Originally Posted by
elephino
my arms and pecs are surprisingly sore even though I consider myself in decent upper-body shape. Is this just a matter of building up appropriate muscles and muscle endurance, or is there something off about my posture? (Too much weight on the saddle, too much weight on the handlebars, back curved wrong, etc)
this could happen for a few reasons. it sometimes happens to me because i'm not very smooth and i unconsciously push the bike left and right while seated, to try to get leverage when i feel i need it, which results in using more energy than is needed. the end result is usually muscles that are a bit sore, but which muscles and how sore can depend on both the position on the bike and how long it was done for. then again, if you're new to cycling, it could just be that you're using muscles now that you didn't use before, which is perfectly normal...
Originally Posted by
elephino
It is great on, um, the actual ladybits, but by about mile 30 it started to chafe badly on the right side where my leg meets the rest of me. Even with chamois cream applied and reapplied, I was *really* hurting in that one specific zone by the end. The left side was a little red but no big deal. Does this mean this saddle is no good for me.
again, it could have happened for several reasons. first though, just know that woman's saddles are going to be a bit wider than men's saddles, because women's sitbones are structurally a bit wider than men's sitbones. i had that exact problem when i started riding again this year, after taking 3 years off, and it's gotten much better now since i put some time in on the saddle. it could have happened cause you're new to riding and your skin has to get used to it. it could have happened cause you're not smooth in the saddle and you're moving side to side in the saddle. it could have happened cause of your position on the bike, meaning that if you're more upright your putting more pressure on your sitbones and if your more aero your putting less pressure on your sitbones. and lastly, the saddle just really suck all together. if you broke skin, which i'm guessing you did, than you should wait till it's completely healed (about 5-7 days) before you go out again. you don't want to risk an infection. do yourself a favor and get a tin of Bag Balm, you can use it to prevent chafing and you can also put it on the affected skin when you go to sleep to help it heal better and faster...
i would say look into Terry saddles, they're pretty popular with women roadies i know...
Women's and Men's Bicycle Saddles: Womens and Mens Bicycle Seats - Best, Most Comfortable Cutaway & Gel Bike Seats | Terry
honestly, before doing 1 really long ride, try doing 2 road rides (both rides totaling the mileage of the 1 really long ride) on back to back days, that will tell you if you have a saddle issue before you have to tolerate broken skin for 30 or 40 miles on a long ride. if you can do the second ride on the second day without worrying about your butt hurting, than you should be good to go to do 70 or 80 miles without a problem. if after the first day you either have to sit out because of pain or broken skin or start to feel pain after a few miles into the ride than you shouldn't do the long ride until that doesn't happen...