motorapido

First, I am talking skin abrasion/removal. Not an infected hair folicle saddle sore. Here is the situation. On the second day of a six-day ride, I noticed that the thicker, callused skin that usually protects my sit-bones was becoming abraded and raw. This got worse throughout the second day, and each of the remaining four days. Now, two days after the conclusion of this 375-mile tour (I know, maybe this should be on the touring forum, but I figured you guys would have even more experience in this issue), my right sit-bone area is still raw and weepy, and the left one is still very sensitive.
Background -- I had about 2,800 miles for calendar year 2014 at the start of this trip. I had ridden multiple 40-mile rides on and off during the season, and had ridden a Century three weeks before this six-day trip, all without abrading my sit-bone area skin. Bike is a steel touring frame with bars a bit higher than the seat. Saddle is a Brooks B17 with about 4,000 miles on it since new. I wear bicycle specific baggy liner-less shorts -- very same brand and style every time -- which have no seams or fabric to bunch up under my butt. I have two types of liner shorts. One has a rather thin chamois with a wee bit of padding and the other pair of liners is a pair of triathlon shorts with a very thin chamois. I have been successfuly using these baggy shorts and liners for several seasons, so nothing changed in my clothing selection. Neither trap or retain much moisture. For several years I have used Bag Balm as my exclusive chamois cream. I apply a thin smear before riding, and add a touch-up every 30/40 miles.
Now, you long distance guys might laugh when you know that my tender 52-year-old but got abraded and raw after just six day 375 mile tour, but I need some advice on this so I can pervent it from happening again.
Note that I had changed nothing about my bike gear, setup or fit and that I was riding the very same Brooks B17 saddle that has been just fine for me for about 4,000 prior miles. I was riding the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage. The C&O is relatively rough. But I was on a steel frame with a relatively upright position and on a 38mm front tire and 35mm rear tire. It is not like this was the Great Divide or something. Weather was 50s on the first day and dry. A little rain on and off the remaining days and colder, but I was not riding in wet shorts/liners and my leather saddle was not wet. I rotated every other day between the pairs of my liners. I am ashamed to say I did not wash them, but it is what it is. The abrasion began noticably on the second day, meaning that my liners that day were unworn and clean.
I noticed on that second day of the tour that the skin over my sit bones that had been nicely toughened up throughout the riding season had begun to peel off, exposing tender skin below.
The only thing I can guess is that the Century I rode three weeks before this tour roughed up the thickened skin on my sit-bones and loosened up the protective thicker layer, and that this thicker layer then peeled off late during the first day of my tour, bringing on pain and rawness and weepiness the remaining days.
Please help diagnose and suggest what I might be doing wrong.
I forgot to mention that I am 5 ft 10 and weigh 150. I am considering getting a Brooks Flyer, sprung saddle, since I ride a lot of rail trails. But they are nerdy looking. I would prefer to stick with my B17. Ideas? Suggestions?

FBinNY 

IME- the key is proper fitting DRY underwear or cycling shorts. The object is for the shorts to move with the skin so there's no rubbing. Dry is also important because damp skin is much more prone to abrasion than dry skin.

Another factor is saddle height. If the saddle is too high you'll be rocking back and forth with every pedal stroke. Width should be enough for support, but not enough to cause the backs of the thighs to rub.

Lastly is saddle friction. Over the decades I've come to prefer smooth, slippery saddles which ensure that the shorts slide on the saddle, not against my skin. However many experienced riders prefer some nap or grip in the saddle so they stay planted where they are. This is purely a whatever works issue, but if you have chaffing, try a more slippery saddle.

Staying dry is harder. Obviously it's impossible in the rain, but if you sweat a lot in the heat, look for a saddle that might be cooler. I also use talc in my shorts when doing long rides in the heat and that seems to help.

BTW- IMO you shouldn't develop thicker or tougher skin from riding. That indicates that there's a friction issue to begin with. Solve that and you should be able to keep that area as soft as a baby's.

thrllskr

My first thought - You are riding a different speed and intensity than you normally do. Personal example: I was doing a 100+ mile ride on a course that I do frequently by myself. However, I rode with a group, and had some issues with my crotch. The figured the problem was I was riding at a much slower pace than I normally did, I was turning around in the saddle to talk and point, I spent less time in my normal riding position. Also, I was taking longer breaks than usual (increased bacteria growth), I was not standing up and airing things out as frequently...nothing had changed...

