Back in the Saddle Again 

Among some of my Christmas gifts this year were a couple of gift cards to Wheel and Sprocket. During the winter this year I've been getting on my bike, hooked up to a cycling trainer, a couple times a week. Unfortunately for me, something went seriously wrong with my training. The problem actually has two causes. One is purely from my stupidity, and one is because of the nature of what I'm training for. The problem is... well... how can I put this delicately? The family jewels are feeling a little off shall we say. In a public service to the blogosphere, I'll go over the causes in my case in the hopes of saving other men from my pain.

Cause 1: Not wearing cycling shorts. Laugh all you want, but cycling shorts aren't really the greatest. They do have the padding in the butt, and they're very tight to the skin which provides for less drag which are both great. The downside is that they make me feel like I'm smuggling fruit. I have some other shorts which I used for trail riding on my mountain bike which have padding in the butt, but are looser everywhere else. So I thought I'd wear those in the winter on my trainer indoors. Unfortunately, the reason I hate the tight shorts is also the thing that keeps my bits out of the way when I'm leaned way forward on my aero bars. So that means back to tight bicycle shorts.

Cause 2: Extra training on my aero bars. When I was training outside on the road, I didn't use my aero bars nearly enough. One of the things I wanted to improve during the offseason was my form on the aero bars, which means getting comfortable using them. When you get down on aero bars, your... umm... hell, I'll just say this. Your balls can get caught around the nose of the saddle more. That's actually where the shorts help, because they lift things up out of the way. But, last night I went to Wheel and Sprocket with my gift cards and bought a new saddle to give myself some extra protection. The one I got has a softer nose made out of gel (not just for breast implants any more), and the middle area is titanium which is lighter, and has quite a bit of flex to it. However, it's still a racing saddle and not big and bulky. It's the best of both worlds.

Of course buying the saddle last night led to one of the stranger conversations I've ever had with a sales woman.

Her: Hi, may I help you?
Me: Yeah. I'm looking to get a new saddle.
Her: Ok, what kind of bike do you have?
Me: I have a Giant TCR.... got it this spring.
Her: Ok, great. You race?
Me: Yeah. I do tri's. Right now I've got it on a trainer though.
Her: Awesome. I know the saddle that comes with that one isn't the most comfortable.
Me: Yeah... it's been kind of rough since I've been on the trainer more.
Her: Got to take care of the under carriage.
Me: Bingo.
Her: A saddle is a very personal thing.