The Hidden Cost of Discomfort

15 years ago I bought my first adult bike.  Thanks to injuries sustained in a motorbike accident several years earlier I included front suspension and at the suggestion of the sales assistant, a suspension seat post. 

I loved riding that bike and regularly rode around the local lakes and meadows, into town and took the children to the ‘ice-cream’ park!

And then one day, disaster struck; it broke.  (Overly) confident from my regular riding, I discovered it was almost as cheap to buy a replacement bike as it was to repair it; a quick test ride around the car park and I was the proud owner of a new bike.

12 months later I realised that the bike was hanging dormant in the garage, I had stopped riding; why?  It hurt! The height of the handle bars was too low and, combined with the angle, left me with significant wrist pain after 10 minutes of riding.  And let’s say the contribution of the suspension seat post, I’d forgotten to specify, was sorely missed!

We often say to clients that we will wear something 2 or 3 times before regularly overlooking it in the wardrobe in favour of something else if it’s not comfortable.  Unfortunately, that recognition doesn’t always filter up to the conscious mind and so those items that we liked and spent good money on, reside as squatters in our wardrobes under the illusion that they will be worn again, one day! 

If it is a relief to take your clothes off at night, be sure that something is wrong. Clothes should not be a burden. They should be a comfort and a protection.

Ellen Swallow Richards

How many times have we tried to replace a favourite item with little success?  I was so comfortable on my original bike, I hadn’t realised which bits of the specification were important. 

I used a recent activity holiday to test out some different specifications and realised that the fundamental mismatch between my architecture and this new bike meant that the sensible solution, if I wanted to return to riding, was to admit my mistake, cut my losses and purchase another new bike – this time paying attention to replicating the original specification which had clearly worked.

Frequently, with our clothes, we don’t recognise what it is about an outfit which makes it enjoyable to wear, (colour, style, pattern, fabric, texture, fit, flexibility, durability, quality etc) which is why the replacement is never quite the same.  I’ve often felt this is partly due to the fact that we’ve never learnt what we need or quite what the comfort gives us!

I've been quite a late developer on the clothes front, but I've suddenly realised it is one of life's joys.
Benedict Cumberbatch

With the onset of this glorious summer, so the inspiration to try a little more exercise gained momentum and I’ve ventured out on a few early mornings.  My body’s memory of painful riding is fading; the more I ride my new bike, the more inclined I am to go again.

My usual forays are either 30 minutes on my own, or a slow amble of not more than 1 hour with the children.  On seizing a rare opportunity to go for an hour a few months ago, I discovered my helmet was the wrong shape for my skull and gave me a painful headache L.  I don’t expect you’ll be surprised to learn that I’ve enjoyed experiencing the wind in my hair of late! 

BUT, I had a friend who once said ‘£10 head, £10 helmet’ and he had a point – it saved my life on the motorbike.  So, guess where I went today?  That’s right, to buy a new helmet!

I’ve long suggested to clients that they wear a new outfit, especially shoes, around the house for a few hours at a time to make sure they are comfortable before that important occasion. 

I have a clear memory of one client who, just prior to heading off to Cyprus for her dream wedding, fortunately took this advice.  Her dress and lace overcoat were finished but on collection, and one final try, she discovered she’d lost weight.  The dressmaker hastily altered the dress for her and sent her happily on her way.  On arriving home, she asked me around to help make sure everything was perfect and we discovered that in haste, the lace overcoat was not re-tried at collection and thus had not been altered to accommodate the weight loss.  With a few days to spare before departure, and an obliging local seamstress, she still had time to fix it.

More than that, on ‘test driving’ her shoes around the house she discovered that 30 minutes was the absolute limit before that the ankle strap became uncomfortably tight.  A quick visit to the local cobbler to fit an extension piece and all was well.  We often laughed about how different her experience of her wedding might have been, distracted by an ill-fitting coat and painful shoes.

So here I sit, tapping away on this blog entry, wearing my new bike helmet (mine is silver J). Do I feel stupid? Not really! The children are in bed, my husband is at work and I’m not expecting anyone to arrive. 

I’ve adjusted the tension 2-3 times - I won’t be stopping every 5 minutes to adjust and readjust.  I’ve also used a pair of scissors to trim an irritating piece of ribbon where it has been frayed near the stitching on the chin strap.  I don’t tend to carry scissors with me on bike rides - that would have been just a little annoying!  Time well spent.  And more than that – if after an hour it doesn’t feel good, I can take it back to the shop for a replacement or refund having thoroughly tested it.

I love this quote from George Harrison:

There is one thing I have learned and that is not to dress uncomfortably, in styles which hurt: winkle picker shoes that cripple your feet and tight pants that squash your balls. Indian clothes are better

My ‘Indian Clothes’ don’t look so ‘Indian’ but I’m with him all the way on the comfort, it's a false economy to ignore it!