dkyser

I have been riding every Wed & Friday for the past couple weeks started at 11 miles of gravel and yesterday did 20 and my a$$ is sore today. I had planned on riding tomorrow and not sure if it would be better to ride or push through.

10 Wheels

Sit in a HOT soapy bathtub.

257 roberts

personal I would rest, butt I would also be looking at padded shorts and/or a different seat

dkyser

I have a great seat and padded shorts, just been a long time since I have put any real miles on and it is showing.

I have to understand putting a 300 lb rider on a saddle is going to take its toll
In the past it seems the soreness always comes after you have added quite a few miles to your longest ride.

masi61

I’d say let your butt heal for a least 1 day, then ride the next day. If you can do a fitness class or a yoga class or even just vigorous home chore/yard work that would work accessory muscles/core muscles which will strengthen you for your next ride (tomorrow, not today).

When you do ride how much standing up are you doing to relieve compression? If you are experiencing a sore ass you might not be decompressing enough. I try lots of little tricks while riding such as pushing my butt back onto the wide part of the saddle while consciously pushing back on the handlebars. Standing to climb, even if only 8 or 12 pedal strokes before sitting down can help a lot as well. An apparel trick that improves comfort (for me) is to reach inside my bib shorts in the front leg area and the rear leg area and pull them up as much into my crotch as I can. This seems to let the pad be less pinchy. Riding the drops periodically for as long as you can tolerate rotates the pelvis forward slightly so your pelvic saddle contact points are slightly different. It also engages the abdominal muscles noticeable which with more miles and more practice makes that riding position more tolerable.

brawlo

In what way is it sore? If it's internal, like muscular sore from getting used to the seat and riding, then keep going, but if you're clocking up 20 mile rides then 100% invest in some padded shorts. If it's skin sore from rubbing, then give it a rest, but again, 100% invest in some padded shorts and maybe some chamois cream. Once you have padded shorts, then assess if the saddle keeps making you sore. If it does, seek out an alternative

shelbyfv

Yes, unless you see some chaffing it's just your butt getting accustomed to riding. Happens to most folks after even a couple of weeks off. For rides of that length, every other day off should be plenty. Persevere.

pdlamb

If you've got skin problems "down there" get some good cycling shorts and perhaps chamois cream. Otherwise, keep riding; you'll get used to it AND get in shape quicker because of it.

Bigbus

Like most have stated, if it's muscular in nature, push through it and ride. If it's actual saddle sores, cream, a break to heal, and new shorts or saddle because something isn't right. It might even be a matter of adjustments. Good luck

Clyde1820

Everyone's different, of course.

Guessing here, based on the little that was said ...

I'm assuming that those two days per week are the sole exercise efforts you do each week. If that's the case, I'd be very surprised if 2x <20mi would alone be capable of improving butt "strength" to the point such soreness goes away.

In my experience, several vigorous exercise sessions weekly are necessary to improve muscle strength, flexibility, ability to withstand tougher or longer efforts. Any exercise that strengthens and toughens the glute areas is likely to help (at least a bit) with this process of toughening your backside.

Longer times in the saddle gets greater ability to sit in the saddle ... in time. How much time? Everyone's different. Likely, greater amounts of time and more-intense sessions using those muscles will aid in speeding the processes of "firming up" their ability to withstand longer efforts. The muscles will get stronger, become better able to withstand punishment, be able to recover sooner, etc.

Back in the day, with competitive performance distance running, we'd often select on longer runs portions of the run that would be higher-intensity, "pushy" sections of the course. Say, on a 10mi run, after a 2mi warming-up segment, we'd take every other half-mile section and push hard, with the following half-mile section done at the "base" pace to allow for some recovery. Completing the tail 3/4ths of the run in that manner would really push the muscles and the cardio. Could do that two or three times per week, depending on how we recovered. But, in time, we'd notice the muscles get better capable of recovering sooner, get stronger on those half-mile pushes, and our overall times would improve. Used to bike 40-50mi/day, back then, as well, and the same thing applied. A 20+ mile ride was one thing. But, to improve, we'd have our portions where we'd push hard then back off for awhile. Assuming the saddle was decent and we weren't otherwise injured or chafed, that and increased saddle time gradually helped in toughening-up the backside.

Getting older, myself, and so I find increased amounts of time stretching and massaging achy muscles helps recovery as well.

Isn't foolproof, but it can help, IMO.

Calsun

If I have not ridden for a period of time my butt is sore the day following a ride but I get back up on the saddle and the second day the soreness is only apparent for the first 5 minutes of my ride. Taking a break from riding is likely to be counterproductive. One thing that helps is to spend less time sitting on your butt and more time standing on the pedals. Going up a grade I will stand to give my butt a break and not because I need to do so for lack of leg strength.

A friend who went on many 1000 plus mile bike trips with more than 100 miles each day was always gettng "saddle sores" and they were from the buildup of bacteria in the chamois material. I always ride with cotton underwear between me and the chamois and so no buildup of bacteria and no saddle sores.

If I thought I needed to use a creme or ointment my first choice would be better bike shorts or a better saddle and fix the problem at its root cause(s). Seats that are comfortable for short rides are terrible for long rides and vice versa.

tallbikeman

Saddle sores can be caused by high contact pressures between your sitz bones and the seat. Several years ago I switched to noseless saddles because of a prostatitus issue caused by the horns of my bike saddles. This change kept me from having a relapse, but not using the perineum for support put all my weight on the sitz bones and that caused saddle sores immediately. I fought this saddle sore issue for a couple of years until I found the Spiderflex noseless saddle. Their design spreads the sitz bone seating loads to a much broader area due to two trapezoidal holes cut into the two pads where you sit. This instantly solved the saddle sore issue and in fact no real soreness of any kind. I ride 10 to 20 miles daily and don't have to sit out "sore" days now.