Originally Posted by
Sangetsu
Your problem is simple, you haven't been riding long enough to acclimate your backside to riding. When I have been off the bike for a long time, when I start riding again I will limit myself to three moderate rides per week, and during this time, I fully expect to feel saddle pain. I will ride three more rides the following week, during which the pain will subside. During the third week I can add a day of riding, or increase the length of my rides. After a month, saddle pain on normal rides is no longer a problem, and after a few months you are more likely to have discomfort in your hands and feet than with your saddle.
Be patient, and let your body get used to riding.
There is quite a lot of truth in what you say, but I do disagree that HTFU for your butt is the only/entire issue. I'm pretty much a nube, only riding for a year, and when I got my first bike (oddly, also a giant Defy) my butt/perineum pains were a bit of a trial for months. Eventually, I started my saddle search and ended up with an SMP saddle...AND MY BUTT NO LONGER HURT AT ALL. I was able to go from 10 mile rides with discomfort to 25 mile rides with none. it wasn't a matter of getting my butt used to it, it was just the wrong saddle. Chapter two is I got a new bike this year, a size smaller, so my SMP no longer works on it (due to the placement of the widest part of the SMP, it has to be slid all the way forward, jamming up the cockpit.) after a search (which I detail in the fitting forum) I ended up with a Selle Italia Max flow gel, and now 40+ mile ride are without discomfort. And no balm or cream needed.
My point is: sometimes, even for a nube, it is all about the saddle.