Did you ride today?

Bobvin said:
Warm here in Seattle area today too, turned out about 60°. But instead of sneaking in a ride I grabbed the paintbrush and touched up a few spots after a realtor was here showing our house.

I'm so looking forward to getting on my bike, even for winter miles. When I'm thinking 'bout riding but not able to, my mind conjures up the following image, and I think all is fine in the world.
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I know there are some strong teams in the Portland area, hopefully I'll meet some folks who push me hard and keep me honest. Still longing to hear the words "damn, that old guy can really drop the hammer". And after my time trial event late this summer, I realize I can hammer reasonably well, but I've got some serious training to do so next summer I can "represent".

And hopefully, just maybe, there will be some cute riders in Portland. I swear, with the exception of my wife of course, Seattle, in general, has the frumpiest looking women in the country. If I have to suck the wheel of some younger, fitter jock, can it please be someone like in the photo?

Ride on my brothers, ride on!
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Liz Hatch is her name and no they are not OEM's :baby:
 
It was 42 degrees when I went out this morning at 10:30. It was a beautiful sunny day, finally, and I did just a quick out-and-back of 35 miles. It was good to be on the bike as it had been about three weeks since my last ride. It's tough to get out this time of year with all the rain and otherwise just crummy weather.
 
Check this out... integrated carbon fiber fenders (on a carbon/ti frame by Cyfac). I bet they won't rattle.

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With the season upon us, its time to tell tales of your latest!

I finally joined a local gym about 5 weeks ago and started pounding away like a mad-man trying to restore the fitness level lost during the whole "move to Portland" hiatus. Thankfully, if the layoff isn't too long, your body will find its way back, but not without effort.

So last week was glorious spring weather here in Portland. The weekend was low 70's, clear, mild winds. Lots of sunshine. I used a "meetup" group to find some local folks and we did a little evening jaunt on Thursday, then I joined again on Sunday for a 46 mile ride. Already I am faster than this group, but they ride on rural roads like I prefer. We rode around some in the Willamette River valley, mostly on farm-to-market roads. Wow, I haven't done a mostly flat ride in years. It all felt so easy. Even though it was only my second ride outdoors this year, I felt I could have added another 20 miles without too much fatigue.

I'm going to have to find a faster group for a couple nights per week, but this group will be fun when I ride with wifey.

It felt so good to be out on the bike again. Spinning classes are good for training, but boring as hell compared to a warm sunny day on the road.

Ride on my brothers, ride on.

Bob V.

"To attack the pedals may be strenuous over the short
run, but is an expression of trust in one's own powers,
for with the bicycle everything depends on the self."
--Wolfgang Sachs
 
Bobvin said:
Already I am faster than this group, but they ride on rural roads like I prefer. We rode around some in the Willamette River valley, mostly on farm-to-market roads. Wow, I haven't done a mostly flat ride in years. It all felt so easy. Even though it was only my second ride outdoors this year, I felt I could have added another 20 miles without too much fatigue.

I'm going to have to find a faster group for a couple nights per week, but this group will be fun when I ride with wifey.
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Makes me think of my friend's father, who's 71 years old, he often comes with us on the less strenuous rides. He can still grab a wheel at 35-38 kph if there are no hills so he's pretty fast. Anyways buddies his own age were asking him to go ride with them and he would always make excuses not to go. So his son one day asked him why he wouldn't go and the old man answers stoically "they are too old and they don't go fast enough for me". :)
 
Bobvin said:
...Ride on my brothers, ride on.
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I'm glad you're able to go out and enjoy some time in the saddle. Keeps your mind off of other things, such as insurance BS. It is amazing how quickly our bodies can get back into the rhythm of exercise after a few months of being couch potatoes. I started doing rollers inside along with running every other day back in Feb. and I feel pretty strong. If all goes well I'm hoping to beat my 1K mile record of last summer.

Enjoy the ride my friends...
 
Ride on, gents!

Me? Still have saddle pains. The winter hibernation did not heal my sit bones but rather just made me soft. I can only do I ride during the weekend (thus far). If I ride on Saturday I can't even get on the saddle on Sundays. Need to see the Drs and see what's up... :(
 
socfan12 said:
Ride on, gents!

