Isn't it nice when things just work?

It's especially nice when something works that shouldn't.

I'm generally suspicious of the efficacy of anything that hasn't been thoroughly tested by People Who Know What They're Doing. So when I received a bottle of Topical Edge in the mail, I flipped it over to check the active ingredients.

Menthol.

I'd seen pro riders hawking it on Instagram, touting the recovery benefits of the lotion, and seeing menthol listed as the working part of the lotion made me wince. I figured it was about the same thing as Tiger Balm, but with a different bottle.

Nope. It's completely different, it really works, and you should use it.

My first experience with it was after a patented ToBeDetermined team death ride – rides that usually leave me needing help putting on shoes and socks for fear of cramping. But putting the lotion on directly after a shower left me limber and feeling ... great? It was a totally strange feeling, and one I attribute totally to the PR lotion (I kept all my other factors unchanged from normal to provide as good a test as I can manage.)

I ordered three more tubes for Intelligentsia and the lotion quickly became part of the team's daily ritual. It worked, and we felt much better than expected. We were hooked.

PR Lotion. It works. How does it work? Read all of this, but the short version is that it's not menthol, but baking soda, which reduces the amount of acid in your muscles. Wild.

(The only thing that would make it better: if it were in a stick format. The consistency is...special.)