But there has been a small contingency here in Portland, spearheaded by the hard men at River City Bicycles, who have asked for even more heat.

And since we aim to please, we set them up with an Uber-hott blend–the “Weaver-Hott” formula. It has a little more heat, and a little juniper extract to drive it more efficiently.

Only available at River City, because you also need to sign the waiver in person… (just kidding). So if the “Maximum” is just not doing it for you anymore, then head on down and pick yourself up a fresh tin of “Weaver-Hott”.

Weaver in action

Without any further ado.

Northwest Knee Warmers is proud to announce our latest and greatest creation:

Aren-Burn!

Just in time for our favorite race of the season, Paris-Roubaix, we came up with an embrocation that will do justice to its namesake: the (in)famous Forest of Arenberg.  Famous to us fans, infamous to the heros who tackle this section of cobbles at super-human speeds.  And we’d be remiss if we didn’t give credit where credit is due.  Thank you to the folks at River City for dropping the name in our laps.  As soon as we heard it we knew we’d have to put something special behind a name as great as this one.

Its nose is a little like the forest, a little like the original formula you’ve have come to know and love, and a whole lot of excitement.  Medium heat, even a little greener in hue, we are sure you’ll love it.  Use our original formula for your everyday training needs, and try the Aren-Burn for race day.  Having a specific embrocation for racing has more of an effect on the psyche than you might think.  You will come to associate its scent with the excitement and anticipation of racing, and getting yourself into the racing mindset will be a little smoother and more pleasant.

It’s true.

So pick one up at River City, or here, and admire the shine!

Also, stay tuned for another launch in the next few weeks.  Hint:  After-Burn Tonic.  We know you can’t wait.

As you know–because you have read our other postings–our embrocation is 100% natural and washes off with soap, water, and minimal elbow grease.  You don’t need a Brillo pad like some of the euro’ stuff.

“But wait,” you say.  “When I step out of the shower after washing it off, my legs still burn and tingle.”  And therein lies the rub (pun intended).  You see, the capsaicin in our product binds to the nerve endings.  That’s how it causes the sensation of heat, and the reduced perception of pain.  Even though the embro’ has been washed off, those capsaicin molecules are still attached to your nerve endings just under the skin.  After a short while, the effect will wear off, much like the effect of lidocaine wears off after you’ve been to the dentist for a filling.  Personally, I like the lingering warmth.  It helps me to thaw out after a particularly long cold ride.

One final thing to bear in mind:  Capsaicin does not cause tissue damage.  Even though our “Maximum” warmth is hot hot hot, there is no chemical burn going on, despite what your nerves are telling you.

Capsaicin

Why do we embrocate?

The reasons we embrocate vary from the aesthetic to the scientific.

That’s right, there is actually science behind our ingredient choices. And we aren’t talking about Dr. Google/Wikipedia science here either.

The primary active ingredient of all three strengths of Northwest Knee Warmers is of course capsaicin oleoresin. This is an extract made from chili peppers and it gives our embrocation its heat. But that’s not all it does.

Capsaicin is also an analgesic. That is, it reduces the perception of pain. This is an effect that accumulates with regular use. Studies have shown that pain perception from arthritis continues to decrease over a 2 week period of daily application.

Other studies have shown that the application of capsaicin to the skin covering a muscle can reduce the pain perception of that muscle. If you’re a geek like us, you will enjoy this technical study here, and an abstract here.

A translation of those studies boils down to a fairly simple concept. Each type of sensation we detect is passed from the skin to the brain by a specialized nerve. We have vibration-sensing nerves, temperature-sensing nerves, touch-sensing nerves, pain-sensing nerves, and so on.

Our pain-sensing nerves use a chemical substance to relay the message of pain to the brain. That substance is called “substance P”. If our pain nerves are strongly stimulated over time, they start to run out of substance P, and are less able to relay the message of pain. Capsaicin stimulates our pain-sensing nerves, but one of the most interesting characteristics of capsaicin is that unlike ginger or even garlic in high concentrations, it does not cause tissue damage via chemical burn. So even though you feel the burn, you aren’t actually doing any damage. Capsaicin’s ability to deplete substance P is the reason we hear from users of Northwest Knee Warmers that when they embrocate before a hard workout or race, they experience much less fatigue than usual afterwards. We haven’t been able to find any corroborating research for this, but it is something we hear often.

