MFP Cycling Club

StuAblett

Ignore this post :yawn:

Panda86

An old pic of me on my other Cannondale bike, this is about 1989

That is the jersey I still have!

I am impressed that the jersey has lasted that long! (Not saying that is a long time, but its a long time for an article of clothing ) I guess some cycling-wear would be a good investment. Shorts at least... I need some shorts. I am sick of my riding up my thighs as I peddle. VERY annoying.

Anyone know how I can keep my butt from getting INSANELY sore from riding :blushing: ? It's killing me! I've heard people say that you'll get used to it, but really?

Awesome job to everyone that is getting some miles in! I know it can be tough to squeeze in a good ride. Yesterday was my first "good ride"... I can really only do them on the weekends, because I am a stay-at-home mom, I walk in the morning, and there's not enough daylight in the evenings after dinner anymore... kind of a bummer.

:yawn:

StuAblett

Panda86, what kind of seat do you have on your bike?

I had a good, but old style Ritchey seat and it was OK, but I changed to a SDG (Speed Defies Gravity) saddle and the difference was amazing!

Good cycling shorts with a good pad in them will help a lot with the soreness issue, as well as making sure your seat height etc is set up correctly.

Also the height of your bars, if they are not right, it shifts all your weight onto your butt.

Cheers!

LisaKC

Didn't get much riding in this week, due to working out of town for three days, so was happy to get in 24 miles (38K) this morning. We had planned to go farther, but I nixed that plan after the first 5 miles because of really tired legs. I'm riding a couple times a week, and also in week 5 of the Couch to 5K running program, so my legs aren't getting much rest. I think it would do me good to have a day off! Happy riding!

StuAblett

Didn't get much riding in this week, due to working out of town for three days, so was happy to get in 24 miles (38K) this morning. We had planned to go farther, but I nixed that plan after the first 5 miles because of really tired legs. I'm riding a couple times a week, and also in week 5 of the Couch to 5K running program, so my legs aren't getting much rest. I think it would do me good to have a day off! Happy riding!

You are correct, if you don't take a day of rest now and then you can overtrain, and that will set you back.

Listen to your body, the road and you bike will still be there tomorrow! :bigsmile:

gwynh

Anyone know how I can keep my butt from getting INSANELY sore from riding :blushing: ? It's killing me! I've heard people say that you'll get used to it, but really?

I have a men's citypaver style bike. That means the handle bars are up in a "u" shape and most of my weight is on my seat. (yet my fingers still get numb.) My seat was killing me too. I have not purchased shorts with chamois yet, but will. I went to my local store and bought a memory foam seat cover. (temp fix) That helped greatly. And I am glad to say that after about one month of cycling with almost 400 miles behind my behind :laugh: That my rear is not sore anymore. I used to dread any small bumb in the road. But after 2 and 1/2 hours I do still get tired.

Hope that helps, but if your seat is not anatomically kind to you, then you may have to check into another seat.

skywalker

Checking in at 132.68 for the week. Took it easy during the week. Nearly half of the mileage was today. I completed the Endure for a Cure 100k ride. It was billed as a 65mile ride, but actually ended up being closer to 62 according to my odometer. Either way, I'm happy with my ride today. I felt stronger on my bike today than I ever have. A full Century is definitely in my near future (maybe on a flatter course :laugh: )
Well, I'm off to bed. Happy Pedaling! :drinker:

StuAblett

I did not think I was going to get in any time on the bike today, but I managed to fit in a 10Km/6 mile ride, not much but better than I thought I would get, and I had two major accomplishments on the ride. 1st, I broke the 23 Km/h which is 14.3 mph, not bad for a fat guy on an OLD mountain bike in Tokyo city traffic :bigsmile:

I have this new short 10Km long route figured out, 5Km out and 5Km back, I start with a down hill from my house then mostly flat, the mid point is at the top of a nearly 1km long fairly steep hill (for me) the last bit is steep, and usually by that point I'm really huffing and have to shift into 2nd gear to finish the hill, and hit my turn around point, today I was able to gut it out and push 3rd gear all the way to the turn around point. You can bet your cycling shorts I was still huffing and puffing, but I did make it! :happy:

I've got to hit some longer rides this week, I hope, I fee great today, down another pound!

Cheers!

dinos

It just dawned on me (and made me smile) so I thought I'd share. I find the metric system psychologically fascinating - you make your distances longer (5K is 3.1 miles), your speeds faster (80 kph is 49.7 mph) but your weights lighter (see above). Just sayin' :bigsmile:

We are metric here and always have been, but I like pounds when it comes to weight because you lose more. I've lost 16 kgs or (better) 35.3 lbs. :bigsmile:

The total distance I clocked in 6 months since February is 1100 kms (683 miles). Almost half is on a bike and the rest is walking, hiking and running. :glasses: I'm setting my target for the year to 2400 kms (1500 miles). Considering that I only started cycling in May and I'm in much better shape now, the goal should be achievable.

