Top 10 Best Road Cycle Racers of All Time

(Originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled in the October 30 to November 5, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

THIS is perhaps the widely-accepted unofficial list of the Top Ten best road bicycle racers of all time.

The criteria are that the bicycle racers have not only performed well in the three big stage races --- Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España --- but also in the minor stage races such as Tour de Suisse, Paris-Nice and Dauphiné Libéré and the classics like Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

They are:

Number 10:

Jan Ullrich, a German, was born in 1973. He won the Tour de France in 1997, the white jersey (known in the Tour de France as the maillot blanc and is awarded to the best-placed rider under 26 years of age) in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and he has 5 second places in the Tour de France which earned him the nickname The Eternal Second. Ullrich has also won Vuelta a España in 1999 and the Tour de Suisse in 2004 and 2006. Other notable wins are the World Time Trial Champion in 1999 and 2001 and the Olympic Road Race in 2000.

Ullrich is a powerful bicycle racer with a soft, athletic style, but he often got out of shape during the off-season and had problems losing the extra weight before racing the big races.

Number 9:

The American Lance Armstrong holds the record of most victories in Tour de France with his 7 consecutive wins. Armstrong also won the 2001 Tour de Suisse and the World Cycling Championship in 1993. This earns him a place on this list, but because Armstrong never impressed in the Giro D’Italia, the Vuelta a España or the Classics.

Number 8:

Miguel Indurain was born in Spain in 1964. He has won the Tour de France five times in a row and the Giro D’Italia two times in a row. He has also won the Olympic Time-Trial Championship in 1996 and the World Time-Trial Championship in 1995, as well as two wins in both Dauphiné Libéré and Paris-Nice.

Indurain was relatively big compared to other professional riders --- 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) and 80 kg (176 lbs) --- which earned him the nickname Miguelón, meaning “Big Mig”.

At the top of his career, Miguel Indurain had a physique that was not only superior when compared to average people, but also when compared to his fellow athletes. His blood circulation had the ability to circulate 7 liters of blood around his body per minute, compared to the average amount of 3n to 4 liters of an ordinary person and the 5 to 6 liters of his fellow riders.

Number 7:

Fausto Coppi was born in Italy in 1919. He won the Tour de France twice, in 1949 and 1952, and the Giro D’Italia five times in 1940, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953. He also won the World Championship in 1953, the Giro di Lombardia in 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1954, the Milan-Sanremo in 1946, 1948 and 1949, and the Paris-Roubaix and the La Flèche Wallonne in 1950.

Number 6:

Felice Gimondi was born in Italy in 1942. In 1968 Gimondi was nicknamed The Phoenix after winning the Vuelta a España, this victory made him the second rider after Jacques Anquetil to win all three big stage races. He is one of only five riders to ever win all three. Gimondi won the Tour de France in 1965, the Giro D’Italia in 1967, 1969 and 1973 and the Vuelta a España in 1968.

Gimondi also won Paris-Roubaix in 1966 and the World Road Cycling Championship in 1973.

Number 5:

Gino Bartali was born in Italy on 1914. He has won the Tour de France twice, in 1938 and 1948, both times also winning the mountain competition, and the Giro D’Italia three times in 1936, 1937 and 1946, also here he won the mountain competition all three times. Bartali also won the Tour de Suisse in 1946 and 1947.

Bartali was a good climber and a pioneer of derailleur gears. His style was considered unconventional. He rarely danced on the pedals and often stayed in the saddle throughout a 15 km climb. When others attacked, he stayed in the saddle but changed up gear, to a sprocket three teeth smaller. He rode smoothly on mountains but every now and then freewheeled, always with his right foot lowered with his weight on it. Then a second or two later he would start pedaling again.

Number 4:

Séan Kelly was born in Ireland in 1956 and became one the most successful riders of the 80s and the best Classics rider of all times. His wins include the Vuelta a España in 1988, 4 point class wins in both the Tour de France and the Giro D’Italia, seven consecutive win in Paris-Nice from 1982 to 1988, and two wins in Tour de Suisse, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liége.