Another interesting point is that the body does not build up a tolerance for this effect. That is, using it frequently does not diminish the pain-relieving effect. But one thing that the body can develop a tolerance for is the warm sensation. We have a feeling that this is part of the reason there is such a strong demand for our “Maximum” strength from the long-time embrocation users around Portland. (You know who you are.) The “warmth tolerance” builds up with multiple daily uses, not the more typical 3-4 uses a week, and if application is discontinued for a few days, the tolerance wears off.

We are kept awake at night thinking about how to make the best embrocation possible. Not just an embrocation that doesn’t offend your significant other’s sense of smell (very important), not just an embrocation that feels like butter, and uses the purest all natural ingredients out there, but an embrocation that has a body of science behind it. We think we’re well on our way.

Bees' wax in suspension

We’ve taken the feedback we received from ‘cross racers, roadies, and even a runner or two, tweaked our recipe a bit and put together our first batch of embro’ for sale! But we’ve been so busy putting the batches of Northwest Knee Warmers together that we haven’t been able to finish up the website. In the meanwhile, if you want some–and you know you do–send us an email and we’ll tell you how you can get a tin of your very own via Paypal.

We are offering an introductory special of $15 for online purchases of our handsome 4 fl. ounce tin.  The special will last only until midnight Saturday night.  Shipping is $5, but if you’ll be at the Cross Crusade at Sherwood on Sunday, we can arrange a drop off there.  We’ll be there all day.  We’ll also be at the Psycho Cross race registration table most of the day, so find us for a full sized tin, or a sample (while supplies last).

We are also excited to announce that Josh at Cyclo-Sportif will have Medium Warmth for sale at Sherwood, as well as some samples.  Stop by if you’d like to try some first. Pick up one of his fantastic waffles while you’re there!

Medium Warmth

Alpenrose

Tell us what you do and don’t like about your sample of “mild warmth” Northwest Knee Warmers embrocation!  We had a blast at Alpenrose today and appreciate all the encouragement and positive feedback we’ve received so far.

raw materials

calendula oil

We have a mission this weekend at the Alpenrose Cross Crusade event. Our mission is to find 50 worthy souls who are willing to accept and test our new product–for free of course.

We will be a bit incognito, since our uber-stylish t-shirts have yet to arrive. Keep your eyes peeled, and your sniffer tuned in. We’ll be making the rounds for most of the day, and you might just smell us coming!

We’ll have our online store up and running by this weekend, so you can pick up a tin of your own after you’ve gone through your sample. Watch for a link on the blog.

When the air starts to hold that unmistakable scent and crispness in the early September mornings, you know that the time for embrocation has arrived again.

Pull out your tin, or order a fresh one, and start by opening it and inhaling the aroma.  Now you know it’s almost fall–almost time to get your ‘cross on.  After a season of racing with embrocation on your legs, your response to the scent will be Pavlovian.  It will evoke the sound of knobby tires rolling through fallen leaves and the taste of mud in your mouth.

After you have chamois-ed up, and applied your choice of chamois cream, fold up the legs of your chamois.  With the fingertips of one hand, scoop out the desired amount of Northwest Knee Warmers embro’ for one leg, and rub the fingertips of both hands together to warm up and melt the embro’ just a bit.  This makes it easier to apply evenly.  Apply to your leg, taking care to rub it in around the tendons–the front and sides of your knee and along the achilles tendon.  This will enhance blood flow to the parts of your leg where it’s scarce and help to prevent injury.  Repeat for the other leg.

Now admire the shine.

The order of things is important here.  If you apply your embrocation before you put on your shorts, you will drag the spicy stuff up to your nether-regions, and you will not soon forget the experience!  Also, apply your chamois cream first, so as to prevent cross-contamination.

Be sure to clean off your hands after application–if you are in a race parking lot, use baby wipes.  Otherwise, you may find yourself in tears at the start line after rubbing your eyes.

Northwest Knee Warmers Embrocation washes off with soap and water.  If you’re at a race, baby wipes or a little ethyl alcohol on a dedicated washcloth will do the trick.  If you don’t shave, now is the time to consider it because it washes off much more easily (and shines up so much better) with bare legs.

So do you embrocate?  Share your ritual.