LisaKC

@dinos, Didn't realize until now you were also doing C25K. I finished week5, day2 this morning.

Panda86

Anyone know how I can keep my butt from getting INSANELY sore from riding :blushing: ? It's killing me! I've heard people say that you'll get used to it, but really?

I have a men's citypaver style bike. That means the handle bars are up in a "u" shape and most of my weight is on my seat. (yet my fingers still get numb.) My seat was killing me too. I have not purchased shorts with chamois yet, but will. I went to my local store and bought a memory foam seat cover. (temp fix) That helped greatly. And I am glad to say that after about one month of cycling with almost 400 miles behind my behind :laugh: That my rear is not sore anymore. I used to dread any small bumb in the road. But after 2 and 1/2 hours I do still get tired.

Hope that helps, but if your seat is not anatomically kind to you, then you may have to check into another seat.

Thanks for the input I saw a squishy seat cover at the hardware store, and my husband thought that might be a good temporary fix, so maybe I will look into that. @StuAblett- The seat I have is the one that came with my mountain bike, which is just an old Huffy. And I think the handle bars are down as far as they will go... But when I get my road bike, which I will be using for long distance rides, I will make sure I get a nice saddle. And maybe I will pick up a pair of padded shorts. I know some people say not to use them and just let your bum get used to it, but dang, my bum really hurts after a while!

StuAblett

Anyone know how I can keep my butt from getting INSANELY sore from riding :blushing: ? It's killing me! I've heard people say that you'll get used to it, but really?

I have a men's citypaver style bike. That means the handle bars are up in a "u" shape and most of my weight is on my seat. (yet my fingers still get numb.) My seat was killing me too. I have not purchased shorts with chamois yet, but will. I went to my local store and bought a memory foam seat cover. (temp fix) That helped greatly. And I am glad to say that after about one month of cycling with almost 400 miles behind my behind :laugh: That my rear is not sore anymore. I used to dread any small bumb in the road. But after 2 and 1/2 hours I do still get tired.

Hope that helps, but if your seat is not anatomically kind to you, then you may have to check into another seat.

Thanks for the input I saw a squishy seat cover at the hardware store, and my husband thought that might be a good temporary fix, so maybe I will look into that. @StuAblett- The seat I have is the one that came with my mountain bike, which is just an old Huffy. And I think the handle bars are down as far as they will go... But when I get my road bike, which I will be using for long distance rides, I will make sure I get a nice saddle. And maybe I will pick up a pair of padded shorts. I know some people say not to use them and just let your bum get used to it, but dang, my bum really hurts after a while!

This is the seat I have....


Speed Defies Gravity (SDG) Formula MT
I really find it comfortable

skywalker

Anyone know how I can keep my butt from getting INSANELY sore from riding :blushing: ? It's killing me! I've heard people say that you'll get used to it, but really?

I have a men's citypaver style bike. That means the handle bars are up in a "u" shape and most of my weight is on my seat. (yet my fingers still get numb.) My seat was killing me too. I have not purchased shorts with chamois yet, but will. I went to my local store and bought a memory foam seat cover. (temp fix) That helped greatly. And I am glad to say that after about one month of cycling with almost 400 miles behind my behind :laugh: That my rear is not sore anymore. I used to dread any small bumb in the road. But after 2 and 1/2 hours I do still get tired.

Hope that helps, but if your seat is not anatomically kind to you, then you may have to check into another seat.

Thanks for the input I saw a squishy seat cover at the hardware store, and my husband thought that might be a good temporary fix, so maybe I will look into that. @StuAblett- The seat I have is the one that came with my mountain bike, which is just an old Huffy. And I think the handle bars are down as far as they will go... But when I get my road bike, which I will be using for long distance rides, I will make sure I get a nice saddle. And maybe I will pick up a pair of padded shorts. I know some people say not to use them and just let your bum get used to it, but dang, my bum really hurts after a while!

I can't stress enough the difference a women's specific seat makes. Years ago I tried the squishy seat cover you're talking about and found no relief in that. My seat is a Lithia by Specialized. It has a cut-away though the center that really relieves pressure. Also, it's slightly wider than a men's seat since women generally have a wider pelvis. However the seats that are too wide can cause other pressure points. Definitely invest in the shorts too (again women's specific). They really make a difference. I'm going to attempt to add some photos of my seat. I've never done this before, so I hope it works...