Number 3:

Jacques Anquetil was born in France in 1934. He has won the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and 1961-1964, the Giro D’Italia twice in 1960 and 1964, the Vuelta a España in 1936 and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1966. Anquetil also holds several records:

• He was the first to the Tour de France five times

• He was the first to win all three big stage races

• He was the first French rider to win the Giro D’Italia

• He was the first French rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France form the first day to the last

Number 2:

Bernard Hinault was born in France in 1954, and is one of only five riders to have won all three big stage races, and the only to have won each more than once. Hinault is the only rider ever to have finished either first or second in each Tour de France he finished. He won the Tour de France in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985, the Giro D’Italia in 1980, 1982 and 1985 and the Vuelta a España in 1978 and 1983.

Among Hinault many other victories are Paris-Roubaix in 1981, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1977 and 1980 and the World Road Cycling Championship in 1980.

Number 1:

Eddy Merckx was born in Belgium in 1945 and became the best road bicycle racer the world has ever seen. He won the Tour de France five times in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974, the Giro D’Italia five times in 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974 and the Vuelta a España once in 1973. Merckx also won the Tour de Suisse once, Paris-Nice 3 times, Dauphné-Libéré once, Paris-Roubaix three times, Liège-Bastogne-Liége five times and the World Road Race Championship three times.

Merckx is also one of only five riders to win all three big stage races during their career, the four others are Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Bernard Hinault and Alberto Contador.*

The Tour Through The Years*

(*Originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled in the October 23 to 29, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

LE Tour de Filipinas or the Tour of the Philippines is held each year from April to May each year. Its previous names included the Tour of Luzon, Marlboro Tour, Tour of Calabarzon (2002), Tour Pilipinas and Padyak Pinoy, before carrying the current name.

In 1955, the Tour was launched as a four-stage race from Manila to Vigan race won by Antonio Arzala. A year later, the race was renamed as the Tour of Luzon and carried the name until 1976 (there were no tours held in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1972).

Among the prominent riders include Pangasinan riders Cornelio Padilla, Jr. and Jesus Garcia, who were two-time Tour champions along with Jose Sumalde of Catanduanes.

In 1977, a rift within the Professional Cycling Association of the Philippines or PCAP led to a split of two tours during the said year. The Padyak Pinoy website says that the event organized by Geruncio Lacuesta is recognized on their official list. The tour's name ended by 1978 as Marlboro entered the scene.

By 1979, Marlboro became the official sponsor of the Tour and the event was named as Marlboro Tour, a name that is commonly familiar to ardent racers and fans.

During these times, the Tour expanded its routes, by including cities from Visayas in the leg, with the final laps regularly held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

From 1997-1998, the Tour allowed riders from Asia to compete in the event and was sanctioned by the UCI. It also led to Wong Kam Po of Hong Kong to become the first non-Filipino to win the event in 1997, after overtaking 1996 winner Victor Espiritu for the lead in the latter stages.

The format used for the teams are based on provinces with the National Team included in the race. It was also the same format when Asian riders participated in the event beginning in 1997.

In 1999, Marlboro backed out as sponsor which proved to be a devastating blow to the organizers. Because of this, there were no tours held from 1999 to 2001. To compensate for the loss of the so-called "Summer Cycling Spectacle", other groups formed mini-races during the summer.

In 2002, the Tour was revived after Airfreight 2100 of Bert Lina and Lito Alvarez financed the tour. A four-leg race was held in late-May known as Tour of Calabarzon won by Santy Barnachea. A year later, the tour was renamed as Tour Pilipinas and held a 17-leg race, the longest since 1998. The tour was won by Arnel Quirimit of Pangasinan.

Ryan Tanguilig won in 2004 in a 10-stage tour. In 2005, the tour was renamed as the Golden Tour 50 @50, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Tour. 1998 champion Warren Davadilla, who won the last edition of the Marlboro, was the champion.

In 2006, several disputes within the National Cycling Association led to a short eight stage event dubbed with the current Padyak Pinoy name which was won by Barnachea.

