Week 2 of Recovery: A Decision Had To Be Made

Forty-nine minutes. That’s how long my first foray into riding outside lasted and that’s also how long it took for my saddle sores to flare up…again. Its now been 2 months that I’ve been fighting with saddle sores. Its gotten to the point that I stress out before every ride because I worry that they’ll cause epic amounts of discomfort and I’m usually correct. There’s been one ride in the last 2 months that I haven’t developed sores…ONE.

I’ve previously had little issues with saddle sores. To the point that when I was riding previously I’d basically stopped using chamois cream because I didn’t need it. I’ve been using the same saddle on all my bikes for years now. It’s been so long since I’ve had to deal with this that I’m kind of at a loss at where to go from here. I’ve tried a lot of remedies in the past two months and have had little success with any of them. I’ve gotten a fit on my Top Fuel, changed out the saddles, bought new bibs, changed the way on put on chamois cream, and adjusted the angle and height of the saddles. None of it is working.

Back in late May I did a 71 mile road ride and was in the saddle for almost 5 hours and got no saddle sores whatsoever. Now I can’t ride for an hour on the same bike, with the same saddle without constantly squirming due to discomfort and my sit bones being so tender that I can barely sit down in a chair afterwards. So it came time to make a decision given everything that’s been happening in the last two months…

I’m taking a break from the bike for the next two weeks, but more then that I’m pulling out of Shenandoah 100. The rest of the season is still up in the air as well, so we’ll see. Bartram PM on August 22nd is out for sure, which leaves Big Ring Challenge, Payne Cave, and Dirty Spokes 6 Hour still on the calendar.

When I started considering pulling out of Shenandoah 100 I took solace in that I could possibly change my Big Frog 65 entry to Cohutta 100. However it was announced this week that those races have been postponed to next year due to concerns over the ‘Rona. Other races I’d planned on doing look bleak as well. Registration for 5-Points 50 is currently on hold and Black Bear Rampage is subject to the Forestry Service just like Big Frog was. The 2020 race season is currently in shambles. I may just call it a year, lick my wounds, and start planning for 2021.

So today starts 2 weeks off the bike. I need to find something else I can do to stay somewhat fit. Tonight I’m going to give trail running a go, but given how tender the ribs are it may just end up being a fast hike.