Any Cyclists out there?????

bpotts44

NO! Bigger seats do not help. A slimmer seat and good old fashioned sucking it up is the way. Eventually your *kitten* will toughen up and will not hurt so much.

this is absolutely true. i always tell people starting out to bike 1-2 miles every day for a couple weeks to get their booties in riding shape. and if it hurts, maybe go a little slower or if absolutely necessary take a day off, but absolutely every other day. in probably less than ten days you'll be ready to do longer trips!

edit: and i have several bikes, each seat is different. you also may need to have the bike fitted properly if you are still feeling sore. it might not be the seat at all, but there's a lot of geometry going on between you and the bike, so it's not a bad idea to have it fit to your body.

^^^^ Exactly get fitted. I see a lot of people with messed up fittings and they butt hurts, their knees hurt, and they say cycling is no fun. Get a good fitting from you LBS and invest is a nice seat. Your butt will harden over time.

Ivyzmama

Speaking of helmets, when I was a teenager, I was at a street fair where a guy was doing public service announcements about the need for helmets. He was an avid cyclist who had been married and had two little kids when he was hit by a car while cycling and wasn't wearing a helmet. He suffered severe brain damage and would never fully recover. He was clearly messed up for life - he was grossly disfigured, he couldn't hold his body up straight (although he could walk with a limp) and had trouble taking, but was able to make himself understood. He's on disability the rest of his life, his wife left him and got custody of the kids and remarried someone who wasn't disabled. He feels, and I agree, that had he been wearing a helmet, he could have still been employable and kept his family. I've always worn a helmet since then. Even on a bike path or a sidewalk - something could throw you off your bike, like a sudden flat or an animal darting in front of you - and you could get brain damage just the same. The older I get, the happier I am wearing a bike helmet, because even as my body ages, my brain just gets better with time. In fact, I think my brain is the most valuable thing I own. As for what I look like to other people when I'm wearing a helmet - I think I look like someone with a high IQ and I'm cool with that.

PositivePower

Loving the pictures you guys are sharing!!! I am so excited to tap into this new community! Tomorrow is my Beach Babes 36 mile ride. I am so excited!

HELMETS..OMG you guys are so right how important they are. I might need to start a new tread with this issue. I need help. I have a handsome teenager he just turned 18 and you know he knows everything. He has had a mountain bike for a few years and rides it around town. My husband just gave him his old road bike and he loves it...but he will NOT wear a helmet. The day after graduation he was riding with friends, none of them wear helmets, and his friend ran into a parked car...that was May 24th and his jaw is still wired shut!!!!!!! The kids told me "A helmet wouldn't have helped!!!!" TEENAGERS....I hope we both live through this!:explode:

I'm going to see if he will read some of your posts ~ Thanks

TheBigYin

Loving the pictures you guys are sharing!!! I am so excited to tap into this new community! Tomorrow is my Beach Babes 36 mile ride. I am so excited!

HELMETS..OMG you guys are so right how important they are. I might need to start a new tread with this issue. I need help. I have a handsome teenager he just turned 18 and you know he knows everything. He has had a mountain bike for a few years and rides it around town. My husband just gave him his old road bike and he loves it...but he will NOT wear a helmet. The day after graduation he was riding with friends, none of them wear helmets, and his friend ran into a parked car...that was May 24th and his jaw is still wired shut!!!!!!! The kids told me "A helmet wouldn't have helped!!!!" TEENAGERS....I hope we both live through this!:explode:

I'm going to see if he will read some of your posts ~ Thanks

In fairness, I doubt that a typical cycle helmet would have helped with a lower jaw injury. I've rode and raced bikes for over 30 years off and on, and as a result, I've had one or two "offs". Before I wore a helmet on a regular basis, I didn't actually have an accident that a helmet would have helped. Broken Clavicle, hips, pelvis, femur, but nothing on my head. Then I started wearing a helmet, mainly as the national racing federation insisted. 6 months in, I was on a time-trial, lost it on a roundabout, and woke up in the road, basically unscathed, but my helmet split from end to end where it'd hit the kerbstone. Yep, I'm a convert. I buy the best helmet I can afford, and I wear it. If you've got a $20 brain, wear a $20 helmet...

dianediaz

Went over the handlebars in a pace line going 19 mph. Helmet cracked but it saved my head big time. Badly sprained shoulder and thumb, some road rash, no head injury. That's a win in my book. I don't need a law to tell me to wear a bike helmet, just good old common sense and a brain, which I get to keep thanks to my helmet!

