Originally Posted by peripatetic

You know, I know that everyone here on bikeforums and most hardcore cyclists for that matter fancy themselves supremely competent and unsurpassingly knowledgeable. But I have to figure there are some of us out there who might be suffering a bit and not really aware of it. The article also mentioned many people, including a 28-yr-old, I believe, who didn't even think there might be a connection between decreased sexual potency and their cycling. Personally, I'm a 33-yr-old healthy male, and I haven't had any serious sexual problems ever, but I have noticed the inevitable decline in my sex drive since I was a ripe and randy 21. Who knows if this is merely a matter of age or other things--like a bad saddle. But maybe we should at least let other men who ride frequently know that this is a potential hazard.

And as simple as it may sound, I'm guessing that a lot of guys who ride long rides frequently might not notice after a few hours of hard riding that they're numb down below. I mean, numbness is kind of the absence of feeling; who hasn't felt that after a long, arduous ride, whether or not they were on a bad seat? Now that I'm aware it's a problem, I will approach it like I do the potential for getting thrombosis on airplane flights: I will encourage myself to get off of the saddle from time to time and make sure that the blood is flowing; maybe even use it as a good reason to take breaks from actually riding and get off of the bike. I would guess that could help as much as anything else. Sounds simple, yes, but if you're not aware that it could be a problem, you might easily dismiss the solution as unnecessary.