Mad Alchemy- Worlds Collide CX Worlds 2013 Special Edition Embrocation.
Embrocation is one of those things that you are either ambivalent about or you are really into. I live in a more Northern climate (Southern Ontario/Buffalo, NY) so I've learned the value of using embro. to improve and extend a winter ride or CX race.
Mad Alchemy has been my go to brand for the last few seasons, prior to that it was Leg Salsa. I still really dig the consistent heat of Leg Salsa, it's ease of removal and the fact it has aspirin in it, but the smell is something I've never been able to get past. It kinda does smell like salsa, but closer to a stanky crisper bin in your refrigerator where a jar of salsa may have been spilled several months earlier.
At any rate M.A. is a great product and is a one man operation. I belive the brewmaster is named Pete and having dealt with him via on-line ordering I can say he's a good guy and really wants to do what ever he can to keep you happy. In the past of I've used the Uber Secret Coffee version (with real bits of panther and caffeine*) and have been loving its mellow buzz on my legs. It has a great sweet coffee smell and like I mentioned is super consisent in its heat. So when I was at Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville this year I was super stoked to see they had made a special "Worlds Collide" edition.
Today was the first ride I used this great smelling embro on. Apparently it is infused with bourbon as hommage to the city that hosted the event. I know MA has a pretty well defined heat guide with most of their products and on their site www.madalchemy.com they give you a variety of options for which intensity/flavour. This is not the case with the CX Worlds edition. The jar itself says nothing about the heat level and it's not even listed on the MA site since it was only available at the race and now on-line through the Louisville 2013 merch page So I was surprised to find this stuff was damn hot!
Temps were around 6/40 degrees today with a bit of a wind chill and since some of the ride took me past the Niagara River I was subjected to more intense winds. In total I had the embro on for about 3hrs of riding and found it started to really kick in about 30 minutes in. As usual it started mellow then I really noticed it was heating. The other MA prods I used have been a lot less potent than this one! At about 1 1/2 hrs we stopped for a coffee break and as soon as I stepped out of the cold I could really feel the heat. Nothing bad, but very noticeable. For the rest of the ride I was comforted by its glow and found it was great since I was wearing 3/4 bibs and did a great job of warming my exposed bits.
When I got home this is when things went south. After about 10 minutes in the door and after removing my fancy pants and such I began to really feel an instense heat...so much so that I had to get it off me. So to the shower I went. Unfortunately the heat from the shower only intensified things and reminded me of the time I got 2nd degree sunburn while in Italy. I was having trouble getting the oil based product of my skin...probably having some of the MA unbrocation would have helped. After getting out of the shower the heat was still unpleasant so I began putting on a skin creme designed to soothe sunburns...finally some respite.
Bottom line. I really dig this one..great smell and excellent heat. I however have to caution it would be best for the coldest days (freezing and below) and to be prepared to remove it immediately post ride with something the strips oil based products...maybe paint thinner or varsol. I can't see myself actually using it for fall CX racing. Oh also don't put it on your ass...bad idea.
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