About 10 rides should get your butt used to riding. You probaboy want the first few rides to be half hour or less. Then build up your time in the saddle. Bike seats are like running shoes. There are lots of quality ones out there, but only a few will fit your body. Everybody's sit bones are a few milimeters different from the next person. So what fits your friend may not fit you. Newer riders usually like gel seats. Guys who have been riding a long time may like harder seats. Bike shorts can have a lot or a little padding, which feels better than if you are riding around in jeans. Riding with your hands on the hoods ( the rubber grips on your brakes) will have you sitting differently on your seat and the pressure point will be different than if you are riding on the drops ( the curved part of the handle bars beneath the brakes) or on aerobars. Sometimes it helps to just stand up on your pedals and coast for a few seconds every couple of miles to give your butt a break. Good Luck. Cash

Your elbows should be slightly bent while you ride. If you ride with straight elbows, your hands, elbows, and shoulders might wind up hurting. You should hold yourself up with your core not your elbows. Straight elbows means you are supporting your upper body weight with your arms, which will wind up tiring your arms.

Still working on fit. Pretty close though. Main problem is just pressure, not chaffing. Guess it just takes time. So far I'm just wearing under armor tights and my tri suit. Trying to get a bit more padding without the moisture or bunching. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. DB

From roadbikerider ezine: TRY THIS ON YOUR NEXT RIDE Add Comfort to Recovery Rides Ever notice how a slow, easy ride is harder on your rear end than an interval session, hilly ride or group hammerfest? When you're forcefully pushing down on the pedals, your body is pushed up. During hard riding you actually sit lighter on the saddle, reducing pressure on your soft tissue. Not so when you're spinning along at a low heart rate, checking the scenery. Now all your weight is right where you don't want it. Recovery rides are important. So are social rides where you chat with friends. Here's the bottom line for helping your tush enjoy easy outings as much as your legs do. Use a cushier seat. On their easy days, some roadies use a "slow ride" bike with a softer and/or wider saddle. This could be your commuting bike or winter bike. Cushy seats are normally less comfortable the longer you're on them, but they can feel good for short recovery jaunts. Wear softer shorts. You can find cycling shorts with liners containing thicker padding or gel inserts. These may be unnecessary for comfort on regular training rides, but perfect for easy ones. Ed recalls riding with Italian great Francesco Moser at a training camp in Miami 25 years ago. It was midwinter, so the pace was moderate each day and there were few reasons to stand. (South Florida is not known for its climbs.) For this kind of early season riding, Moser had special shorts with so much padding under the chamois that it looked like he was wearing a loaded diaper. But it did the trick. Stand frequently. Don't let a stop sign, short hill or headwind section go by without getting out of the saddle to relieve perineal pressure and stretch your legs. This doesn't mean to accelerate and drop slower companions or ruin the recovery aspect of the ride. Simply shift to a bigger gear, stand and "walk" the bike for a minute at moderate speed. Ride like a jockey. On descents, level the pedals and crouch with an inch between your seat and the bike seat. This is a good way to boost comfort on any ride when you're not pedaling down a hill. Click to comment