# biker legs and formalwear



## ICAsh (Sep 24, 2009)

I bruise easily in general. Always have. Since starting mountain biking, my legs are always littered with quarter size bruises, plus a decent 3 month old chain ring gash, and a more recent scar from scraping off a patch of skin on my other shin. Now, I'm usually not shy about wearing shorts/skirts and exposing my generally beat to hell legs to the non-mountain biker crowd.... But, my brother is getting married in a month. I was planning on wearing pants, but found too killer of a dress to pass up, and it hits just below the knee. Fortunately most of my big bruises are on my thighs. The shoes I'm wearing (also killer and I refuse to not wear them!) are open toed, so pantyhose is out.

My family of course knows I bike (heck, the bikes are coming with for a mini vacation with the boyfriend the rest of that weekend), but even knowing that, people still comment on just how many bruises I have. I'm serious when I say my legs are covered.

Switching to clipless has really lessened the amount of bruises I've gotten recently, most of them were from pedals hitting my shins I guess. Prevention wise, is there anything I can do in the meantime to avoid them, other than ride more cautiously for the next month? (that's no fun!) I see a lot of women riding wearing knee socks, I can't imagine that helping, so what's the point in that? I'm not wearing shin guards on the xc trails I ride here, that's just silly.

Has anyone had any success making bruises fade faster? I've used vitamin E oil pretty religiously on some bruises, and honestly I can't say it's helped. That's the only thing I've tried or even heard of. Any other remedies? Any suggestions, at all? Does it just go with the territory and I need to learn to wear them with pride? It sucks to have the well shaped, muscular biker legs and have so many bruises to distract from them  What's a girl to do!?!?


Oh, and I did ask my doctor about how easily I bruise last time I was there. She said some people just bruise easily than others and I didn't have any symptoms of a bleeding disorder or anything else that would cause concern.


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## chuky (Apr 3, 2005)

Kind of funny, but if it was a guy, no one would ask about the bruises and he wouldn't be worried, even if it was a kilt wedding... 

If you won't wear armor, which will solve your problem, then you other option is not riding or just take the risk. I went to the track races the night before my wedding, figured that if I crashed, it would be a good story in the pics later - wedding photos are pretty boring, otherwise. 

I am sure that a ton of people will offer remedies, etc, but it is really just the act of massaging that helps to circulate the pooling blood out.


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## midgetmafiosa (Oct 8, 2009)

x2 on the armor. other than that, you can cover them with dermablend makeup. designed to cover tattoos and scars and port-wine stains and such.


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

chuky said:


> Kind of funny, but if it was a guy, no one would ask about the bruises and he wouldn't be worried, even if it was a kilt wedding...


LOL. I'd think of them as conservation starters.

But if you are really worried about it... pads sound like the solution. I know plenty of folks that ride with shin guards, XC or not.


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## Shanonn (Oct 8, 2010)

formica said:


> LOL. I'd think of them as conservation starters.
> 
> But if you are really worried about it... pads sound like the solution. I know plenty of folks that ride with shin guards, XC or not.


^^^ Ditto on the conversation starters, I pretty much have a competition with a girl I work with who rides dirt bikes, she's a little on the girly side but she's still got scars, bruises and gashes to show how B-A she is. Honestly I wouldn't worry about what people are thinking when they see them, most of the time you can tell what they're from.


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## connie (Mar 16, 2004)

midgetmafiosa said:


> x2 on the armor. other than that, you can cover them with dermablend makeup. designed to cover tattoos and scars and port-wine stains and such.


That's what I was thinking. If you can cover tattoos with makeup, you can cover bruises too!


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## Shanonn (Oct 8, 2010)

nm, just noticed the dermablend comment.


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## chuky (Apr 3, 2005)

You can cover with makeup, but it can stain your clothing just like any makeup or deodorant. Not sure what is worse from your perspective, bruises or a skirt covered in brown makeup stains, something you will have to decide. 

A close relative of mine had this dilemma for her wedding. She had a few arm tattoos that she wasn't stoked on anymore and didn't want them in her wedding pics. The dermablend was an option, but so was photoshop. Photoshop didn't stain her wedding dress. 

In the end, boring people have perfect skin, people who live interesting lives accumulate bruises, sun damage and scars. You can take care of yourself to some extent (sun block, armor, and hydrocolloid bandages should be in every MTBers kit), but you can't avoid all the signs of a life well lived.


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## Shanonn (Oct 8, 2010)

chuky said:


> boring people have perfect skin, people who live interesting lives accumulate bruises, sun damage and scars.


