As of today, I have ridden over 500 miles on my new saddle. I was feeling real good about it until today’s 57 mile ride. My butt hurt like hell during the last 15 miles, and now I have a brand new, painful, saddle sore. F***!
The first time I put the new saddle on my bike and gave it a spin on the trainer, it felt hard and uncomfortable. Then I followed the instructions to a ‘T’ on proper adjustment of the saddle and rode outside for 20 miles. It still felt harder than my old gel-padded saddle, but overall it felt pretty good. A few people told me to give it time, and that the memory foam will mold to my butt. I put in a few more bike rides & things still felt pretty good. I was smart and ramped up my mileage slowly, to let my body adapt. I had some sit bone pain, but no chaffing and no saddle sores. I was very hopeful that my sit bones would harden up and I’d adapt. I’ve done a couple of 1 hour trainer rides on it with no problem. That was really good news, because trainer rides usually bothered me alot.
However, the sit bone pain persisted on my longer rides. Last weekend I re-read the saddle adjustment instructions trying to figure out how to adjust the saddle to relieve pressure in that area. I took my tools with me on a 59 mile ride, and stopped alot during the first hour adjusting the saddle. I got the saddle to a good place, and had a great ride with minimal pain. I felt powerful. I felt comfortable. I was happy that I finally solved my saddle woes.
I don’t get why today’s ride ended in such pain. I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I just have sensitive skin, and that my butt can only take so much saddle time. One thing for sure: I cannot get to the B2B finish line unless I figure out how I can put in the miles on the saddle without all this butt pain.
PS: I was wearing my bike shorts last week. This week I wore tri shorts, because I was doing a brick workout. Two thoughts…1) the bike shorts put my pelvis in a slightly different angle, due to the padding. 2) they have more padding!
PSS: maybe I need to wash my bike shorts in HOT water? I wash them in warm water after every ride, and then air dry. Maybe there are nasty germs building up in the fabric??
PSSS: I have tried different lubes. I don’t like any of the petroleum based products. They leave an icky buildup in the bike shorts. I like Mission Anti Friction creme the best. It has some cornstarch in it. I wonder if that encourages germs? My 2nd choice for lube is Chamois Butr, which has lanolin in it. I think lanolin discourages germs. Maybe I should use that…?
I am desperate now. Anybody have any ideas? Be sure to read the comments – lots of good stuff added in there!
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Were you wearing Canari's, Terry, or Lycra's? My Lycra shorts tend to develop saddle sores, whereas Canari's and Terry's don't... just a thought...
Sorry to hear about your saddle sores - but secretly I'm glad to know that others get them too!! I use 'Chamois cream' from a company called Assos (not sure if it's available in the US). It's not greasy and also feels cooling. When I do get a saddle sore I use a 'Neosporin plus pain relief' cream that my US housemate gets (we can't get it over the counter here in the UK). The Neosporin seems to work a treat. Although I haven't tried lancing them, I'd be concerned about infection this way. I think it's caused by my seat set-up but haven't yet found an adjustment or seat that sorts it. Anyway, hope everything clears up for you and you keep enjoying the cycling!
Susie - that is so interesting. My saddle sores are always on the right side of my butt, which is the side that I was told to put the shims. I will try that! I'm glad I posted this stuff, embarrassing as it is!
I did my first bike ride since getting shims to correct my slight leg length discrepancy - for the first time ever, when I came home my saddle sore was not engorged with blood! It is now almost gone. Perhaps you have a slight leg length disrepancy after all? You can unofficially check by lying straight on your back anc having a friend look at your ankles to see if they line up.
Sorry about the saddle sores. I've never had one, but my hubby has gotten them when training long distances. He uses Chammy Buttr and likes that better than any other brands. He also tends to get them with older shorts (with less padding) so maybe it is the difference between the cycling shorts and tri shorts. Have you thought of building up milage in EACH short???
We wash out workout clothes in HOT water too and then air dry. No icky germs that way. Good Luck!
A friend emailed me with her advice about saddle sores. I will keep her identity anonymous, since this is an embarrassing topic - LOL! This is embarrassing for me to write about, but if it helps even just one person avoid butt pain, it will have been worth it!
Friend wrote...
I think some of us are just destined for saddle sores. I am plagued by them too. The only thing that helps me is a lot of Chammy Butt'r and I use lancets to drain them. (get them in the diabetic section of the drug store) They heal tons faster and you can ride the next day with no notice of them. Use a lot of Chammy Butt'r before every ride.
I asked...
Thanks for your note. The sore I kept getting from my old saddle was so deep and I could not lance it. I tried, believe me. Have not yet tried anything with this new one, which is in a completely different spot!
Can you define "alot of Chammy Bttr"? When you do long bricks, do you wear bike shorts? I am thinking that I should probably just always wear bike shorts if the ride is longer than 50, even if it's a brick. On race day, I can HTFU thru some pain due to wearing tri shorts. And for ironman, I will be able to change into bike shorts.
Thanks for all your insights!
Friend Replied...
I ALWAYS wear bike shorts, no matter what the distance. And "a lot" is probably 2 Tablespoons. When I did IM I put moleskin on the areas that I get the sores. If I do a brick, unless it is just a mile or so, I always change into running shorts.
I asked...
When you use the moleskin, do you shave the spot first?
Friend Replied...
Yes, shave the area first!