My grandfather was a horse rancher in the Dakotas and later in
Saskatchewan. It seems that every spring there was a "breaking in"
riding season that they used to have to endure while legs got toughened
up again after a long, long, long winter off. According to mom, my
grandfather had a very interesting(!) way of dealing with the problem...he
used to URINATE onto his legs which was supposed to make them go
from tender to tough in a short time.
Now I always thought this was rather hard to believe even given the fact
that grandpa was considerabley unique. But after listening to this thread
for a while, you've reminded me. After all, grandpa never had access to
riding pants or biking pants or lycra at all for that matter! I've still got his
old cow-hide chaps and they don't look even remotely comfortable (the
cow was brown and white BTW).
So if nothing else works, you might try grandpa's technique. And you
only have to tell us about it if it works!
Best 'o luck,
Pam.
P.S. I'm a riding tights and half chaps person... never have any problems
if I use that formula.