I was 18 years old and a freshman on a Division I college football team. There’s only so many of these Division I schools in the country. So you have thousands and thousands of high schools that feed to these Division I schools. They get the best of the best. To be honest, I don’t know why I was chosen. Being that age and hanging around athletes who are so much better than you, fitting in is important. I watched the guys in the upper classes with a keen eye. I didn’t want to stand out unless it was for what I did on the football field. As I watched their habits, I noted they were no different than me. What am I referring to? Superstitions.
The guy to the right of me would knock on his locker three times before he opened it – every time. The guy to the left of me sat in his locker and tore athletic tape into strips, meticulously taping one finger to the other. It’s a practice players generally use when a finger is broken. This guy’s finger was no longer broken, but he continued the practice. I was no different. I had my own share of behaviors. For instance, there was a cleat company called Spot Bilt. I would never wears those shoes. When I was 13, I wore those and broke my femur in three places. I wore a body cast in bed for eight weeks. It couldn’t have been because I was playing a brutal sport. It had to be the curse of the new shoes.
Another one of my superstitions was in my senior year of high school. After we won our first game that season, I forgot to bring my practice uniform home to wash it. The soiled clothes had to be the good luck. We went 9-0 that year, only losing the last game. I never washed my uniform. It was so filthy that it could almost stand up by itself. It stunk like you wouldn’t believe. Yet I wore it every day to practice like a badge of honor. Smell or not, we were winning games. I told you that to tell you this. I later learned that no matter how many times you wash lycra, it still smells. Why? The fiber somehow hangs on to bacteria, and it never gets washed all out. I know many hardcore cyclists and triathletes who throw out lycra shorts, polyester cycling jerseys and women’s jog bras just because it smells. These products still have plenty of life left. This is expensive stuff we are just throwing away. I figured out a cure for this years ago. It could possibly save you hundreds of dollars a year. I use a product not meant for athletes at all to remedy the problem of smelly lycra. It’s actually a pet product meant to take the urine smell out of carpets and rugs where dogs may have had accidents. The product is called Nature’s Miracle.
There are two ways to use it. The first and most effective way is to get a three to five gallon container or bucket, and pour a gallon of Nature’s Miracle in. If you have a small amount of lycra to cure, just dump it into the gallon of solution and let it sit for 24 hours. If you have a larger volume of lycra, you can add a half gallon of water and let it sit 24 hours. After this period ends, wash as usual. Problem solved. The second solution is to dump two cups of Nature’s Miracle into each wash along with normal detergent. Just be aware that this process can become expensive. Keep in mind, if you’re not being invited to Saturday group rides anymore, you may want to pick up some Nature’s Miracle at the local pet store.
