jbrow1

It was a nice Michigan day today at 39*F and no ice/snow on the roads and I was lucky enough to take each of my 8 year old twins with me on my run. It's easier for me to take them separately so I can focus only on one kid at a time, and teach them the rules of the road and how (hopefully) not to get pancaked. They both pedaled sans training wheels before turning 4 years old, but today was probably the most fun I've had with either of them as they rode. I tried to make them understand after the fact, multiple times, how much I enjoyed that time we spent together. I'm thinking this may finally be the year we can really enjoy some cycling together as a family. I try not to push them, rather let them do what they want when they want, but today they really seemed to enjoy it which is what I've been waiting for! It's funny but if I ask them if they want to go for a ride they often say no. But if i just leave the bikes outside the garage on kickstands, they will go ride them all over the place on their own. After today though, I'm hoping we may be in for a change this year. We'll see if donuts can help!

Longjohn reminded me of these forums at the bicyling FB page, and I see I had joined quite awhile back! My in-laws just started weight watchers, congrats to them and to square wheels I barely rode a bike this year, but strava says a bit over 200 miles, which I don't recall.. lol. As my kiddos have gotten older, I've begun to ride less for reasons such as chauffeur to them, but more b/c of getting run over. I want to come home. So I started running, quicker workouts, and feel safer. But this year I plan to ride more, gravel roads and mnt bike if nothing else. But roadie is what I really love, so a goal is 1000 miles on the road for me. Building a 29'er mnt bike for spring, and I'm excited to finally get off the 26", even though my new bike will be fully rigid. No big deal, I rarely ride longer than an hour, so who needs a fork anyways?!

A big deal that probably won't happen again. If it's rocky/rooty or 20 is to mentally skittish try 25. Have fun, pressure is fun to play with

You've tried 40, try 20 next time and see how that feels. Then you have two experiences to compare and adjust from there. If it's rooty and/or rocky you'll know if you're to low b/c you'll feel the rim hitting rocks. Not a big deal, may pinch flat, but you'll know for sure what's to low, or that you didn't unload enough over whatever you hit

I find cycling easier than running. Much of the reason IMO is due to the low impact. I can hurt myself with a two mile run if I want, comes down to not being an idiot. Sometimes that's difficult for me, b/c it's fun to go fast and I don't really run in the summer so need to start back slowly. Anyhow, I enjoy running alot but if you asked me to go run a half marathon right now I would decline b/c my legs are not prepared. If asked to ride a century tomorrow I could do that, even though I am not wholly prepared for that either. Riding with a buddy once, he said to me, "notice how you never see people jogging and smiling? That's why I ride bikes."

I think professional fittings are fine and all that, great place to start, but I really believe that one will still need to fine tune from there for the type of riding one does. I would also think your butt is likely telling you it doesn't like your saddle. I made alot of saddles "work" by fine tuning their and my placement, but none were the answer until this last one.

So many things can make your butt hurt, many listed here. If you're sliding forward, need to figure out why.. too long of stem, saddle to far back, wrong tilt of saddle? I used to have butt pain all the time. Tried a lot of saddles, thought they'd work, then they wouldn't. One saddle I had like 600 miles on, then did a 50 mile race and for some reason it bruised my right side butt cheek deep within, and that part of my ass hurt for an entire summer and into winter no matter what I rode and often while on a chair as well. I knew I wanted a saddle that was kind of wide in the back, and flat both front/back and side to side. One day walking around walmart I saw a zefal "racing" style seat and it looked just like that. Bought one for $30 bux, tried it for awhile, then bought five more! lol, Butt no longer hurts. Make sure your shorts aren't to big. I find if my shorts are a bit loose it can lead to a sore bum after longer rides. Also found the best way to fit myself on my bikes was on a trainer. That way you can concentrate on how everything feels without any other thoughts crossing your mind. Could never fine-tune my fit until I got a trainer.