart in staggered fashion for all the fields leaving in that time block. We roll up to the start line and ladies just took a step off into the ditch and dropped shorts en masse. It was pretty awful but I really couldn't blame them. It made race promoters do 2 things this year. 1) allow more time per race block to avoid delays, and 2) enact a rule that if you were caught peeing near the start line you'd be DQ'd.

Generally, I do not see the need for there to be a pit stop in the vast majority women's races. Long tris I can see, but there are some rest stops available along the way right?

[Eden]

Generally, I do not see the need for there to be a pit stop in the vast majority women's races.

There's only one race that I do each year long enough to need pee breaks - there's a 70 mile stage and a 104 mile stage, so usually there's at least one break called, sometimes more. Its mostly out in the middle of range country - very few houses and lots of cows (not even much traffic) so no one really minds.

[chicago]

The only kind of pee'ing I've seen in a sport is during a marathon. The best is watching the men pee off the Verazzano Bridge during the start of the NewYork marathon... such silly men.

[shootingstar]

Can be an interesting problem if long-distance touring in prairie like geography --for men (some who are more discrete than other peeing over-the-bridge yahoos) and women.

I believe in one of Josie Dew's cycling travelogues, she describes a contraption like a poncho/skirt where she would crouch to pretend to examine interestedly at a bush/flowers..