Ouch! My butt and my bike!

**LiftGirl** · 29-Sep-06, 04:45 PM

So I got a new bike yesterday. I was pretty excited about it and ended up riding 13.5 miles over about 2 hours or so. Guess I overdid it a bit.

Man, my butt is so sore today! My friend (who is into biking) says this will go away as my butt gets used to this.

People that ride bikes a lot, how long did it take you to get used to biking?

CF-OC_gal · 29-Sep-06, 09:10 PM

Every Spring I experience the same thing! Those darn sit-bones get bruised from any length bike ride.

It's usually just the first ride for me but it doesn't help to get back on until the pain is almost gone.

Beat · 01-Oct-06, 02:51 PM

I suggest buying them bike shorts with padding underneath for them long rides. Maybe not the tight lycra ones if you're not into that look but the board shorts MTB style.

**.V.** · 01-Oct-06, 06:11 PM

No matter what kind of padding you use, or what kind of saddle you buy - it's going to hurt your butt until you get used to it.

Start with shorter rides for a few weeks, then as you acclimate to them, increase the distance.

Then when you take winter off or whatever - you've got to reacclimate all over again.

urmaniac13 · 02-Oct-06, 11:57 AM

Using a gel padded saddle or saddle cover AND a biking trouser fitted with support in "that area" will surely help, though as welch cautioned, it will take some getting used to. Also slightly inclining (not too much) the saddle forward, just off from being level, will ease some pressure/rubbing too.

**.V.** · 02-Oct-06, 12:15 PM

good suggestion urmaniac13, I didn't even think of that. Women tend to be more comforatable with the saddle tilted forward or even one with a little cutout in the front, men with them tilted back a little or a cutout in the middle - the reasons are pretty obvious - but like you warned - just slightly - each sex tends to tilt too far in their preferred direction for optimum riding going for comfort.

CF-OC_gal · 02-Oct-06, 12:48 PM

Be careful with gel seats. They often exacerbate the problem in the long run although they feel good while you are bruised.

The bike seat thing was more of an issue when my bodyfat was higher rather than lower. (Which coincides with the gel seat cushioning not being better in the long run). I always wanted to try one of the gender specific bike seats.

**.V.** · 02-Oct-06, 02:22 PM

The gel seats are nice when your butt hurts. But as your riding progresses, they will be more of a hinderance. During my tri ride we were going pretty fast and it was causing me to slip - it's in the trash now. When I start riding again, I'll probably wish I had it back for a couple of weeks.

02-Oct-06, 02:43 PM

Go run instead and you won't have those butt problems.

Now if you do multiple rounds of hill sprints at maximum effort as I have been doing for the past 6 weeks, then you'll get some sore glutes, but it will be a muscle soreness and not that raw-to-the-bone soreness that you are talking about.

CF-OC_gal · 02-Oct-06, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierini

Go run instead and you won't have those butt problems.

Yes, butt.... that defeats the purpose of biking! I've actually found recently that old fashioned mixing in standing or rising off the the seat to accelerate (like we did as kids) improves the after effects of the ride and also breaks any monotony that could set in. ( I usually do that crossing intersections and quickly manoeuvering around pedestrians )

**LiftGirl** · 02-Oct-06, 06:06 PM

Well, it's getting better. Friday and Saturday I just rode to the gym and back, a little under 3 miles round trip. Did 14.45 miles yesterday, and no butt pain today. I think I'm getting used to it.

However, I was tired about an hour after yesterday's ride. I usually just do 20mins of cardio, so I think I need to work more on endurance. I can't bring myself to do an hour on those gym machines, but now that I've got the bike, I think I could do one or two hour-long workouts a week.

**.V.** · 02-Oct-06, 06:18 PM

Mix it up, do some swimming, come to the lake and play with us next May.

It's going to be easy 0.6 mile swim, 16 mile ride, 3.1 mile run. Part of the course is riding up the beast - but still, overall it's not bad - I've found a bigger beast to practice on this year.

**LiftGirl** · 03-Oct-06, 04:11 PM

I think you're a little far for me to come down there

**.V.** · 03-Oct-06, 05:11 PM

Not really, folks come from all over the world. One guy from South Africa was in the 1/2 IM one day, and his wife swam and biked with me in the sprint the next day. When we got to the run - she came back to encourage my slow ass to keep going, after she finished.

**LiftGirl** · 04-Oct-06, 03:09 PM

That's pretty cool!