The Champions:

1955 Manila to Vigan (4 laps; 418 km) Antonio Arzala

1956 Tour of Luzon (5 laps; 1,057 km) Antonio Arzala (33:45:08)

1957 Tour of Luzon (6 laps; 1,155 km) Rufino Gabot (51:45:22)

1958 Tour of Luzon (7 laps; 1,517 km) Mamerto Eden (61:14:08)

1959 Tour of Luzon (8 laps; 1,634 km) Antonio Arzala (59:44:50)

1960 Tour of Luzon (9 laps; 1,648 km) Rodrigo Abaquita (57:51:02)

1961 Tour of Luzon (12 laps; 2,167 km) Jose Moring, Jr. (59:44:50)

1962 Tour of Luzon (12 laps; 1,870.23 km) Edmundo de Guzman (61:04:50)

1963 Tour of Luzon (14 laps; 2,334.38 km) Gonzalo Recodos (78:27:54)

1964 Tour of Luzon (14 laps; 1,967.6 km) Jose Sumalde (60:22:09)

1965 Tour of Luzon (14 laps; 2,049.31 km) Jose Sumalde (65:13:19)

1966 Tour of Luzon (15 laps; 1,999.82 km) Cornelio Padilla, Jr. (60:45:31)

1967 Tour of Luzon (8 laps; 1,634 km) Cornelio Padilla, Jr. (70:34:57)

1968 NO TOUR WAS HELD

1969 Tour ng Pilipinas (10 laps; 1,208.4 km) Domingo Quilban (37:50:29)

1970 NO TOUR WAS HELD

1971 NO TOUR WAS HELD

1972 NO TOUR WAS HELD

1973 Tour of Luzon (10 laps; 1,214 km) Jesus Garcia, Jr. (34:38:38)

1974 Tour of Luzon-Visayas (18 laps; 2,540.95 km) Teodorico Rimarim (78:35:19)

1975 Tour of Luzon (15 laps; 2,207.87 km) Samson Etrata (66:18:48.6)

1976 Tour of Luzon (6 laps; 2,200 km) Modesto Bonzo (66:31:10.4)

1977 Tour ng Pilipinas (24 laps; 4,000 km) Manuel Reynante (106:57:20.1)

1977 Marlboro Tour (3 laps; 1,697 km) Jesus Garcia (55:37:52.8)

1978 Perk Speed Tour (3 laps; 405.8 km) Rumin Salamante (10:11:10)

1979 Marlboro Tour (11 laps; 1,900 km) Paquito Rivas (60:01:06.4)

1980 Tour of the Phils. (21 laps; 2,780 km) Manuel Reynante (83:08:00.84)

1981 Tour of the Phils. (21 laps; 3,058.81 km) Jacinto Sicam (87:25:43.99)

1982 Marlboro Tour (15 laps; 2,192 km) Jacinto Sicam (61:29:17.57)

1983 Marlboro Tour (14 laps; 2,313 km) Romeo Bonzo (63:54:31:94)

1984 Marlboro Tour (14 laps; 2,464 km) Ruben Cariño (68:08:49.46)

1985 Marlboro Tour (21 laps; 3,668.97 kms.) Pepito Calip (97:04:42.04)

1986 Marlboro Tour (10 laps; 2,900 km) Rolando Pagnanawon (77:39:53.14)

1987 Marlboro Tour (17 laps; 3,282 km) Reynaldo Dequito (88:06:50.88)

1988 Marlboro Tour (17 laps; 3,544.53 km) Amando Catalan (94:44:03.92)

1989 Marlboro Tour (18 laps; 3,539.47 km) Gerardo Igos (95:40:23.79)

1990 Marlboro Tour (18 laps; 3,317.42 km) Manuel Buenaventura (95:58:38.8)

1991 Marlboro Tour (17 laps; 2,373.61 km) Bernardo Llentada (63:33:17.73)

1992 Marlboro Tour (17 laps; 2,731 km) Renato Dolosa (71:21:49.2)

1993 Marlboro Tour (21 laps; 3,480 km) Carlo Guieb (91:41:54.62)

1994 Marlboro Tour (21 stages; 3,563 km) Carlo Guieb (91:24:13.33)

1995 Marlboro Tour (19 stages; 3,280.33 km) Renato Dolosa (83:43:39.54)

1996 Marlboro Tour (19 stages; 3,257.29 km) Victor Espiritu (80:50:46.24)

1997 Marboro Tour (16 stages; 2,472 km) Wong Kam Po (Hong Kong) 62:06:28

1998 Marlboro Centennial Tour (16 stages; 2,494 km) Warren Davadilla (64:58:57)

1991 NO TOUR WAS HELD

2000 NO TOUR WAS HELD

2001 NO TOUR WAS HELD

2002 FedEx Tour of CALABARZON (4 stages; 517.7 km) Santy Barnachea (12:41:13)

2003 Air21 Tour Pilipinas (15 stages; 2,849.8 km) Arnel Quirimit (55:29:20.63)

2004 Air 21 Tour Pilipinas (17 stages; 2,849 km) Ryan Tanguilig) (70:28:59)

2005 Golden Tour 50@50 (10 stages; 1,492 km) Warren Davadilla (37:20:55)

2006 Padyak Pinoy (8 stages; 1,219.4 km) Santy Barnachea (31:10:03)

2007 Padyak Pinoy (10 stages;1,500 km) Victor Espiritu (33:02:38)

2008 NO TOUR WAS HELD

2009 NO TOUR WAS HELD

2010 Le Tour de Filipinas (4 stages) David McCann (Ireland)

2011 Le Tour de Filipinas (4 stages) Rahim Emami (Iran)

Solon admits lack of biker-friendly gov’t programs*

(*Originally published in my sports page column Self-Propelled in the Oct. 16-22, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

REP. Carmelo Lazatin (1st District, Pampanga) is urging the government and the private sector to promote bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation at the same time admitted that the government lacks biker-friendly programs.

"The government lacks a serious program to promote bicycle use despite the many benefits it brings, not only to health, but to the economy and environment as well," Lazatin said. With the spiraling cost of oil products, “there is a serious need to find alternative modes of transportation and one of this is the use of the bicycle.”

