Chris Armstrong wrote:
> I had my longest ride Saturday. 80 miles.
Well done on getting up to a serious distance.
> I did it on a cyclocross bike I bought on ebay a few weeks ago. I
> wore padded shorts and a normal pair of shorts over the top, I
> have changed the seat that came with the bike to a more comfy one,
> but my bum still felt sore as hell for the last quarter if not
> more of the ride. Does anyone wear more than one lot of padded
> shorts, or is it just a case that a few more rides and I won't
> feel it.
Changing the saddle for "a more comfy one" may have been a case of more
comfy over short distances, but worse over long ones. Soft pillow-like
saddles are not suitable for extended rides. The saddle needs to be
firm, it needs to conform to your shape, and you need to sit on it
correctly so that the weight is taken on the 2 bony bits either side of
your perineum. Saddles are highly individual and what suits one rider
may be torture for another. To some extent though your bum should
harden up with riding, and generally one pair of padded shorts is
enough.
Chafing is a slightly separate issue. A few riders in our club have
complained about our current team shorts. I find the padding is
basically comfortable to sit on but after about 20 hours or so sore
areas develop at the very edge of the padding after tens of thousands
of repetitions of a minute rubbing action. I also sometimes get sore
areas on the inside of the thigh where the material moves slightly, but
again only on very long rides. The best preventive measure for the
chafing seems to be plenty of Vaseline on the areas of skin usually
affected.
> I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
> enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
> less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
> enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
> rides , esp. when cycling alone.
For me it varies between rides. Generally I feel pretty good in the
early part of the ride. There can always be low patches where you just
have to keep the wheels turning, but I find these come towards the end
of the ride when you're tired and have had enough, especially if
there's still some tough going ahead. OTOH if you're still feeling
strong towards the end of a ride hammering out the last 25 miles can be
a real blast.
For longer rides I find it helps to break the task down into stages so
it doesn't seem too daunting. So, to take examples from my ride this
weekend, rather than think to yourself "Wow, it's still a long way to
Chard" think "OK, Sherborne is not too far now and I'm more or less on
schedule". Once you're at Sherborne, concentrate on Bridport, and only
when you've reached Bridport do you allow yourself to think about
Chard. Once you're at Chard you can reward yourself with a cafe stop
then see about getting to Crediton, and so on.
--
Dave...