Me? Still have saddle pains. The winter hibernation did not heal my sit bones but rather just made me soft. I can only do I ride during the weekend (thus far). If I ride on Saturday I can't even get on the saddle on Sundays. Need to see the Drs and see what's up... :(
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Allen, saddle sore or pain? Currently dealing with jock itch but also dealt with saddle sore previously, neither of which are fun but at the same time are manageable. Suspect if you don't have any outside symptoms you just don't have the right saddle, what do you have as a saddle and where does it hurt? If you have a good bike shop local they can loan you different saddle so you can try for longer ride. Will help you get rid of your pain in the butt. :)
 
Hey Dan,


It's pain. Like a black and blue pain when pressed. On the sit bones, inside of the thighs. Surfing the forums it seems others get it there too. And your right, a new saddle generally does the trick. Oddly, I've had my old saddle for 1500-2000 miles and no issues. Then some time last fall when I started to put on some miles, it started hurting.:-(

I've tried about 4 or 5 saddles thus far. The current Fizik Antares seems to be pretty decent thus far. Any suggestions?

Thx
 
socfan12 said:
Hey Dan,


It's pain. Like a black and blue pain when pressed. On the sit bones, inside of the thighs. Surfing the forums it seems others get it there too. And your right, a new saddle generally does the trick. Oddly, I've had my old saddle for 1500-2000 miles and no issues. Then some time last fall when I started to put on some miles, it started hurting.:-(

I've tried about 4 or 5 saddles thus far. The current Fizik Antares seems to be pretty decent thus far. Any suggestions?

Thx
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Did you try the Selle Italia SLR? About the same width as as the Fizik but not as stiff, the saddle is smoother mostly in the Flow version (flow has a hole in the middle to relieve the tender section) . I can live with the Antares but my preference goes for the SLR. Specifically I am fond of the SLR Kit Carbonio Flow or the discontinued SLR Gel Flow. BTW more than ever YMMV.
 
socfan12 said:
I've tried about 4 or 5 saddles thus far. The current Fizik Antares seems to be pretty decent thus far. Any suggestions?
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I'm sure you know this, but be sure the width of your saddle is enough for the width of your sit bones. If you're sore inside of your sit bones, possibly your bones are not resting on the saddle and your soft tissue is. Also, saddles fail, and what was once supporting you might not be now. Sometimes there are small cracks in the supporting plastic beneath the padding, or even a fractured rail.

I suffered on a Flite saddle for a number of years, couldn't figure out why I was so sore after rides. I now ride a mountain saddle thats 148 wide. On my super sleek CYFAC it isn't the best fit aesthetically, but it works for my butt.

I'm going to try a couple different saddles this spring, but they'll be 145 wide so that limits the choices. Selle now has a Flite cut-away, and the SLR Superflow with a huge cut away that I want to try. Both can be had in a lightweight version.

My current saddle is a WTB Laser V. Shorter than most road saddles.

There are many shops that have a saddle loaner program.
 
Bobvin said:
My current saddle is a WTB Laser V. Shorter than most road saddles.
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A Mtn. bike saddle on a road bike? Blasphemy! :) When you're putting in massive amounts of time on a small piece of leather it sure helps to have something that's comfy.

Allen, I don't know what all saddles you've tried. I use a Fizik (Arione) and find them to be pretty unforgiving until you get them just right. It sure seems like your saddle has just worn out for you to start having this problem. I'll second Dan's thought about getting a saddle with a cut-out in it. Sometimes if the saddle isn't positioned just right you can put a lot more weight on the soft tissue which may not be helping you. Keep trying different ones out, you'll get there eventually.
 
Allen, what seat do you have? I suspect an Arione or the likes which are not very wide. If your sit bone is wider on that kind of seat it will hurt on the inside of the bone, it feels as if your bones want to separate while riding.
 
Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions, really appreciate it! I had the Arione which is long and somewhat narrow, but like I said, I put on a few K miles with it. I guess Bob may be right, the saddle may not be as supportive as before.

I've tried several different Selle Italia Flow seats: Flow Gel, Flow Max, etc, some Specialized Toupe's which I heard were good. None seem to work well for me. I'm now on a Fizik Anatares, a bit wider and shorter than the Arione, with a bit more padding on the nose. This one seems to work best so far, but I still have too much pain to ride the next day.:(

Bob, re: mountain bike seat: I was thinking of giving up being roadie altogether and just ride my mountain bike through some local trails. Still an option that I haven't tossed out yet. :S
 
If Arione was fine before just get another one and be done with it. If your seat is old it's just shot, do yourself a favor and test ride a new one and report back on a long ride. Use the old one on a cyclocross bike :)
 
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