Rupicapra rupicapra
When you hear the word chamois (which I pronounce “shammy” without a clue as to how correct that is), what do you think of? A leatherlike absorbent cloth that dries your car whilst you wring it out over and over? A pair of padded bicycle shorts necessary for comfort on long distance rides? A goat-antelope?
Originally the word had the last of those three meanings, although over time the other two would also apply. I had no idea. A chamois is actually a goat-like antelope, or maybe an antelope-like goat, I’m not sure which. Chamois are small in size, maybe 28 inches at the shoulder and 130 pounds would characterize the largest of them. They live in the mountain ranges of southern Europe, from the Basque country in the west all the way to Turkey in the east. They are neither overly abundant nor endangered through most of their range, apparently.
Chamois leather is prized for being soft and supple. Consequently humans have used it for a number of products over the centuries…items from gloves to drying towels to bicycle shorts crotch-padding have been made of chamois leather…so much so that the item itself is now often called a “chamois” or “shammy” many decades after it stopped being made from the creature’s hide.
So the next time you suit up for a long bicycle ride with a pair of chamois shorts or pants, remember the humble goat-antelope from Europe who originally made such things as padded shorts possible. Who knows, someday fossil fuels will no longer rule our world, there will be shortages of petrochemicals, and chamois shorts will once again be truly chamois.
Here endeth the lesson on the chamois.
Bike Newbie 