i see a lot of good advice here, however, saddles seem to be extremely personal. I dont know your fitness level, but if longer rides are possible(even at slower speeds) the TIME in the saddle is more important than distance. Ride slower for longer for several days in each saddle(day of rest between might not be bad if you get loaner saddles) but this gives you time to adapt to the saddle. on my ghetto bike i had a massive gel seat. never got uncomfortable(never rode too long being a 42lbs bike though lol)

when i got my first real road bike, i jacked my buddies Bell seat pad for a week, did a few 45 mi rides, then he took his seat cover back. havent had a problem since. I used to get saddle sore quite bad, even with the seat pad. now? nothing. but ive also done nothing harder or longer than a half century, but im pretty slow at that, so plenty of saddle time. maybe i got lucky on my stock saddle, but i think as weight increases, saddles become exponentially more uncomfortable(just a guess), as im a 130 lbs rider, and with a backpack with 1/2 gal water, bike lock etc, i weigh in at maybe 145-150 with my backpack. add an extra 50lbs onto the same pressure points = ouch. so, i think not only the saddle is the problem, but getting used to the least uncomfortable saddle is also key.

Also, i bike in shorts and a t shirt, no lance legstrong kit for me, so i dont know how they help, but probably a very good point too

" the ONLY one that didn't make me bleed"
i hope that its "that" time of the month for you while on these saddles!!!! OUCH! bleeding??? maybe centuries arent all theyre cut(no pun intended) out to be! i want to do one, but if my man area starts bleeding, i think ill revert to couch potato status!! thank god for the auschwitz-survivor style body structure!