Steph versus stupid sizes

Today I cycled into work (about 6 miles) for the first time in 6 months. It was fine - took less time that I was expecting and I actually quite enjoyed it. Feel free to mock my confidence when I die on the way home though...

Now, yesterday, one of my friends from work who also cycles in, was extolling the virtues of padded cycling shorts (NB these are to be worn *under* my cropped trousers). Contemplating the possibility, I toddled off to the website she recommended and hunted down the women's cycle shorts.

At which point I became slightly annoyed.

See, I'm a size 18 in normal clothes, which according to this cycle shop's warped logic translates to a 3XL. Extra extra extra large? Seriously?

Now I say this as someone who's reasonably happy with her size - life is too short to be miserable and all that. I know I'm more than a little bit overweight and considerably larger than most of my friends. Sure, I'd like to be a bit smaller than I am, as at my smallest I was a large 14/small 16 and I have some nice clothes I'd like to be able to fit into again. But in comparison, at my largest, I was a size 26 and weighed over 21 stone. So an 18 seems ok.

The thing is, I distinctly remember having a hoodie at my largest point - a Fruit of the Loom one iirc - which was a size 2XL. So, after a lot of work I lost 6 stone, dropped 4 clothes sizes, and now get greeted with a size 3XL pair of cycle shorts... Hmmmmmmm.

To be honest, that seems a little unfair. I mean, the sizes go from an 8 (which is a S) - why not make the 8 an XS and shift the unfairness a bit more in the other direction. In all honesty, I think they should be commending any size 18 girls who are brave enough to get on a bike - I mean, we're destined to spend most of our time getting overtaken by super fit serious cyclists, so why not encourage us with a pair of "Good on you!" or "Don't let that hill defeat you" size shorts, with a 10% discount for being brave/stupid enough to cycle. Interestingly enough, the 3XL shorts are currently out of stock, suggesting that I'm not the only one daft enough to give it a go.

Ahem.

I guess I'm just a bit fed up of shops not catering to me or putting stupid labels on clothes. I go shopping with my friends and usually end up in shops that only make clothes up to a size 14 (sometimes labelled as an XL, just to make me feel even better about myself). I've become an expert in killing time staring blankly at accessory stands, or sitting next to bored looking boyfriends on the token couch whilst everyone else tries on clothes. These shops have clearly taken the class "How to make you feel like a freak 101", because if you're a little overweight, you're evidently not worthy of wearing their clothes.

Meh.

Anyway, I'm not looking for sympathy at the situation, I just really needed to have a bit of a rant...