Originally Posted by
JC1978
Managed 10 minutes today mostly downhill and flat. No wheezing just sore throat
As soon as sat on the seat was in agony. Not just a bit but real bad. Had to peddle standing up. Are the gel seat covers on ebay any good?
Legs felt like jelly no power in them. Ob2 really unfit. Do I need to get fit some other way before starting cycling? I can't imagine 10 minutes a day going to do much good? I'm totally embarrassed how unfit I am
Avoid the gel covers or any other extra padding on the saddle. What happens with those is they compress under your sit bones but NOT under your family jewels and that puts a LOT of pressure on them.
Did you eat before your ride? Some days i get jelly legs early in a ride if I haven't eaten recently enough before heading out.
Even 10 miuntesa day beats 0 minutes a day. Also, some days are better than other days. Some days I just ride in a light gear (little pressure on the pedals) and ride slower.
Sore butt? It could be the saddle. A friend and i were riding a number of years ago and after about 20 miles his butt was very painful; so much so he was wondering how he'd be able to ride back to town. I switched my sadle with his and after a few miles his pain diminished quite a bit and he was able to ride back in reasonable comfort. His saddle had a strong transverse curve to it whereas my saddle was much flatter. Turned out that the strong transverse curve of his saddle and the fact that it was a bit narrow for him meant that his sit bones weren't properly supported and they were being spread apart by the saddle.
What clothes you wear on your bottom can also affect the comfort to a great degree. you want to avoid anything that has ridges or high seams. Bicycling shorts or liners have flat seams for the reason that they won't chafe. Check your butt for chafing. it shouldn't be that sore after only a short ride.
Sitting bolt upright puts a lot of weight on your butt and that position will worsen any other problems caused by a saddle or thick seams on clothing.
If your saddle is too low that will cause you to bounce and or rock as you pedal and that can lead to a sore butt too. So can a saddle that's too high.
When it gets really cold out or if I'm going to do a hard ride (effort or hills) I often wear a sanding mask as that allows me to breathe in pre-warmed air. I find it makes a HUGE difference. The one I use is like this one.
Dust mask by
Miele Man, on Flickr
You can get a better quality maske if you ride in an area where there's a lot of motor vehicle polution especially diesel.
Cheers