Aarrrg! It didn't work. Let me see what I can do...

skywalker

Trying again...



YAY!!! It worked!!! I also put a few pics in my profile if you view my photos. :happy:

StuAblett

Skywalker, thanks for that, and there you go, my knowledge is 20 years out of date, I did not know they have gender specific seats :blushing: I mean it makes sense, we are build different.

@panda86, you should NOT be "Insanely sore" after your ride, you are riding more than enough to have gotten used to your saddle by now, it really does sound like you need a new saddle, and the nice thing about buying a new saddle is that if/when you upgrade your bike, you can take your saddle with you! Just hang onto the old saddle so the next owner can have the bike with a saddle :happy:

I googled this and found this link.....

http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bicycleseats.html

.... good info for sure.

skywalker

@panda86, you should NOT be "Insanely sore" after your ride, you are riding more than enough to have gotten used to your saddle by now, it really does sound like you need a new saddle, and the nice thing about buying a new saddle is that if/when you upgrade your bike, you can take your saddle with you! Just hang onto the old saddle so the next owner can have the bike with a saddle :happy:

Agreed! :drinker: I spent 4 and 1/2 hours on my bike on sunday and honestly, have absolutely no soreness from my saddle. I mean ZERO. It's normal to have some soreness when you first start a riding regimen, but that should pass quickly. I also agree with Stu about keeping the old saddle. I still have mine in case I ever sell.

pinkgigi

I have a little bit of input into the seat question. All suggestions here about having a female-specific saddle are great. Also, don't be lulled into thinking the squishier the better. You need a saddle that supports your sit-bones, anything that lets those sink too far into the padding lets the soft, delicate parts of your anatomy have too much contact with the saddle.

I concur that your bits need to get used to the constant pressure. If I'm off my bike for any more than 3 weeks, I'm in agony for a week until the soft bits harden up again. I'm envious of people who never have any trouble. BTW I have a Selle Italia gel flow in pink!

Did 60 kms on Sat, and 28 kms on Monday, the rest of the week is going to be very ordinary weather-wise, and this Sat is out, so I'm a piker this week. Will be gyming it instead.

GG

StuAblett

Today started out with rain, and more rain, I was really thinking I would not get a ride in, then around 3 PM it cleared up, and I could do my deliveries by bike, yeah!

In the end, there were few deliveries, so almost no miles, then, I got a call from our once a month customer that lives quite far, and between him and us is a very steep hill valley of sorts, if you can have a valley in a city :huh: This is one customer that I was still using the scooter for doing the delivery, as he also orders 10 1.8 liter glass bottles of sake, that is a total of 32 Kg/70lbs.

Eight weeks ago when I started this, I was thinking that "Someday" when I get in a lot better shape and drop a bunch of weight, I'll do this delivery on the bicycle too, but I really thought that was a long way off, well, I'm happy to say, I was wrong!

Today, was "Someday" :bigsmile:



Here is the bike and trailer ready for the long haul

The trailer weighs another 20 Kg or so, it was lighter, but then I changed the wheels to ones with brakes and added some other stuff, even the bigger tires and foam mat in the bottom add weight, so really I was dragging about 55Kg/120 lbs behind me :noway: geez what am I nuts

The trip was 5.6 Km/3.5 miles one way, so a total of just over 11 Km/7 miles, I averaged 14.9 Km/h or 9.25 mph, I'm pleased with that to say the least.

There is one killer hill on the way there, up, up and up, I clocked it, almost a kilometer long, or almost 1100 yards, it starts out fairly mild and then builds to the upper part is just killer, I really did think that I would have to stop and get off and push, but all I can say is "Thank GOD for my granny gear!" :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

By the time I got to the top, I have to admit, I was looking on the ground to see if I'd coughed up a lung, but I made it!! Whoo Whoo!!

This seemed like a very far away goal a short time ago, but I can say that my fitness has improved a lot in the last 8 weeks, as well as dropping the 29 pounds.

Personal milestone met and passed!

Not bad for a fat guy on an old mountain bike I figure! :drinker:

Pinch me, I'm living a dream! :laugh:

LisaKC

Hope someone gets in some good riding today, as it won't be me. We had planned to ride, but between the cycling and C25K, my legs are just beat. I've got C25K tomorrow, so maybe will ride on Friday and on the weekend.

RMX82

Just dusted off my Trek mountain bike that I've only used once since purchasing it. I'd like to start getting into cycling. I don't know enough about my cycling abilities to make a mileage goal yet, but I'll be able to come up with something after a few times riding. First ride will be over lunch today. I'm going to shoot for 3 miles, but I don't know how hard/easy that will be for me.