1,000 miles in 53 days...

Yeah, I knew that. But give this a thought: I hiked 400 miles from the Mexican border to Mt. Taylor in New Mexico 20+ years ago. I look back at it as one of the most important things I ever did. No regrets, in spite of the warnings that I would be suffer snakebite, be robbed, kidnapped, shot, and buried, job prospects would be ruined…blah, blah, blah. For a passive Lutheran agnostic, it gave me some fire in the belly I’d long for.

Correction:

Well, I’m off to buy a chain and a jersey…

It’s weird, whenever I mention cycling to people they always seem to think my backside must hurt, but I’ve never found it uncomfortable in that area, over four different bikes all with different seats. I do 18 miles a day commuting and often 30+ in a day at weekends. A couple of months ago I did the 110-mile (and rather hilly) South Downs Way in a weekend. My butt was fine, my legs rather less so :wink:

I think a lot of people who cycle have their saddles too low so all their weight is resting on their butt. I take most of my weight on my arms and my legs - the backside is just a placeholder, really. Over any rough ground, stand on your pedals and absorb the vibrations through your limbs. Your backside doesn’t need to take any punishment.

P.S. user_hostile, I can sympathise with the sting - I had a bee fly down the neck of my T-shirt a couple of months ago and sting me. To keep crap out of my eyes, I have a pair of cheap sunglasses with three swappable lenses, including a clear one for night time.

It’s not my butt that hurts, darling. It’s my crotch.

Your crotch shouldn’t be squished by the saddle. Sounds like the seat is tipped up too much at the front. Angling the nose of the saddle down a couple of degrees ought to improve matters.

Of course it hurts, especially when you first start riding. And I lean heavily on my handlebars. But I am not alone in this - I mean, you make it sound like it’s something special. Everyone who rides that I’ve ever talked to has this problem.

I don’t have it anymore because I’ve been biking a long time now and I have a super-duper squishy seat, specially made for women, and the contours and padding of the seat are better. And, I have it tilted downwards. To be honest, I am not sure how guys sit on a bike seat, with the equipment between their legs!

Over 1100 here, but over more days (started in March)
Just finished a multi-day suppotred ride over the weekend (~156 total miles)
Got a B17 at about mile 400 this year. Not bad, but I still wouldn’t call it super comfortable.

Brian