Getting comfortable in the saddle

When you first start riding, you may have a lit­eral pain in the butt. But there are some steps you can take to get comfortable in your saddle:

✓ Try a variety of different saddles. The only way to tell if you’ll like a saddle is to ride on it, so many bike stores will allow you to take a saddle overnight and exchange it for a different one if needed.

✓ Don’t forget to move around. Instead of sit­ting in the same position for hours at a time, try shifting your weight and hand position every so often.

✓ Wear the right clothing. Biking shorts are designed without seams to help prevent chafing. They also have special fabric to wick away moisture and keep you dry.

✓ Adjust the height and angle. Sometimes it takes a little experimenting to find the right combination. Use the advice in this chapter to find the position that’s best for you.

✓ Exercise your butt. The more you ride, the more your bottom will adjust to sitting on the saddle.

Strange as it sounds, the more you ride, the more you’ll like a smaller saddle. Give yourself time to get used to the saddle. A cushy saddle may seem comfortable at first, but it isn’t for regular riders.

If a woman were to use a seat designed for a man, the two small bones at the bottom of her pelvic bone would not be supported properly. There are differ­ent sit-bone widths, and finding a saddle that corresponds to your sit-bone width, regardless if it’s for men or women, is essential.