Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - second century and male area ?

Ok I completed my second century in a little over 5 hours with only one brief stop. Now my question is sense then may member s mid/tip is numb. Before anyone ask I was not sitting on it and I was not in any real discomfort et when ridding.I am assuming that this not something that should happen so what should I change...
seat , angle , stops ...
saddle is a sella
Thanks for the input,
john

I'd experiment with tipping the saddle nose down just a tick or maybe setting it forward a couple mm.

Make sure your shorts padding is not bunching up under your pubic bone. Many shorts have way too much padding in the central core area. I have taken to cutting it out in a narrow rectangle in some of my shorts, which seems to reduce the problem. A permanent solution is to find a more appropriate pair.

how do you know what an appropriate pad is?
Thanks again,
John

It might not be the shorts. I'd suggest going for an easy ride for about an hour with unpadded shorts and see if the same thing happens. If so, it would seem to indicate that it's something with either the saddle position, or the saddle shape that just doesn't agree with you.

I had this problem after my first 50 mile ride. What seemed to fix it in my case was making sure my weight was supported on my sits bones. I had been sliding forward too much onto the nose of the saddle, and the soft tissue just to the rear of my genital area was being compressed.

I changed a few things to make sure my weight was on my sits bones. I became more conscious of how my weight is supported when I ride. I adjusted the angle, and fore-aft position of the saddle until I wasn't sliding forward onto the nose too easily. And, I tried different saddles, till (I think) I found one that would comfortably support my sits bones for long distances. (I have different saddles on my bikes and none make me numb, but one is more comfortable.)

Stoking on a tandem, where the ability to move around and change position
on the bike is curtailed, realy brought home to me the importance of saddle,
saddle position and oddly shorts. I now have one fully tandem rated
shorts (out to back to back centuries on a weekend) and others good for
60 or so miles, the rest are no go beyond 30miles on the tandem. The
short range shorts do fine on singleton riding out to 60mi or so. Shorts
won't solve the problem but can help. Saddle and most important saddle
position will. I had to get a setforward seatpost to reduce the tendency
to slide forward onto the nose of the saddle where pressure on the
crotch is greatest. A bit of nose up tilt helped as well. Kind of hard to
experiment, but keep records of the saddle position relative to the bar
and angle of tilt with each adjustment so you can judge the effectiveness
of change, hundred mile rides tend to occur at intervals far enough apart
for most of us that you need some sort of memory jog to know what you
have done before.

For the curious, my tandem rated shorts are PI Microsensor. The Nashbar
and older Performance shorts have been demoted to recumbent use. LGL
strictly recumbent. Brand new Performance century ok on singleton
for shorter rides. There does seem to be some difference between $50 and
$100 shorts.

I changed a few things to make sure my weight was on my sits bones. I became more conscious of how my weight is supported when I ride. I adjusted the angle, and fore-aft position of the saddle until I wasn't sliding forward onto the nose too easily.

Exactly. You may want to try a saddle like the Specialized Toupe for this reason.

I'd experiment with tipping the saddle nose down just a tick or maybe setting it forward a couple mm.

I do both of these. I think that if I'm sliding forward later in a ride, then that's where my body needs to be, hence its where the saddle should be.

Road Fan

Things that affect this:

1) The quality of your bike fit
2) The seat you have and how well it works for your anatomy
3) The shorts you wear
4) Where you sit on the saddle
5) How often you stand up.

#5 can help even if you haven't figured out the others. Make sure you are getting up out of the seat for at least 30 seconds every 15 minutes or so.

My guess is that you need a different seat to really address the problem.

I'm curious about this too. What saddles are held in high esteem as far as long rides go, the Specialized Troupe? Anything other than the Brooks saddles as far as touring goes? Is the center cut-away beneficial for the soft tissue or not?

I have a Toupe Team. Did a Century on it Saturday and all of my training rides leading up to it have been between 50 and 70 miles....The Toupe Team has never given me any trouble...I actually had blisters from some other saddles.... Whichever you choose, get a fitting done first. That will give you a good reference point, and then make slight adjustments until it fits your butt.

Good Luck

...or you could be a total dork (like me) and ride a recumbent. I rode my first 1200k this year (on a RANS Force 5 highracer), and at the finish, my legs were sore. That was the extent of my physical complaints. No sore neck, no sore... ahem... "saddle area", no chafing, no numbness, NO PROBLEMS. This after less than one year on a 'bent. And no, it hasn't slowed me down. I'm still very firmly middle-of-the pack.

Scott P
:recum:

ps - and no, it wasn't a flat 1200k. Unless you consider the Canadian Rockies flat...

Terry Fly saddle works for me.

After riding many miles this season I've developed what i think is called bikers nodule or third testicle. It's a lump in the crease between my right leg and the perineal area. The doctor said just to stop riding for a few months and see it it resolves itself. Has anyone had something similar

Stoking on a tandem, where the ability to move around and change position
on the bike is curtailed, realy brought home to me the importance of saddle,
saddle position and oddly shorts. ---------------------------------------
For the curious, my tandem rated shorts are PI Microsensor. The Nashbar
and older Performance shorts have been demoted to recumbent use. LGL
strictly recumbent. Brand new Performance century ok on singleton
for shorter rides. There does seem to be some difference between $50 and
$100 shorts.

Another Tandem stoker here and can vouch for the curtailling of movement. So much so that We have to take out of saddle breaks on a frequent basis to stop numbness coming in. And on the shorts- I recently got some top rate Bib shorts- first pair ever and they are definitely worth it for comfort Over the medium Price I used to wear.

Numbness in that region is normally caused by circulation problems. Even on a solo- I take a butt break frequently. Might just be for the final lip of a hill- or accelerating from low speed- or if on the flat- Just to stretch the Calve muscles.

But Saddle adjustment---- I have had a saddle on the bike for 18 months with no pain. Can safely say that I could not feel the saddle. Then one ride and I had soreness- and the next ride pain. So while the pain was there- I tried to analyse where the pain was coming from. The sit bones were not fully on the "Wings" Of the saddle so moved the it forward 1/2" Then I could feel where I was sitting on the saddle so just lowered the nose a bit. Sat on the saddle for 5 minutes and lowered the nose again. Now have a saddle that is pain free again. Why it suddenly started hurting I don't know. Perhaps I'll find out when something breaks on the bike.