Mind if I steal this from you and use it in my sig?:thumbsup:


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## smudd (Oct 25, 2006)

*Prevention or Accept Em'*

seems like the only way to avoid bruises will be to wear armor or don't ride... and we all know not riding isn't an option...

if you choose to ride without armor (although i'd go with the armor, even if it is XC) you can use arnica and Epsom salts to help with bruises. also, an ice pack applied directly to the bruise as quickly as possible (like back at the truck) has helped my bruises not get as big (not sure why but probably helping to stop the blood from pooling in the area).

arnica's wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnica

if you have bruises at the wedding then, as others have mentioned, they will be excellent conversation starters...start practicing your "these wounds are NOT consistent with domestic violance" speech for those who throw a weary eye towards the BF

good luck :thumbsup:


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## screampint (Dec 10, 2001)

+1 on the arnica. It speeds the healing process.


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## ArchMarge (Oct 5, 2010)

I didn't realize there were so many good tricks for covering up bruises, I'll have to try some of those myself. I also think it's awesome that you're going the killer dress and shoes route- way more fun than pants!


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## Shanonn (Oct 8, 2010)

btw please post pics after the wedding!


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## litespeedchick (Jan 13, 2004)

self-tanner, carefully applied!


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## midgetmafiosa (Oct 8, 2009)

word on the accumulation of bruises, sun damage (doing better about this than the other two), and scars. it means you USE your body for something other than a brain trolley. they tell stories unto themselves, too. and occasionally get you asked to tell the story, so watch out.


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## CrazyFace (Mar 22, 2010)

I started MTBing this year and I'm also a little clutzy. This proved to be a summer of bruises, scabs and some pretty major scars. I wouldn't pass it up for anything! 

I started going to a chiro/acupuncturist for SI and rotator cuff problems and she tried acupuncture on my battered and bruised legs. This sounds weird but getting acupunture needles in your bruises actually breaks them up in a few days. 

So if anyone gets acupuncture and is willing to try this technique talk to your doc! They may even enjoy experimenting on your war wounds!


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## annamagpie (Jun 5, 2009)

maybe you are low in vitamin c?


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## ICAsh (Sep 24, 2009)

I've been using an arnica cream from GNC on them a couple times a day for the past week. So far it seems to be helping a lot, my week-old bruises are fairly faint now. I'm estimating they're healing about 50% faster, but that might well be due to the actual act of applying something to the area so frequently is breaking up the blood pooled under the skin faster than if I were just leaving it alone. I also started taking arnica as an oral supplement a couple days ago, hoping that would help the process too. I use cocoa butter lotion every night too, but that's not an attempt at helping the bruises, I've just always used it. I've heard it helps though.

Considering trying a neoprene knee brace - possibly with an extra bit of padding sewn in on the inside of the knee - to try to prevent the recurring bruise I have from constantly banging it on my top tube. Anyone with experience or thoughts on that?


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## ICAsh (Sep 24, 2009)

Bruises are mostly gone, but I thought the dress/heels/chain ring gash were a good combo:


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

ICAsh said:


> Bruises are mostly gone, but I thought the dress/heels/chain ring gash were a good combo:


AWW you've got nothing to worry about! but if you still feel uncomfortable about it, i think the dermablend makeup is the best solution.


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## miatagal96 (Jul 5, 2005)

Sweet!!

You're miles ahead of the roadies that go to tattoo parlors to get images of chain rings on their calves.

Good news is that most photos will be of the front of your legs. Also, if anyone asks about your 'tattoo', you'll have a good story to tell and if you don't feel like telling the story, just tell them that it's the price you pay for having great calves.


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

I like the nail polish.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 25, 2009)

My advice- fill it in with some red-ish lipliner to accentuate the teethmarks.


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## gabrielle (Jan 2, 2005)

Andrea138 said:


> My advice- fill it in with some red-ish lipliner to accentuate the teethmarks.


I like the way you think.

gabrielle


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## connie (Mar 16, 2004)

gabrielle said:


> I like the way you think.
> 
> gabrielle


Me too. I say rock it, don't cover it up. It's a conversation piece. :thumbsup:


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## mumbles (Jul 22, 2006)

If you got em, wear em with pride! If you want to avoid some try some ski socks. They have a little padding and come in an assortment of awesome designs and colors.


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## Nerdgirl (Mar 13, 2007)

I've never used it myself, but I've seen others who have used physio tape. Where the tape was, the bruise is gone, and right next to it is still bruised. It makes a line! No idea how it works, and that's not really its intended use, but it does seem effective.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 25, 2009)

connie said:


> Me too. I say rock it, don't cover it up. It's a conversation piece. :thumbsup:


Soooooooo true- I have righteous tan lines on my arms and legs. At my 10 year high school reunion, I wore a sleeveless little black dress that was short enough to show the leg lines as well. The only critics were the wives of the guys who were talking to me


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