Lazatin is the author of the proposed House Bill 5335 which seeks to encourage the government and the private sector to focus on instituting a serious program in promoting bicycle use.

Under the measure to be known as the "Bicycle Use Act of 2011, "all government agencies are directed to grant bicycle-riding employees a 30-minute window before they be considered late, taking into consideration the long travel time they will take in reporting to work,” Lorelei V. Castillo of the House Media Relations Services’ Public Relations and Information Bureau, said. It shall likewise coordinate with the LGUs in leading the establishment of bicycle lanes on all major thoroughfares all over the country.

The bill enjoins the private sector, including employers and establishment owners to help in the promotion of bicycle use through the setting-up of secure and ample parking spaces and facilities like bike racks in all public and private commercial establishments, including but not limited to public markets, malls, restaurants and stores.

The standard size of the parking space to be allotted shall be determined upon the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations of the proposed act.

Also, the private sector shall grant the legitimate bicycle-riding employees a 30-minute window before they be considered late.

Under the bill, all local government units (LGUs) are directed to monitor all private, public establishments and employers if they comply with all the provisions of the proposed act, implement penalties to violators and ensure that bicycle lanes are properly utilized.

The measure mandates the Departments of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Labor and Employment (DOLE) to issue the necessary rules and regulations.

Public and private establishments who violate the provisions of the measure will be meted with a penalty of suspension and revocation of their business permits.

Building permits shall not be issued to contractors and builders of structures intended for public and commercial use if their plans do not include parking for bicycles.*

-o0o-

CYCLING is now the biggest sporting goods market in the world in terms of revenue, according to a survey by multi-national market research company NPD Group.

Global sales totaled nearly €33 billion (US$46 billion) last year --– an increase of four percent on 2009. Some 137 million bicycles (including electric bikes) were sold, with the average price estimated at €179 ($249). Cycling accounted for 15 percent of all sporting goods revenue.

Back in August the London School of Economics published a similarly encouraging report on the economic value of cycling in the UK, calculating that the country's GCP or ‘Gross Cycling Product’ was around £2.9bn, or £230 per cyclist.

Analysis from the US seems to confirm a positive economic picture there too. Industry revenue rose to $5.94bn in 2010, up from $5.68bn the year before – an increase of 4.6 percent and a return to 2008 revenue levels, according to the 2011 US Specialty Bicycle Retail Study compiled by Jay Townley of the Gluskin Townley Group.

The NPD report --– their sixth Global Sport Market Estimate – covers the sale of bikes, parts, accessories, rental, maintenance and cycle clothing. It shows there were seven countries in which the sporting goods market exceeded $10 billion in 2010 –-- the USA, Japan, Germany, China, France, UK and Italy.

The survey comments specifically on the electric bike phenomenon, saying that “electrical bikes have yet to prove that they're a mass market product in Western Europe (with the exception of some countries such as the Netherlands).”

“We believe what's missing is a touch of glamour on the bikes, and they're expensive in comparison with traditional bicycles,” the report added. "So, the interesting question is at what level of price will demand for hybrid technology products start to rocket and hit the mass market, and when will this happen? This is probably around half the current prices (the psychological price is certainly below €500) and the turning point is probably still a few years from now.”