SelkieDiver

I just wanted to duck back in here to say I finished my longest ride to date yesterday. 43 miles in 3 hrs flat all done along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. :glasses:

I'm following a training plan and what I've noticed is on july first my ride was 2:25, and my back started aching at about 2 hrs. july 8th ride was 2:40 and back started aching about 2:15. This sunday was 3:00, and back started stiffening up about 2:40. I guess since the amount of time I'm spending on the bike without discomfort is getting longer, the muscles are just fatiguing toward the end of the ride. Does that sound right? I am concentrating on supporting my lower back by engaging my core but if there are any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.

PositivePower

Loving the pictures you guys are sharing!!! I am so excited to tap into this new community! Tomorrow is my Beach Babes 36 mile ride. I am so excited!

HELMETS..OMG you guys are so right how important they are. I might need to start a new tread with this issue. I need help. I have a handsome teenager he just turned 18 and you know he knows everything. He has had a mountain bike for a few years and rides it around town. My husband just gave him his old road bike and he loves it...but he will NOT wear a helmet. The day after graduation he was riding with friends, none of them wear helmets, and his friend ran into a parked car...that was May 24th and his jaw is still wired shut!!!!!!! The kids told me "A helmet wouldn't have helped!!!!" TEENAGERS....I hope we both live through this!:explode:

I'm going to see if he will read some of your posts ~ Thanks

In fairness, I doubt that a typical cycle helmet would have helped with a lower jaw injury. I've rode and raced bikes for over 30 years off and on, and as a result, I've had one or two "offs". Before I wore a helmet on a regular basis, I didn't actually have an accident that a helmet would have helped. Broken Clavicle, hips, pelvis, femur, but nothing on my head. Then I started wearing a helmet, mainly as the national racing federation insisted. 6 months in, I was on a time-trial, lost it on a roundabout, and woke up in the road, basically unscathed, but my helmet split from end to end where it'd hit the kerbstone. Yep, I'm a convert. I buy the best helmet I can afford, and I wear it. If you've got a $20 brain, wear a $20 helmet...

Oh I know the helmet wouldn't have helped and the kids were excited to prove me wrong that it wouldn't have made a difference. What is was trying to get through their thick skulls is that accidents happen and what if he fell on his head instead of his jaw.....there would be a horribly different problem he would be hopefully recovering from.

I took my son to the bike shop today to get a lock and a head light...talking to the guy at the shop, he showed us a light you could wear on your helmet...I said that would be great if I could get him to wear one!!!! Crickets!!!!! Wouldn't you think it would have been a GREAT time for the guy to chime in with some facts on wearing helmets!

SelkieDiver - Did you do the Beach Babes in Long Beach???? Or something else? I did Beach Babes, really fun but easy...we stopped to eat at the rest stop...then my friend took a wrong turn and I had to wait for her to get back on track...so our time was slow. Fun Day! I can't wait to sign up for another ride!!! I want to try 50 miles

cordianet

Do wanna-be's count? I used to mtn-bike all the time when I was younger, but have not ridden in many years. I'm hoping to get a new bike in about a month.

Rocbola

Cycling is awesome! I commute everywhere on bicycle and i have lost tons of weight since i started cycling everywhere.

I am heading out on a 471 mile bicycle ride over 7 days NEXT WEEK called RAGBRAI. If you are getting into cycling, check into this ride, they have it every year. I'm so excited!!!!

AmyS1975

Cyclist here!

jodiebarrette

Here too...love my bikes...longest ride to date is 53+ miles at the Century Ride. Love duathlons too. Hoping to do 2 this fall!

silversnake84

Just started not long ago. About a 20km commute to work and back. Love it! Got a custom bike single speed from a buddy who owns a bike shop in Montreal. Feel free to add me if you want

RenovatingSuzanne

Love cycling. Recently started riding again after being hit by a car and losing my nerve.

I live in a pretty hilly area too and it's all kinds of challenging.

In dire need of a new road bike. I'm riding DH's old Devinci at the moment and it's too small. I look a bit like a bear on a bicycle.

kepirus

I'm just getting into it finally, though I've always liked it! Right now, I'm just on a staionary bike until my knee is more recovered/reliable after major surgery.
RAGBRAI is one of my objectives though in the next year or two. I started looking for Century Rides, but can't find any near me, at least in the next few months, which is fine for now, since I'm not to that point yet anyway.