Sore b*m... help needed!

Leather saddle.

If the traffic is too close you are too far in and allowing them to overtake. You MUST behave like a
car in heavy traffic. Therein lies safety. If you get hassle from a motorist, pull out a mobile
phone and pretend you are calling the police.

"Steve Holdoway" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm having 2 problems. The first is that I can't get comfortable. Obviously this is top of the
list when you're out for a couple of hours and fidgeting after 30 minutes! initially it was the
seatbones, but yesterday I finished my first big climb, and an hour after getting off the saddle,
the top of my left leg/crutch was in agony!

That sounds like an adjustment issue. Talk to the bike shop, if necessary have them do a bike fit
analysis on their snazzy machine. If they don't have one, find a shop that does.

Quoted message said:

The second problem - and here I must admit to being in this ng rather illegally - we have just
moved to Christchurch, NZ from the countryside near Solihull, and I'm having a lot of hassle from
the city traffic - driving far too close, verbal hassling, etc. Are there any urban cyclists who
have effective ways of combatting this?

What you need is a copy of Cyclecraft, by John Franklin (published by The Stationery Office) - your
library or bookshop should have one. This will tell you how to ride in such a manner as to minimise
the risk from eejits like this.

--
Guy
===

WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
chapmancentral.demon.co.ukchapmancentral.demon.co.ukOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

I'm having 2 problems. The first is that I can't get comfortable. Obviously this is top of the list
when you're out for a couple of hours and fidgeting after 30 minutes! initially it was the
seatbones, but yesterday I finished my first big climb, and an hour after getting off the saddle,
the top of my left leg/crutch was in agony!

1. Wear padded cycling shorts. You can get basic ones very reasonably priced, from about £12
(roughly).

2. Change the saddle on your bike. Saddles are, alas, very individual things. One man/woman's agony-
seat is another's idea of heaven.

3. Play about with height/angling of saddle.

Quoted message said:

The second problem - and here I must admit to being in this ng rather illegally - we have just
moved to Christchurch, NZ from the countryside near Solihull, and I'm having a lot of hassle from
the city traffic - driving far too close, verbal hassling, etc. Are there any urban cyclists who
have effective ways of combatting this?

4.You need to learn to cycle assertively. *Possibly* you are cycling too close into the verge. You
are traffic and you need to visibly show to motorised traffic that you are. One way is to be *BIG*
- that is physically take up space on the road (but you don't have to hog the road all of the time
;-) ) and you need to be visibly big, in terms of what you look like - no dark colours - be bold,
be bright. It all helps.

5. Check you are adhering to the NZ equivalent of the Highway Code - that way you remain in the
right, and if there are any problems, you are doping your bit to make sure it's not your fault &
thus, even unitentionally through ignorance of the law, annoying traffic.

6. If there is a NZ equivalent of the CTC - join it. You'll be able to get advice & support on
cycling over there.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers, helen s

--This is an invalid email address to avoid spam-- to get correct one remove dependency on fame &
fortune h*$el*$$e**nd***$o$ts***i*$*$m**m$$o*n**s@$*$a$$o**l.c**$*$om$$

"Steve Holdoway" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi folks,

I'm having 2 problems. The first is that I can't get comfortable. Obviously this is top of the
list when you're out for a couple of hours and fidgeting after 30 minutes! initially it was the
seatbones, but yesterday I finished my first big climb, and an hour after getting off the saddle,
the top of my left leg/crutch was in agony!

Don't overdo the climbs, make sure you are using the gears efficiently so you have a reasnonable
cadenceYou could seriously strain something if you're not too careful, and this certainly sounds
like a warning. Build up gently.

I use padded cycling shorts, or a gel cover for my saddle when in jeans. Seems to do the
trick for me.

"dirtylitterboxofferingstospammers" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Re sore leg and crotch:

Quoted message said:

1. Wear padded cycling shorts.

Without underpants mind to avoid their seams chafing.
--
Pete /Playtime.html"]http:[email hidden]/Playtime.html

Steve Holdoway said:

Hi folks,

As a rather lardy 40something year old, I'm trying to use cycling to get myself fit and back into
triathlons. To do this, I've bought a Giant OCR3 ( the gf wouldn't let me get a 2! ), and headed
for the hills.

I'm having 2 problems. The first is that I can't get comfortable. Obviously this is top of the
list when you're out for a couple of hours and fidgeting after 30 minutes! initially it was the
seatbones, but yesterday I finished my first big climb, and an hour after getting off the saddle,
the top of my left leg/crutch was in agony!

Any suggestions ( I 'dress' to the right ), on what i could do to improve this?? I'm thinking of
raising the nose of the saddle for general comfort, but any other suggestions will be gratefully
received... if they work, you don't know how gratefully!

Saddles are very personal things. People's arses are different. There really is no substitute for
trying several, good quality ones of well known brands. Personally I am most comfortable on Brooks
Professionals, but they don't suit everyone. The Brooks B33 is a bit wider. There are alo good
saddles from other makers including Selle Italia but I can't give any particular recommendation
(and, indeed, arses are different...).

Two things, though: soft saddles are a snare and a delusion. With a hard saddle the hard bits of
your anatomy perch on the saddle keeping the delicate bits clear of the pressure area, but with a
soft saddle your hard bits sink in until your delicate bits are taking pressure. Also, dressing to
the right: I wouldn't, if I were you. Particularly when cycling I tend to dress staight up, as it
were. Much more comfortable - avoids pinching.

Quoted message said:

The second problem - and here I must admit to being in this ng rather illegally - we have just
moved to Christchurch, NZ from the countryside near Solihull, and I'm having a lot of hassle from
the city traffic - driving far too close, verbal hassling, etc. Are there any urban cyclists who
have effective ways of combatting this?

The aggressiveness of NZ traffic has been commented on before. My advice, based on commuting for
years on unrestricted busy dual carriageways and urban roads in the UK, would be to ride assertively
to the verge of aggressively, in the middle of the lane and deliberately holding your position in
the traffic flow. I have never had an accident under those conditions (indeed, I've never had an on-
road cycling accident as an adult at all). However, this may not work in NZ conditions; NZ drivers
may be aggressive enough to deliberately squish you.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; not so much a refugee from reality, more a bogus ;; asylum seeker