Road Cycling - Problems when riding long distances

The biggest problem I have when riding long distances (100km +) is not my legs but rather my backside. This is a serious problem. I could barely sit down for the last 20km or so of my 160km ride on the weekend. I'm OK today, no ill affects in this area, legs are a little stiff but they'll be OK. Any tips or techniques to help out here?

How often do you get out of the saddle? I find that regularly getting out of the saddle, even for a few seconds, can allow bloodflow to certain areas, providing relief from the sort of problems you describe.

Get some of that butter stuff to prevent chafing. And also, like Chris said, spend some time out of the saddle.

Check your saddle tilt to make sure you are able to position your sit bones correctly when you're sitting on the saddle. If you take your bike to a bike shop that does a bike fit, they may be able to evaluate how you sit on the bike to make a recommendation.

Check your saddle itself. Are you sure it's a comfortable saddle? I had saddle problems and couldn't go 30 miles without pain, and with my new saddle, I can now go a full century with maximum comfort (plus using that butter stuff too).

Good luck.

Koffee

It could be that you need to get a professionals opinion on bike fit. A few tweaks here and there may fix everything. There is a great article about bike fit in the current edition of Bicycling Australia by Steven Hodge, or maybe it's time for a new saddle.

CHEERS.

Mark

Besides the saddle, another thing to consider are the shorts, or more particularly the insert. You might try several different brands of shorts with different types of insert to see if one works better for you. I've come to the conclusion that the 'baseball' cut inserts don't work for me on longer rides. I've switched to shorts with a two-piece insert (Etxe-Ondo or Nalini) and am much happier.

Butt butter will make it better. Grease those glutes and go!

The wrong saddle will kill ya also. Try another saddle.

Yep Chamois Butter saved my life!! but my wife thinks I am very strange when I get Lubed up:D :eek:

Butt Butt'r and standing on the pedals every few miles does it for me.

Falchoon,

One word: BROOKS.

(1oldroadie, I beat you to it!).

a few other words: chamois butt'r; Good shorts (assos,
Etxe-ondo, Castelli, Pearl Izumi); and finally, time in the saddle.

Marty

Is it possible to condition your back to longer distances? I found I got a sore lower back with every bicycle I test rode, after about 20 minutes of riding. I was hoping that this was something that would go away with time/experience.. Not so?

When I first started on a road bike I had the same problem. I solved it by moving around, standing up, and switching hand positions. If you keep riding it will go away.

P.S. Brooks is not necessarily the answer. In 1973 I got a Raleigh Grand Prix. No matter what I did that Brooks felt like I was riding a rock.

Originally posted by BeardedMonk
Is it possible to condition your back to longer distances? I found I got a sore lower back with every bicycle I test rode, after about 20 minutes of riding. I was hoping that this was something that would go away with time/experience.. Not so? It most probably will go away with time, as long as your bike is fit to you OK. I have an extra lumbar vertebra (not enough of a mutant power to get me into the X-Men, alas) and compression fractures in two other lumbar verts (thanks to a childhood buddy who neglected to tell me he hadn't nailed the floorboards down yet in his tree house), and I had some initial concerns when I went to the more aerodynamic position on a road bike. But, with a little acclimation I soon got to 150-200 mile rides without back trouble. Bike fit, ab exercises, and the occasional standing up all interact to help. Especially on long climbs (>5 miles) the variation of standing for 20 or 30 pedal strokes every once and awhile increases the comfort level.

As far as the OP. How often and how close together do you go above 100k? In my own experience, I found that that I could put 100k rides back to back to back without much problem, but if I did only the occasional longer ride I would feel it more--like there was some "inflection point" above which the rules changed. But once I increased the frequency of the longer rides so that they were less novel, the aches then moved to the rides that were 200k and longer.

Have to agree with everyone else, get out of that saddle every chance you get. Hill, stop sign whatever, just get off it.

Chafing isn't the problem, it's a more physical pain, more like I've been kicked by a donkey! My current saddle that came with the bike is a Selle Italia Trimatic. I have done simialr long rides on my MTB with different more comfortable saddle (can't reclall brand) with simialr problems.

How do I know what saddle is the 'right' one? What suits someone else doesn't neccessarily suit me. Saddles are too expensive (over AUS$100 ea) to buy and discard if unsuitable. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

Your LBS should allow you to take the bike out for a spin with the saddle you're interested in- my LBS did that, and I was able to try out a few saddles the day I replaced mine. If the LBS won't let you try the seats out, go someplace else...

