Velo Asana

Managed to put in 100 miles last weekend – the first significant miles since Death Valley.

Did PMBC’s South Mountain ride on Saturday (38 miles). I was Mr. Weak and Slow. I didn’t time myself up the mountain, but I suspect I was in the 40 minute range from San Juan Junction, (my PR from this point is 28 minutes).

My fitness, as expected, has dropped off significantly the past month, due to very little riding. And doing 1-2 hr hikes everyday doesn’t make up the difference.

Did a metric century on Sunday, for my longest ride in a month. It was a flat ride down to Gilbert – I like this route because it has good bike lanes all the way, and it’s flat – so it’s an easy way to get in a bunch of miles.

Wherefore art though, O comfortable saddle?

I still have issues – it’s clear I need to get a different saddle. Might try a Fizik Antares saddle, it might be a good cross from the Fizik Arione I used to ride and the Bontrager RL I have been riding.  Another possibility is switching to a Brooks saddle, but after sitting on a Brooks saddle – I have a friend that has one – I’m not sure it will be any better on my sit bones. Granted, sitting on one and riding one are two different animals. And there is also the fact these saddles will eventually mold themselves to you. So who knows if it’s worth a try.

I like the Bontrager RL saddle I currently use when it comes to my nether regions, but it’s not so good for my sit bones. I just don’t sit comfortably on that saddle. It’s only taken me a year and a half riding to conclude that …

And I also have concluded that I’m riding on the saddle crooked, tending to lean over on my right side, and that’s how the injuries came about — I was putting more pressure on my left sit bone. I think I was riding crooked because I was trying to find a comfortable way to ride and in reality, there is no comfortable way to ride that saddle, for me. I’m talking about long 100+ mile rides, not shorter ones, where almost any saddle will work.

I used to ride Fizik Arione saddles. Overall, I like these saddles, mainly because of their length – they have a wide range of sitting positions. And they were decent for my sit bones (I’ve done two double centuries on Ariones) – I think because of the unique flexing these saddles have.

I suspect, though, that the Arione is really too narrow for me. And it’s not so good for my nether regions – which  is why I switched away from it.

The main problem with Fizik saddles is their “microtex” covers just aren’t durable. I kept having to buy a new saddle every year (8000-9000 miles) because the sides of the saddles would wear away. That’s aggravating and expensive.

This limited durability is true, in my experience, for the Fizik Arione saddles and the Fizik Aliante saddles as well. (My first saddles were the Aliante – but ultimately, I moved away from these because they have a very limited comfort zone.)

The ultimate biking sin

On my rides the past month I’ve done the ultimate unthinkable biking sin: I’ve ridden with underwear beneath my shorts!

Gasp! Shock! Horror!

It’s not ordinary underwear, but rather padded ones I bought from REI that are made so you can wear regular non-biking shorts on top. The padding is basically the same shape and thickness that is used in normal bike shorts.

I just wore the padded underwear underneath my regular biking shorts – and hence had double padding.

So far, this combination has worked well, no chafing problems or anything, and the extra padding has allowed me to get back on my bike sooner that I would have been able to otherwise.