The NPD’s cycling survey is for sale and includes data broken down by region and by nation for all countries in the world.*

It’s Not About the Bike. My Journey Back to Life.

(This article was originally published

in my sports page column Self-Propelled in the October 9-15, 2011 issue

of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

I WAS too young to remember. All that remain are fragments of vague memories that I sometimes exhume from the deepest recesses of my mind in my times of solitude and in my longings of the years gone by. Memories of my mom and me taking the commuter bus from Kamuning in Quezon City, braving the flooded España Avenue following a thunderstorm shortly before dawn, to the Philippine General Hospital along Taft Avenue which was also as flooded, for my periodic checkup. Congenital cataract.

My family has a history of visual degeneration. My maternal grandmother, though she lived a relatively long life, spent the last years of her life in total darkness, totally blind. My mom suffered diminished eyesight during the last three decades of her life.

Despite the stigma, ironic as it may, I ended up as a photographer, both by passion and occupation --- something that requires strict visual capability and judgment. And I owe it all to my mom who simply refused to give up on her menopause baby to the ancient curse of cataract. By the time I entered Grade 1, I have was declared by my doctors as already cataract-free.

And while I have been wearing prescription eyeglasses for more than 10 years now (which I wear all through my waking hours), it has not diminished my passion for printed words. Books.

About a month ago, I accidentally wandered into a second-hand books store and one particular book that instantly caught my attention was Lance Armstrong’s My Journey Back To Life (It’s Not About The Bike).

I instinctively took the book maybe because I share the same passion with the man --- biking. But as the pages turn past my eyes, I discovered a few similarities, if not commonalities, with Lance Armstrong. True to the book’s title, it was not about the bike. It was, indeed, Lance Armstrong’s journey back to life. How he fought and successfully won over cancer and how his mother refused to give up his only son to the ancient curse of cancer.

“Cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me. I do not know why I got the illness, but it did wonders for me, and I wouldn’t want to walk away from it,” Armstrong testified. “When I was sick, I saw more beauty and triumph and truth in a single day than I ever did in a bike race; they were human moments, not miraculous ones.”

According to him, “athletes, especially cyclists, are in the business of denial. You deny all the aches and pains because you have to in order to finish the race. It’s a sport of self abuse. What makes a great endurance athlete is the ability to absorb potential embarrassment, and to suffer without complaint.”

On the day he was told about it, Armstrong wrote: “I thought I knew what fear was, until I heard the words: You have a cancer.”

My previous fears, fear of not being liked, fear of being laughed at, fear of losing my money, suddenly seemed like small cowardices. Everything now stacked up differently: the anxieties of life were reprioritized into need versus want, real problem as opposed to minor scare. A bumpy plane ride was just a bumpy plane ride. It wasn’t cancer.

Armstrong defined HUMAN as the “characteristic of people as opposed to God or animals or machines, especially susceptible to weakness, and therefore showing the qualities of man. Athletes don’t tend to think of themselves in these terms. They’re too busy cultivating the aura of invincibility to admit to being fearful, weak, defenseless, vulnerable, or fallible, and for that reasons neither are they especially kind, considerate, merciful, benign, or forgiving, to themselves or anyone around them.”

“(But) as I sat in my house alone that first night, it was humbling to be so scared; more than that, it was humanizing. One thing you realize when you’re sick is that you aren’t the only person who needs support --- sometimes you have to be the one who supports others.”

To believe, when all along we humans know that nothing can cure the briefness of this life, that there is no remedy for our basic mortality, that is a form of bravery. To continue believing in yourself, believing in the doctors, believing in the treatment, believing in whatever I chose to believe in, that was the most important thing. Without belief, we would be left with nothing but an overwhelming doom, every single day. And it will beat you.

Dispiritedness and disappointments, these were the real perils of lie, not some sudden illness or cataclysmic millennium doomsday. I knew now why people fear cancer: because it is a slow and inevitable death, it is the very definition of cynicism and loss of spirit.

And while Armstrong admitted that “chemo was lonely”, he said he discovered “a new sense of purpose” which “had nothing to do with my recognition and exploits on a bike; I no longer felt that it was my role in life to be a cyclist; my role was to be cancer survivor. My strongest connections and feelings were with people who were fighting cancer and asking the same question I was: am I going to die?”

