Training Program / Tips to Prevent Butt Soreness

[p1nnacle]

Hi All,

I have recently committed to doing a 1000km fund raising ride in 5 days in October from Sydney to Brisbane. The ride distances vary from 165 to 245k.

The longest that I ridden in a single day prior to this is 165k. The ride is apparently pretty gentle but that said i believe the average will be between 25 & 30k per hour.

I'm looking for any advice / hints that someone might care to offer in respect of training programs that they have used for rides of this distance or further.

I am currently riding around 250k per week.

And finally how do people on longer rides prevent or at least reduce the pain that you get in your butt.

Any advice gratefully received.

Cheers

[misterpms]

...
And finally how do people on longer rides prevent or at least reduce the pain that you get in your butt.
...

Someone is bound to say it: Get a Brooks saddle*.

I can think of three factors that may influence the pain that you feel after a long ride: bike fit (an improper fit may have you placing more pressure on your butt/nether regiosn), your saddle and your knicks. If you're looking for a new saddle the first step would be to measure the distance between your sit bones. There are plenty of threads on saddles but it's a personal thing and what works for one person is not guaranteed to work for another.

Best of luck for the ride.

* I don't own a Brooks saddle.

[DanielS]

Saddle wise, you will have to find what works for you. I'd personally recommend the Specialized Alias as a starting point. If you haven't had a professional fit done on your bike it would be worth getting that done (well in advance of the ride).

Also, I would certainly be using chamois cream for back-to-back days of that length. Use good knicks, and have a few different pairs (from different companies) so that you aren't in the same style of chamois everyday (i.e. vary the friction points).

Training wise - a book called 'The Complete Book of Long Distance Cycling' might be handy. You've got quite a lot of time to prepare. Look for stuff written by people who do Audax rides or 'randonneuring' as its called in the US. You could even look up your local Audax group and do some rides with them.

I would recommend doing one long day (~4hrs) every weekend and as you get closer to the event, do back-to-back long days on the weekend. You can use these rides to try out differnet saddles, handlebar setups, food, etc. During the week, do intensity work. Not necessarily sprints, but longer efforts at a hard pace (15-20mins). The ride/tour itself will be done at relatively low intensity, but by doing higher intensity training you will making the easy stuff even easier.

Hope this helps.

[casual_cyclist]

And finally how do people on longer rides prevent or at least reduce the pain that you get in your butt.

Training? Do some long rides. Try 200km or 300km in a day. Your local Audax should be able to hook you up with some longer rides.

Saddle? I am just using the standard Masi saddle that came with my Masi Speciale. It is a pretty ordinary saddle but with good quality padded cycling shorts (well, the padding is good quality) I don't have any issues spending 10 hours in the saddle. That said, the saddle comfortably accommodates my "sit bones" which is hugely important for saddle comfort. Also, the saddle needs to be at the right angle for you... nose too far up or down will cause problems. And the saddle needs to be the right distance from the handlebars for you, so that you sit on it comfortably. I had a saddle too close to the handlebars and I kept sitting off the back (uncomfortable), too far forward and you are sitting on the nose (ouch!).

Good luck with your ride!

P.S. image of "sit bones"

[foo on patrol]

Not much help to you with seats, but back in 1978, I did a charity ride from Ipswich - Cairns.Part of my prep was splashing Metho on the nether region to toughen up things up a bit. There wasn't the choice of seats back then, so we just put up with the pain. if you get saddle soars, burst them and treat them straight away.
The ride took eight days with two rest days, and ranged from 68km - 268kms. Good luck with it and good on you for doing it for charity.

Gary

[p1nnacle]

Hi Guys,

For all of those who have posted a reply to date many thanks. There are some excellent suggestions which I will be trying out.

Regards,
Shane