I made this mistake once, I now train and ride exactly that same. Have not had a problem since.

Second, you need to get rid of that bagbalm. Throw the stuff away and get a product made for prevention not cure. If you had problems the first day I would start with facts, clean shorts, good saddle, saddle broke butt, dry, and bagbalm. Just saying

Machka 

1) A double layer like that can cause chafing issues ... can cause you to sweat more than you would with just one layer.

2) If you've been wearing those exact clothes for several seasons, it is probably time for a change. Cycling gear looses it's elasticity after a few years.


Try riding without the Bag Balm. Instead ... start the ride clean, and then wash the sweat off your sitting area every 2-3 hours. Go into a public toilet and use water and papertowels to wash the sweat off. If that's not possible, use baby wipes. Then make sure you clean up after the ride.


Now, go look at products like Ozonol and Zinc Oxide cream. They may help clear things up.

MilesDealer

I did a double take when I saw the title of this thread. I rode a 300km this weekend and am in the same boat. The areas around my sitbones were rubbed raw and are bruised. This course did have about 15 miles of rough shake and bake. And I too am 5'10" weighing 150 lbs.

I'll tell you how I analyzed my situation and what I plan to do, that is once I'm able to sit on my bike again. Hopefully it will work for me and perhaps give you an idea.

1. I rode a Berthoud saddle. I have 3000 miles on it. I ride 50 miles a day and it has become comfortable for those 50 miles. While I love it's design it is a very stiff and unyielding saddle so the leather does spread the pressure out at the sit bones. I'm going back to my B17 which feels like a hammock compared to the Berthoud.

2. prior to the brevet I had downsized from 25mm to 23mm tires and was still trying to work out the correct air pressures. I ran the front tire at 95psi and the rear at 110psi. Even though i had about 7cm handlebar drop, I had no hand, wrist, arm, neck or shoulder problems. But I'll reduce the rear tire pressure to somewhere between 100-150 psi.

3. Something said earlier in this thread really hit me, lower the saddle. My right leg is shorter than my left leg and usually I set my saddle to accommodate my short leg. However I had raised my saddle prior to this ride, kinda splitting the difference between the two legs. While it improved my pedal stroke, that along with the high pressure rear tire may have set my bottom up for a beating. With a slightly lower saddle you can protect your rear from all but the worst of bumps.

4. In my prior life I used the get out of the saddle at every opportunity. But now that I live in the flat land in Florida I sit all the time. In fact I discovered at this brevet that I now climb better if I stay in the saddle. But the downside is that my rear end is not getting any relief any more. So I'm going to train myself to continually take a few strokes out of the saddle even on the flattest roads.

dwmckee

only thing I can think of is what sometimes happens to calluses if you take a break for a while then go back to working. The skin under the callous gets soft again but the callous on the surface is still there and hardens a bit. When you start working it again the callous can tear off of the now softer skin underneath. Also, keep in mind that what works does not always work forever. Maybe time to consider a new saddle, position clothes or lube. I ride a Selle An Atomica now after years of what I thought was the perfect saddle. My SA is way more comfortable but I never would have even tried something else if one had not landed my way at and unusually good price.

Rocky Gravol

I did my first century last summer and I had this problem.
It was do a two day two hundred mile ride, so I really couldn't stop
when I developed sores.

I'm working on ways to prevent it the next time,
but when it happened I when into panic mode to patch myself up to finish.

Luckily I packed a small makeup mirror in the first aid kit,
so I was able to examine myself, then I stuck a big patch of moleskin,
on both seat bones.

The moleskin might not have been the best plan,
and it wasn't pleasant removing it, but it got me through the
next hundred miles.

Malfadactus

This it exactly. If you were developing callouses there was something amiss. I would really recommend spandex cycling bibs. They should fit snugly enough that any friction is between the shorts and the saddle, not your skin and the shorts. Wearing spandex and using a leather saddle I have done a full super randonneur series and a 1200k without developing any tougher or thicker skin on my butt.

Rocky Gravol

I did an experiment over the weekend.

I went on a thirty mile ride in wet weather.

Under my cotton shorts, I wore a pair of my wife's
old panty hose with the legs cut off.

They worked very well to keep the damp shorts away from my skin,
so I felt dryer, also giving me a dry lubricant like spandex does.

All in all they worked quite well.

