Nov 8, 2008

my new favorite thing

embrocation. i just like saying the word too. embrocation. i honestly didn't even know what it was until recently. i mean, i'd see people putting it on at races before. but i thought it was more of a vanity, look-at-my-gleaming muscles sort of thing. and i realize there is an element of that; but still. just thought it was warming creme stuff. didn't know it had a fancy, official name.

until i read this blog. they tout the praises of a homemade embrocation that sounds so snazzy and like one of those all-the-cool-kids-are-doing-it sort of cool, and i am such a sucker for packaging; that i thought i should get some. at the very least i made a mental note to get some for our christmas stockings. but i never did. cause when the usgp comes to town and stays in your house they bring cool swag and sometimes they give you leftover goodie bag stuff. and so as they were packing up suitcases to go back home and it was looking like there was no room in the bag - i got some embrocation. not the same stuff that i made a mental note to buy myself above, but snazzy, gleaming embrocation nonetheless. and it is so full of gleaming, warming awesomeness; it is this stuff that will be going in our christmas stockings this year. i don't know about all that mumbo-jumbo big word stuff on the site. i just know i was warm. and gleaming.

-- since i am taking the weekend off from racing, i was dusting off the road bike this morning for a nice long team ride. in a straight line. no need to get off or hop any barriers, no off-camber 180 degree turns, no sand pits. i realize that its' slight heresy to say this during 'cross season; but i've missed my road bike - and those long, steady, paceline team rides.

so i'm getting dressed. for my weekend off from 'cross racing long steady team ride and its cold out and i cannot for the life of me find my knee warmers. and we've just rearranged our entire house to include a bike room. in the house. a room solely devoted to bikes and all the paraphernalia. complete with work stand, couch, a coffee table piled high with velonews and cyclocross magazines, trainer, tv, a dresser full of bike clothes, bikes hanging from the rafters and placed on floor to ceiling poles. the only thing the room is missing is one of those little 12 pack dorm fridges and, apparently, my knee warmers.

and i realize when i put that post up on the team site about how we had a whole bunch of stuff from the usgp in our car and i would put it in a lost and found box and leave it in our car at the gun club race; i think i put my knee warmers in there and i think someone claimed them.

but the other thing that is in the new bike room is a basketful of embrocation. i actually tried it yesterday on a rainy, yet warm ride; and like water off a ducks back - the rain just beaded up on my legs. i didn't know how it would be on a cold ride, but figured i'd give it a go.

so i get to the ride and everyone is wearing tights or knickers and i am the girl in shorts - with the super secret embrocation gleaming on my legs. i should have counted how many times in the 47 miles people asked me how my legs were feeling. cause i think i was as amazed as they were that i was not cold. at all. not even a weensy bit. the other girl? she was cold. and she was in tights. i swear. this stuff is magic mojo. its my new favorite thing. i also highly suggest the bike room. that's my other latest favorite thing.

19 comments:

house on hill road said...

totally going in fatty's stocking.
and your sister is the sweetest, cutest thing ever (as are gordon and the boys). let's do coffee soon. xo.

Judi said...

sounds like some good stuff.

the bike room sounds good. dominic redid the basement so he has our bikes down there and all the bikes and frames and parts and tools and stuff he's working on. then also we have one of those wardrome thingies that hold our cycling clothes but that's not working out too well. clothes end up all over the rst of the house, or hanging up to dry in the laundry room. i find tools all over the house too. mostly on the kitchen table. nice, right?

good post zanne. hope you are doing well!

Nat said...

bike room??? Oh... totally cool.

Dude, cream that keeps you warm... I think I need it for my winter runs.

zanne said...

house: i can't wait to hear about your visit to connecticut! and yes, put the stuff in fatty's stocking. its' amazing.

judi: so far so good on our cycling stuff not winding up all over the house - cause before the room devoted to all things cycling, we did have stuff all over kitchen table - am hoping dedicated space in house nips that stuff in the bud.

nat: you need it. get it. it rocks.

Groover said...

I use Sportsbalm chamois creme and it's awesome. The best. I'm not a big fan of "warm up oil" or "starter oil" - that's what we used to call it. It apparently increases the blood flow. Under your skin! That's away from the muscle, were you want the blood to flow. Don't know if it's true but I believed it and stopped using it. Love the smell of the stuff, though.

ItchyBits said...

I've been curious about embro but like anything else I've heard arguments for and against. Still undecided but might give it a try this winter. My big score last year was toe warmers thanks to Beth Mason over at Beth's bikes. No more cold feet.

Cindy said...

maybe i need to use that stuff, since i'll be running in the rain all winter.the tanning effect wouldn't be bad either...

bsegal said...

Did I take your knee warmers? I thought they were the ones Steven had borrowed from me. Gasp! Sorry. I will wash and return asap.
Now on to more important stuff-what kind of embrocation and which one do you reccomend? I need to check this out. Seiler was talking about this yesterday. I need further education.

zanne said...

brian: the magic mojo is sportscare sportsbalm - there's a link in the post and you can buy it at cyclocrossworld.com, or we could try to convince joe to carry it!

i dont know much about embrocation on the whole either, all i know is i went for a ride in 45 degree weather in shorts & was not cold at all. this is fairly remarkable, seeing as i get cold silly easily.

i'll totally try the stuff that they say works in colder temps too. we also got some post workout stuff which i tried, but the jury is still out on whether or not that works - probably because i was comatose on the couch after my longest ride in about 3 months while it was doing its thing.

so, i am sure there is good & bad on the stuff, but i am a convert.

Stuart said...

We used to use Algipan or Deep Heat when I played rubgy in England in the winter, stank to high heaven but kept us nice and toasty!

Chris said...

I've talked with some people who use the Greyhound brand of embrocation. They seem to like it. I'm going to have to look into this madness.

zanne said...

hey chris - i have the greyhound stuff too ... just haven't tried it yet, but should do a little comparison. they gave it away at red river gorge - the girls made sure to pick up every freebie available when they weren't out working for the forest service and hanging around with smokey the bear and woodsy the owl.

sarah said...

I have been tempted to try this stuff and now I definitely will get some :)

Chris said...

Oh, Woodsy. I miss him so.
Let me know what you think after you compare.

bsegal said...

After reading your post, I ran across some of the grayhound juice and tried it on a rainy cx ride wednesday. It took about 20-30 min to work, but then....WOW! Good stuff for a cold rainy ride. The only problems were that every bit of dirt out there was stuck to me. Also its tough to wash off. That's totally outweighed by the awesome warm feeling. Another cool thing is that dancing at the spearhead concert re-activated it. I had this cool, warm sensation that was not totally from dancing with the wife! I ordered some of the mad alchemy stuff to compare with. Glad you posted this. It really made me think about this.

Gotta Run..... said...

I have never heard of such a thing. Very interesting!!!

Anonymous said...

I could have used some of that stuff on my ride yesterday. Geez it was cold. How was your race yesterday???? Do tell....

zanne said...

lord, pamster, it was indeed cold yesterday! and i think, at just the moment you asked me to tell about the race, i posted it!

a word on the embrocation: the 'yellow' stuff i used in this post is good for 45 degrees and above. the 'red' stuff good for below 45. i did not have the 'red' stuff for the race yesterday. wish i did. will be ordering it very soon!!

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