Gangrel

Posted about this in another thread, but it wasn't too eye catching so I figured I'd amp it up a bit

Yesterday I went riding double my normal distance.. 40 rather than 20.. the first time I've done more than 20 really, and I haven't ridden but 2 or 3 times in the past few weeks. Yes, I know it was a horrible idea... and I'm definitely paying for it now. I also rode in the drops a lot, which is odd for me.

Anyway, problem.. The tallywhacker was numb when I got home, and a day later it still hasn't regained all feeling. It seems to be in perfect working order aside from that. The Boys and the 'Twixt the legs' area had no problems.

So, is this because I pushed myself too hard? Or should I be worried. I'm at the moment I have a Selle Italia C2 (stock on my bike) I've never had numbness issues before. And for what it's worth, I have Descente Aero-X Pros. I guess it could be an issue with the shorts though too.

Suggestions? I'm hoping it's nothing to be (too) worried about and I just pushed myself too hard.

formulaben

Is your seat level? Try lowering the tip of the seat just a bit.

filtersweep

Is your seat too high? Do you stand periodically to allow the blood back in?

If you pinch a nerve, you'll have a scary numb feeling that can last up to a week.

It it is vascular, try standing periodly as you ride- although if vascular, it should clear up within hours of ending your ride.

Gangrel

Cervelo certainly couldn't have made it any harder to adjust seat angle. You were right, it was angled up a couple of millimeters, so I cranked it down to maybe 1-2 mm below level. Pain in the butt though. (ed: literally and metaphorically)

DocRay

I've had the same problem with the Cervelo seatpost-if anyone wants to make a quick profit, make a decent saddle clamp for these bikes, because Cervelo got it all wrong. Stupid. stupid.stupid design.

biker7

Will state the obvious perhaps to some and say don't do it again. Nothing wrong with the distance and if you didn't collapse from exhaustion, you didn't go too hard...your set up is bad that's all. Common to many on the board including me. Since I have been riding longer distances of late, I too have been susceptible. I would ride with a sympathitic partner or alone until you get it resolved and would get off the bike as soon as you experience numbness because this is something you don't want to tempt...not worth it. Some have ended up off the bike for 6 months for prolonged pressure to the perineum. I am taking much greater inventory now and not ignoring my body. Subordinating pain is a big factor to a fast cyclist and have to admit I too get caught up in denying attention to my body in pursuit of speed sometimes. Make some set up changes...shorts, different seat...move the saddle more forward and/or down to reduce cockpit length, try a shorter and/or higher rise stem to reduce reach...many things you can do. Best thing you can do is angle your saddle down until you get your setup refined...to make the seat more of a perch in back for your sit bones and provide more clearance to your soft parts...the ultimate goal being to find a level saddle that will not cause pressure where you don't want it.
Good Luck,
George

Gangrel

I agree, George... The problem being I had no idea I had any numbness, I think I would have had to stop and thump myself in the groin to realize it

I'll be experimenting for a couple of weeks, then after that its new saddle time. Im thinking specialized alias, or toupe

Cheesy

After a 100 mile bike ride, I got what seems to be a fairly common numb knob. That felt the same as when your arm goes to sleep, no feeling there. That went away after a couple of hours but some other really troublesome problems persisted. For about one month, I had what seemed to be a nerve problem. There was just no sexual feeling left. There was also a blood flow problem that prevented erections. My doctor told me to stop riding for at least six months. After two months now, the nerve problem and blood flow are about 50% better. My doctor told me that he has a doctor friend that the same thing happened to and it took him 18 months to get back to normal.

During my ride, I stopped every 10 miles and got off the bike for 5-10 minute. I never felt any pain or numbness during the ride. Even during the 10 mile legs, I would rest my rear occassionally by standing and stretching. My saddle was level at the time also. My longest single day ride before this was 81 miles a few months earlier. My normal Saturday morning training ride prior to this century was 40 miles.

I just bought a Specialized Avatar Gel saddle (similar to the Alias) which has the cutout to prevent the pressure that was caused by my old saddle. When I purchased my old saddle, I knew nothing about the different widths of saddles and purchased one that was too narrow for my body. The old saddle was nice and padded which, along with the narrowness, bunched up under my soft tissue causing the additional pressure in the wrong area. I finally learned about the Specialized "Assometer" and measured in about 135mm. So I went with the 155mm saddle. I've only taken two 5 mile rides to see if the saddle will be comfortable enough to ride after my six month haitus from riding.

So, the point of all of this is, don't take your bike saddle for granted. You hear about this stuff all the time but you never think it will happen to you. I suspect that this is a LOT more common than what we hear but it's such a sensitive subject that most people don't want to talk about it, much less let any of their friends know about their issues. Be proactive, do something BEFORE it happens to you.

Has anyone else had this problem? How did it turn out for you and how long did it take to get back to normal?

Gangrel

But I have such a tiny cute butt

Cheesy, I would mock you since you're an aggie.. but no man deserves that issue. One of the first things I did was make sure I was still fully operational in that department.

Kerry Adams

I had the "problem" once. Finally I deserved the age old moniker, "numb nutz". To avoid further probs:

1) I lowered the saddle nose a bit to make the back of the Selle Italia SLR sit up (the flair at the back),

2) adjusted the position of the saddle (fore/aft) so that my sit bones are right on top of the saddle flair,

3) adjusted saddle height properly (don't want any back and forth rocking motion while peddling which indicates you're "reaching" for the bottom of the peddle stroke)

4) chose a saddle that's generally firm, I think gel or otherwise squishy saddles let you sink into the saddle and cause saddle parts to come into contact with your parts (not good)

5) Make sure that the overall ergonomics in your typical riding positioning (bar stem/top tube relationship) and saddle height is correct to allow sustained riding without rolling the hips forward and putting the genital area into hard contact with the nose of the saddle. You should be able to get to your typical position while keeping your package from getting pressed down into the saddle.....I adjusted the stem length on my bike to "shorten" the cockpit in order to achieve this.

All the above worked for me, I can ride now without any issues.