Koffee

Originally posted by Falchoon
Chafing isn't the problem, it's a more physical pain, more like I've been kicked by a donkey! My current saddle that came with the bike is a Selle Italia Trimatic. I have done simialr long rides on my MTB with different more comfortable saddle (can't reclall brand) with simialr problems.

How do I know what saddle is the 'right' one? What suits someone else doesn't neccessarily suit me. Saddles are too expensive (over AUS$100 ea) to buy and discard if unsuitable. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I sell and fit bikes...I am not sure I can tell what the problem is because this could range from saddle, to frame fit, to a physical problem.

Have you seen a physician to determine if you might have a physical problem? This might seem to be a dumb question, but trust me, to find a solution you need to eliminate all the possibilities. Is the pain in your glutes, crotch, lower back?

Were you fitted for the bike? Are you sure the top tube is long enough so that you are not pushing all the time with your lower back muscles?

Many times folks look at saddles first when their rear ends hurt. About a third of the time, it is a saddle issue in my experience. The rest of the time it's bike fit or problems with the rider.

Just some ideas...

Well, when you ride a bike, your weight should be born by the ischeal processes of the pelvis. They are just 2 little knobs (one on each side) that project downwards a bit. Some people, usually men, have their's closer together and they want narrow saddles. Women tend to have a wider spacing so they want a wider saddle. If you have a wide spacing, a narrow saddle will sit between the processes and your weight will have to be supported by soft tissue and that isn't fun.

So comfort in riding is partly getting a match between these processes and a saddle.

Of course, there are other things like saddle sores that can cause "discomfort" also known as PAIN.

Originally posted by Falchoon
Chafing isn't the problem, it's a more physical pain, more like I've been kicked by a donkey! My current saddle that came with the bike is a Selle Italia Trimatic. I have done simialr long rides on my MTB with different more comfortable saddle (can't reclall brand) with simialr problems.

How do I know what saddle is the 'right' one? What suits someone else doesn't neccessarily suit me. Saddles are too expensive (over AUS$100 ea) to buy and discard if unsuitable. Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
Thats right,that butter stuff does nothing for pain.I've never needed to use that stuff.Terry and kobbi seats each have,i thing 30 days to return the seats if you dont like them for and reason.Each lbs will have different returns so ask.First make sure your bike is set up right.Check everything.After that if it still bothers you then you very well might need a different seat.

I have had good experiences with Specialized Body Geometry saddles, and also Terry. Any of the new generation of anatomically correct saddles have a cutout in the center to force you to sit on the "sit bones" of the lower pelvis, thus alleviating pressure on the more sensitive fleshy parts of your lower anatomy. As for back pain, the best way to avoid stressing the lower back is to strengthen your core muscles. Ab workouts and Pilates are the best ways, you may also try the Reebok Core Board or other similar devices. I have group ab workouts after my Spinning classes using a combination of mat work and stability balls, and started to notice a difference in my own comfort on the bike after just a few weeks. You want to work the abs, the obliques (up and down the sides of your torso) as well as the back. This provides you with a very stable midsection, and will actually help eliminate other problems such as hand numbness, as you will place less of your body weight on the handlebars.

Originally posted by demoncyclist
I have had good experiences with Specialized Body Geometry saddles, and also Terry. Any of the new generation of anatomically correct saddles have a cutout in the center to force you to sit on the "sit bones" of the lower pelvis, thus alleviating pressure on the more sensitive fleshy parts of your lower anatomy. As for back pain, the best way to avoid stressing the lower back is to strengthen your core muscles. Ab workouts and Pilates are the best ways, you may also try the Reebok Core Board or other similar devices. I have group ab workouts after my Spinning classes using a combination of mat work and stability balls, and started to notice a difference in my own comfort on the bike after just a few weeks. You want to work the abs, the obliques (up and down the sides of your torso) as well as the back. This provides you with a very stable midsection, and will actually help eliminate other problems such as hand numbness, as you will place less of your body weight on the handlebars.
Cutout has nothing to do with your sitbones.If your seat is wide enough,your sitbones will have someplace to sit.The cutout takes the pressure off that part thats over it.

Agreed, but the idea of the cutout is that you ONLY put weight on the sitbones, the rest of your fleshy parts are pressure free. The problem with some of the older gel seats is that they put pressure on EVERYTHING, and the same can be true of oldschool racing saddles (like the Brooks), depending on your individual anatomy.