Carbonfiberboy 

Cotton shorts?? Ordinary new tight cycling shorts and the correct saddle height should fix you right up. They have to be tight and the pad needs to suit your anatomy. I agree that your saddle might be too high or perhaps your pedaling technique needs work. Your butt should be rock solid on the saddle and not move at all, hence no friction.

I have about 10 pair of shorts of different brands, models, and age. Only a couple pair of these are suitable for 200 or so mile days, meaning I had to experiment with various shorts and usually buy one new pair every year, retiring the oldest pair. The Bag Balm is great stuff. I use it and don't suggest not using it.

Most folks find bibs to work better than shorts, but for touring and randonneuring I've found shorts make for quicker bathroom stops and certainly don't cause any problems that make me wish I had bibs.

unterhausen

I think panty hose will cause other problems fairly quickly, but I could be wrong. There is a reason why most distance cyclists use cycling-specific clothing. Sure, it doesn't always work perfectly, but with chamois cream and a good pair of shorts you have a fighting chance. Cycling shorts have been around for a very long time, and the fact that they are nearly identical is not evidence of a lack of experimentation over the last 100 years or so.

If cycling shorts and chamois cream fails, I find that lantiseptic skin protectant will compensate fairly well

Machka 

Ouch!

Why not just simply:

1) Make sure your bicycle is set up correctly.

2) Make sure you've got a good saddle for you - one that is wide enough without being too wide, one that is firm enough to support you without extra friction, and one that is set at an angle that will allow you to sit on your sitbones.

3) Get a good pair of cycling shorts which are tight enough not to be baggy but not so tight they cause pain, and which have padding that covers your sitbones.

4) Clean and dry yourself periodically throughout the ride.

Rocky Gravol

Don't talk to me like a child.

It is.

The saddle is fine.

I'm to old to wear spandex, and I can't stand to wear those diapers.
Not to mention I don't want to smear my butt with goo.
If you need to wear padding, then you need to just harden up.
It's in the rules.
Velominati ? The Rules

I know how to wipe my backside.
Are you saying we should stop every hour and go drop our shorts behind a bush?

Free your mind, take the red pill.

They are a cheap easy fix for a problem.
Swing into any road side store and pick up a pair.

Anyone that's ever spent any time doing winter sports,
here, in the cold, wet, Cascade Mountains, knows the panty hose trick.

Machka 

And yet you'll wear panty hose and cotton shorts. OK.



Did someone suggest that?



I've cycled up to 80 km in a bathing suit and beach shorts quite comfortably ... and I could do that because I have a bicycle that fits and a Brooks saddle.
But when I get up into long distances, I prefer a lightweight "chamois".
And in all the cycling I've done (150,000 km in the past 24 years including four 1200K randonnees +++) ... I've only ever had one saddle sore.



Oh good.



Probably every 2-4 hours ... and you can use a public toilet. Especially one with water and paper towel. But the bush will work if you've got baby wipes and a plastic bag to put them in.



Personally, I can barely make it through a day at work in pantyhose ... I can hardly imagine cycling in them!! <<shudder>>

Rowan

I take the other view. If you have calluses on your butt, you are riding a butt load of miles. I've had butt calluses, and I was riding a butt load of miles both as a commuter in ordinary undies and jeans, and as a LD cyclist.

Carbonfiberboy 

Well . . . an old proverb of mine is that most folks aren't stupid. I particularly wouldn't treat anyone like that who had about a zillion bike miles on you.

I've ridden and climbed in the Cascades for 50 years and I certainly have never seen, heard of, or would have any interest in trying "the panty hose trick." The tried and true methods mentioned in the posts above will get most folks through an SR series, a 1000k, and the following PBP.

"Too old to wear spandex"? Meaning too fat and worried about your appearance. Lose weight and get over it.

FBinNY 

Having ridden tens of thousands of miles in cut off jeans with jockey briefs, wool shorts with real chamois, and modern lycra with fake chamois, I can say that newer is better. But that's not so say that the old, and even the crude can't work also.

Just as there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's countless ways to dress and ride comfortably. The same rules apply as with mechanical work. If it works, it's OK.

The basic rules for preventing chafing are to stay as dry as possible and to limit motion between skin and clothes to zero. Any way that achieves that is a winner.

Malfadactus

Absolutely true, but things weren't working for the OP, that is what started this whole thread.

FBinNY 

That was then, but it seems we've moved into an A&S style debate among people other than the OP who's probably moved on by now.

If the OP is still with us (here), he can experiment with the various options, or use elements to work up his own solution.