My next dozy question ...

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Geoff Crowther

"... travel far, not fast", Ted Simon
Yesterday i went for, for me, a longish ride on my road bike (Cube Peloton Pro).
I rode over from Hayfield to Glossop then up the Snake Pass. The Snake's a long climb (around 4 miles) but not too steep. I then carried on around to Hathersage for lunch before returning over Winnats Pass, which I failed on, resorting to walking after around halfway. I rode back to Hayfield over Peep o'Day.
That was a total of about 3500ft of climbing over 40 miles.
By the time I got to the final climb before Hayfield my arse was protesting violently. At one point it refused to go any further. I just wagged my finger at it, and told it to man up!
Having recently returned to cycling, I've managed a long day (46 miles) on my fully laden Dawes Karakum tourer with standard saddle, with no issues.
I've researched on here for a comfier seat and tried to take on all the valuable advice - stick with it, it'll get easier - buy a Charge Spoon, highly recommended and cheap as chips.
Now for my question. It feels like I suffer most (or my arse does - I'm too hard) on long climbs. Is it just me or is that actually the case? Cos I'm wondering if I just had a bad day, having spent a solid 30 mins climbing Snake without a stop. Plus the previous 20 mins climb up Chunal from Hayfield.
What do you experienced folk reckon?. I've only had the road bike for just over a month, so I'm still new to this road bike riding, but lovin' it.
I did manage the circuit of Arran a few weeks back with some nutters, sorry, lovely people, from CC Ecosse and had little arse problems except on the final climb from Lochranza, late in the day. The rest of the circuit had no sustained climbing.
The saddle's the standard, for this bike, Selle Italia X1.
Do I give my arse a serious taking to? Do I just persevere? Do I spend my brass on a new saddle? Charge Spoon?
I should add, I consider myself to be pretty fit, though not an experienced cyclist, and weigh around 11 and a half stones. Yesterday, i wasn't too tired ... it's just my inadequate arse! :cry:
 

Lincov

Well-Known Member
Location
Coventry
What shorts are you wearing? It's worth trying some really good quality cycling shorts to see if they help if you're not already
 
Location
Hampshire
Long seated climbs do tend to put a lot of pressure on your backside. Your arse will toughen up over time, some saddles suit people better than others but the only way to find out is trial and error.
 
I'm relatively new to club/touring cycling. After some six thousand miles in the last year my arse still sometimes hurts. I changed the Bontrager Affinity to a charge spoon (£5 on ebay) which was better, I was thinking of trying a Selle Italia. Maybe coming to realize that cycling any distance sometimes involves a certain amount of discomfort, but no where near enough to ever make me stop.
 

boydj

Legendary Member
Location
Paisley
On long climbs I find that standing on the pedals for short periods helps to keep the muscles from tightening too much. Staying relaxed, changing hand position and moving around on the seat will all help, assuming that your position on the bike is correct in the first place.
 
OP
OP
Geoff Crowther

Geoff Crowther

"... travel far, not fast", Ted Simon
On long climbs I find that standing on the pedals for short periods helps to keep the muscles from tightening too much. Staying relaxed, changing hand position and moving around on the seat will all help, assuming that your position on the bike is correct in the first place.
Thanks. That's just the kind of practical advice I'm looking for.
I'm pretty sure the bike fits as the dealer did a proper, computeryized fit on me before setting the bike up, and it does feel good ... other than the problem described above.
Thanks again, I'll certainly bear your points in mind.
 
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