We each cope differently with the specter if deaths. Some people deny it. Some pray. Some numb themselves with tequila; we are supposed to face it straightforwardly, armed with nothing but courage --- the quality of spirit that enables one to encounter danger with firmness and without fear. We have unrealized capacities that sometimes only emerge in crisis; if there is a purpose to the suffering that is cancer, I think it must be this: it’s meant to improve us; cancer is not a form of death; I choose to redefine it: it is a part of life.

In less than two years after he was pronounced as cancer-free, Lance Armstrong won his first of seven consecutive Tour de France titles --- a feat no man ever did before. A record.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time and don’t forget to wear that cycling helmet each time. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP20)

Down Under

(This article was originally published

in my sports page column Self-Propelled

in the October 2-8, 2011 issue of the Baguio Chronicle

--- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines.)

SORES in the groin area, the upper leg and the butt area can be a nuisance. Worse, they force you to take time off from cycling.

The best treatment for saddle sores is preventing them. The most common sores include blocked or infected glands, which show up as lumps, chafing problems and pain in the pelvic bone area where your weight may be resting.

Be certain your bike is set up correctly. A saddle that is too high can force the rider to reach for the pedals, causing either pressure or chafing. A saddle that is too low doesn't allow the legs to support the body and puts excess pressures on your crotch. The bike seat should not be tilted too far up or down. This creates pressure, causing you to constantly push back in the saddle.

To help prevent chafing, slather your genital area and upper thigh with a good chamois crème. Wear padded cycling shorts without underwear. Cycling shorts are designed to reduce friction from seams, and the padding helps reduce pressure on sensitive areas.

Good hygiene is essential after the ride. Take off your dirty shorts, wash your crotch and don't wear those shorts again until they have been cleaned. Don't suddenly increase weekly or daily mileage on the bike.

If problems persist, a different saddle may help, especially one with a soft or cutout area near the nose.

As a self-treatment, soak in comfortably-hot bath water one to three times per day to help boils surface and drain. Use antibiotic ointments to aid healing. Apply moleskin with an area cut out around the sore to help keep pressure off the sore itself.

For the lady bikers, Gale Bernhardt has a lot to say. But before that, let me tell you a little about her.

Gale Bernhardt was the 2003 USA Triathlon Pan-American Games and 2004 USA Triathlon Olympic coach for both the men's and women's teams. Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale's pre-built, easy-to-follow training plans.

According to her, several disorders related to the vaginal area are lumped under the term vaginitis. Three of the most common problems women experience are vaginitis (sometimes referred to as crotchitis), bacterial infections and yeast infections. Some causes of these problems include warmth, moisture, poor hygiene, overzealous hygiene, chafing of the inner labia, oral medications (such as antibiotics) and allergies.

Crotchitis is irritation or inflammation of the inner labia, urethra, clitoris and the skin around the vagina. Redness, itching and pain are trademark symptoms. Crotchitis is different from saddle sores. Both conditions, however, share some of the same causes such as friction, pressure, warmth and moisture.

The preventative measures for saddle sores will also help prevent crotchitis.

Keep the crotch dry and ventilated when off the bike. Breathable fabric underwear and loose fitting shorts or dresses will allow air to this area, making it less inviting for germ growth. After urinating, wipe from front to back or pat the area dry. This reduces the chances of contaminating the vaginal area with stool. Aggressive wiping and rough toilet paper can also irritate the area.

Once you have crotchitis, a non-prescription cream may relieve the itching and help make a bike ride more comfortable. This can be particularly helpful if crotchitis occurs during a multi-day bike tour.

A second type of vaginal problem is bacterial vaginosis. Its primary symptom is foul-smelling, profuse, watery vaginal discharge. Typical treatment includes an antibiotic prescribed by a doctor.

Yeast infections are the third type of vaginal problem. They often produce vaginal discharge, which is thick, foul-smelling and is accompanied by intense itching. After a doctor confirms the condition is a yeast infection, reoccurring yeast infections can be recognized by the woman and treated with over-the-counter medications.

The vaginal environment is a delicate balance of organisms, including normal bacteria and lubricating secretions. When normal secretions are replaced by a discharge that is smelly, unusually thick, or copious, or the vaginal area becomes inflamed or itchy, it is time to seek help. Do not allow a small problem to expand to a larger one.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time. Put on that cycling helmet each time you get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.* (SP19)