The first day of a triathlon training holiday is always going to be painful. The Glasgow Triathlon Club week in Fuerteventura usually takes place in February as a much welcomed winter sunshine holiday, but this means that most people have very few practise miles in their cycling legs because of our inclement Scottish winters.

During the past few months I have rarely ventured out on my road bike and have preferred to run. But with oh-so-smooth tarmac and fabulous sunshine in the Canaries, road cycling is the favoured activity each day. (We also swim and run each day.)

So, with months of no cycling followed by bike rides every day, there is a very high chance of sore and aching bits of the body. The most painful for me are shoulders, quads and my nether regions.

There is not much I can do about the shoulders and quads, except try to take it fairly easy on the first few bike rides and hope that my muscles will adapt to the sudden new exercise.

The nether regions, however, are a whole other story. You see, there are lotions and potions that promise to keep your butt – and other parts – protected and pain free.

One such product, which I have been testing during the Canaries triathlon training week, is 2Toms Butt Shield. This lubricant promises to relieve butt irritations and help to prevent saddle sores, friction burns and butt rashes. It is suitable for men and women and comes in handy single packs comprising a wet wipe style sheet that you apply to the lower regions in the hope that it will do what is says on the label.

Application is easy. Simply wipe the lubricated towel around said area. Pull up shorts, get on bike and go for a ride.

I wasn’t convinced that the lubricant would do much at all because although it went on well and felt good, there didn’t seem to be much of it.

But the proof is in the post-cycle. Amazingly, after 70kms of cycling up hills and down hills and with a raging wind that almost blasted me off my bike at least a dozen times, my lower regions feel okay.

I am not sore where I thought I’d be and there are absolutely no rubs. In fact, the whole area feels only slightly achy. I am impressed.

I don’t know how it works but it does seem to keep the butt and various connected areas in great working order.

All I can say is that it’s a shame that 2Toms have not invented a similar wipe to keep my quads and shoulders in pain-free condition.

See 2Toms