I guess that's the point of a shakedown trip though. I'm planning on a 6000km touring trip starting in 2 months and I've been busy planning and preparing. To put things into perspective, the longest trip I've ever done o a bike was 1300km and that was almost 10 years ago. I've been building up my training for the last few weeks and I have been able to comfortably ride about 70-80 km back to back days without gear. I'm not the fastest cyclist so this takes me some time but my muscles and joints feel decent after these rides.
So a few days ago I decide im ready for a shakedown trip, with a plan of going west for about 115km, camping and then continuing on for about 80km the next day until I reach my end point. I'm riding a Surly disc trucker 52' with a stick Volt WTB 142 saddle. I lather on some chamois cream and put on some bike shorts i got off amazon. I havent used any chamois shorts up until now because i wanted to toughen up my ass. I strap on about 30lbs worth of gear, about the amount I intend to use for my upcoming trip. This is the first time I strap on so much weight in my training. Conditions were sunny but I had 25-30km headwinds that would be lasting the entire trip. The going was tough but once I hit the 60km mark I start feeling uncomfortable in my buttocks. As I progress I'm having more and more difficulty staying on the saddle and have to take frequent breaks. For the last 25km of my ride I'm grimacing and hating my day. I also suffer I minor snag where one of the bolts fastening my rack came out, ut I was able to fix it quickly.
Camping went well. All my gear is generally familiar to me. The next morning I continue and instantly wish I was doing anything else but grinding my raw butt onto my saddle as I attempt to push against the wind. Ultimately I make it another 40km before calling it. Pain is too intense and I'm gassed out. I'm super hungry as well and probably need more calories overall. I'm happy my knees, hips and wrists were fine, I didn't feel especially physically exhausted, but the irritation to my sitz bones is pretty bad and my mental side took a hit as a result. I don't have open wounds but the skin really raw. Now I'm not sure how to proceed, should I test out a new saddle, should I get a bike fit? Maybe my bike shorts are crap? Maybe my skin will just toughen up and be ok for next time. All I know is i can't go on any proper trip if this issue persists.
by Dawdles347
16 Comments
Could be crappy shorts, could just be in the saddle for too long. Just making sure, but you don’t wear underwear with bike shorts, as the two layers will actually cause chaffing.
Try different bike shorts.
On any endurance trip, you’ll need to slowly build up stamina. 115km is a LONG day on a loaded touring bike with a headwind. You’ll earn that kind of stamina eventually, but not at the start of your trip.
Just to be clear, before your shakedown you’d been regularly riding and had been able to do about 70-80km. Was this on the same bike, with the same saddle, minus the weight of the gear?
Other than adding the gear, what did you change? Was it just the bike shorts and the chamois cream? Had you worn the bike shorts before?
you’ve been riding 70-80k w/o issues for the last few weeks, but on a longer ride with weight and wind, had saddle trouble?
Is this a new saddle? Most likely you need some more time on longer rides to get accustomed. Not sure what amazon shorts are like, but might be worth trying something different.
If your seat is too high, you’ll rock around more, so make sure that’s not the case.
Lastly, for a 6000k trip, i’d consider some front paniers to distribute the load. Anything you don’t get right on day 1, you’ll have figured out by day 10 :). good luck and enjoy!
Get 2 pairs of good name brand shorts for your trip, like Pearl Izumi’s better shorts. I love Brooks saddles, but YMMV
As a fellow Disc Trucker withe the same stock saddle we’ll share some experiences.
A fully load bike, padded butt or not (in our case, we 100% rawdog it), will punch hard on any big bumps. Our worst sores and butt blisters have been from when we “found” a pothole, and quite literally took it in the ass. With 30lbs of kit, on top of the 30lbs of bike, padding alone don’t mean shit. We’re currently looking at high level suspension seatposts to take the kick out of the saddle. That said, the body itself is remarkably resilient; ride long enough on blisters, and it’ll learn where it needs to thicken the skin. Our ass definitely won’t win any hotness contests, but it can definitely weather a good number of rough and tumbley rides.
With the strong headwind, I’m guessing you’re leaning forward a bit more than usual? If your pelvis is rolled forward, then you’re using a different section of your sit bones. That seems like a good saddle, so maybe some tilt adjustment may be in order. While a different chamois would help, ultimately more time in the saddle is needed.
Buy the largest fabric bandaid (bandages) you can. Rip off the gauze portion and put it directly centered over the worst chafing, making sure to contour to your anatomy.
It will massively stabilize the raw bits, allow them to breathe and heal. AND they won’t get reinjured or worse.
Generally you can leave them on for three or so days. They will hurt a bit to remove, but far less than the pain you’re describing.
115km for your first long ride in years is awfully far. Ease into it.
Sounds like for your “shakedown ride” you decided to bike with gear for the first time and bike further than you usually bike? That’s not really “easing into it.” Not to mention wearing clothes you haven’t biked in before.
Given that this seems like an ambitious first day, it’s probably going to difficult to know if your gear is at all to blame. You definitely want to make sure you have a comfortable saddle and bike set up, but it’s hard to know if the problem is a specific feature of the bike or if it’s all the things that were different on this ride from your regular ride. I would heal, and then try the new shorts on a local ride. Then try the ride with the extra weight. Then, if things are comfortable, try another shakedown ride, but maybe a shorter one. Whether it’s shorter or not, get off the bike for a while periodically, especially if you’re starting to notice discomfort. I know it seems like you should be able to power through it, and get used to it over time, but on a long bike trip, repetitive motions mean you’re just going to increase your discomfort as you go on.
So my advice would be to check your set up and ramp up a little more slowly next time. And maybe consider setting daily goals that are closer to, or even less than, the 70-80km rides you are used to. To my mind, there’s not point in trying to hit the road on Day 1 at peak fitness, ready to tackle 100km+ days. You’ll get there soon enough, and you have plenty of miles to work up to that. But now you know that if you push it too hard one day, you don’t just reset overnight. Especially when you’re talking about physical damage rather than just fatigue.
I have the same pea green Surly DT. It took me a bit to dial in the location, angle and settings of the stock saddle but have had no issue since. Around 2,000 miles of touring over the past few years (averaging about 350-400 miles in a week at a time). I know nothing of your saddle however. I’d say play round with position or switch saddles and see what happens.
Amazon shorts you may as well be wearing nothing
Couple of things. I’d consider different shorts, since you ride without them normally and your rear survives ok. I could never get comfortable with any wtb saddles but some love them. I ride a Brooke’s b17. Your rig looks quite tail heavy, and a more balanced bike might ride better. I’ve embraced the bikepacking ethos and travel as light as I can. Folks often pack their fears when touring. Probably the single most important piece of advice is to not worry about distance when you tour, especially on a long tour where you have the option of camping. I tend to ride to time and accept on some days I won’t cover as much distance. Also for me personally the second and third days often seem the hardest and from the fourth day I’m golden as my body kinda switches over to tour mode
Get New shorts and wear them in, i dont bother with cham cream but i do keep as clean as i can touring, 2 shorts in rotation, washed in the morning, dry over bars by 2nd breakfast
Amazon bib shorts are a mistake. You want a good fit and a quality pad that wont just rub and chafe your unfamiliar ass into oblivion. Go to a bike shop and ask them to hel fit you for some bib shorts if you want to go that route. Ride some shorter rides to break them in.
There are a few sources of butt pain. One of them is contact dermatitis where the skin itself becomes red and irritated due to contact with soaps used to clean garments, substances on the surface of new garments or from the materials themselves. Was the issue the surface of the skin? If so, try washing the new shorts using known familiar soap and/or known familiar garments.