joshcls

So, went in my longest ride ever yesterday --- 12mi, in under an hour.
Took my mongoose mountain bike (with fenders) out... Was still waiting on the road bike I'm borrowing.

FWIW - I've only recently got back into cycling.
I'm 6'2" and 262 lbs.

Long story shirt, late last night, I noticed a really annoying pain in my butt.
Its not external, it's internal.
Woke up this AM and it was still hurting a bit, but thought I might be able to run it off, so I did 3 miles and it felt a little better.

After showering, and starting my day, it got to the point where I can't get comfortable it's so painful. I'm sitting on ice packs, popping Advil like m&ms.
Tried sitting. Standing, stretching, laying down.
Absolutely miserable.

Was hoping to take the new road bike out for a spin in the AM but there is NO way that's happening.

Anyone experience anything like this?
Anyone know what it might be,
Or have any remedies?

Sorry if this is oversharring, just hoping someone can help.

Doohickie

Could it be something as straightforward as a bruise? If you're not sitting on the seat right, you can put pressure on the soft tissue around your sit bones and bruise it. The short term answer may be to not right a few days and see if it recovers; the long term answer may be a better fit on the bicycle and (in my opinion) a Brooks saddle can help. Sorry I don't have better advice; seats and fit are pretty unique to each individual.

I'm about your height, a little lighter (recently started losing again, dropped from 232 to 219 over the last month).

katsrevenge

Bruised butt bones.

I've done it. I've been told I need to adjust the saddle. I think I've fixed the problem. Not sure yet. It seems to be a lot of guesswork.

catonec 

it may be something as simple your body getting used to riding a bike. most beginners will experience some mild discomfort.

as doohickey said seats and positions are unique per individual. Ithink what he's getting at is that seats come in different sizes and shapes because peoples butts come in different sizes and shapes. Finding the one that fits you best will make a huge difference. it took me about 5 different tries before I got it right. Most LBS's will have a seat exchange program because of this.

doohickety recommends brooks products, Ill recommend fizik. no one can tell you for certain what one is your huckleberry, gluck

Astrozombie

Seems like a lot as a first ride.....also does it come with a "gel" saddle?? They say those are no good, you're supposed to be firmly on your sit bones. And i'm guessing no bike shorts?

mrodgers

I don't remember now when you took your first ride. Does it coincide with your September join date here? You say the 12 miles is your longest yet. I started right at the beginning of August and at 2 weeks started riding 12 miles per day. Yes, my butt also hurt, a lot. Just yesterday was the first of my daily 12 mile ride after about 6 weeks that I had no pain experience at all after finishing.

I've taken 4 rides now on weekends longer than my daily 12 at 16 to 25 miles. What I do is every 2 or 3 miles, I stand up and coast for 20 seconds or so (I don't bother pedaling because my chain grabs the next gear and jumps around if I stand and pedal, so I just coast.) This has helped with the sore butt problem for me. It didn't eliminate it completely but helped. As I said, yesterday with my normal 12 mile, had no pain for the first time when I finished. Your rear will get use to it and it will pain less and less with each ride. Mine did and I also had the feeling that I couldn't even sit down after riding just a few weeks ago.

gforeman 

Padded Bike Shorts! I couldn't ride without them! If you are a big guy like me, just wear them under your regular shorts, but do get them. I have 6 pair now since I ride almost everyday.

goldfinch

This sounds more than pain from getting used to a saddle. Even then when you are off the saddle you shouldn't have to be sitting on ice packs and popping Advil.

Maybe it is a bone bruise like Doo suggested. Those can take a long time to heal. As in weeks. And in the end you likely will need a different saddle. Or, it could be ischial bursitis, an inflammation. Or something else. Like hamstring origin tendonitis.

A break from riding, together with icing, Ibuprofen, and relieving pressure in the area by sitting on something like a doughnut cushion might help.


(Of course, this is just ramblings, not medical advice. You need a doc for that. Which you probably should see if it doesn't get better asap ).

joshcls

Def not my first ride.
I've been riding for over a month now this time around (took 2 months off to move, have our 2nd child)
Was averaging 6-7 miles this spring.

Been going 6, 8, 10 miles this time around on my MTB.
Pushed myself this last ride, but was on the bike less than my last 10 mile ride.

I think it may not have been set right, but that's a moot point now.
Am borrowing a new road bike, and the owner at my LBS set me up to where it feels perfect.

This is certainly more than just saddle discomfort.
I went through the perineum pain/discomfort this spring.
This definitely seems like an injury of some nature.

Now 48 hours, and it's even more painful.
Sitting on my wife's nursing/boppy/donut shaped pillow with an icepack seems to be the only comforting position.
Tried a hot bath, but wound up hurting myself getting in and out.

Planning on taking the next week off or so, though not wanting to lose any ground.
Picked up some bike shorts yesterday, along with my cannondale road bike + cycling shoes/cleats.
So bummed I'm hurt, and can't get out there and try all the new gear... =[

catonec 

what new cannondale and pedals did you go with?

have you mentioned your pain to your LBS. many have a device which measures your butt to help you pick the correct saddle.

Bike shorts will help prevent chaffing and irritation (they work by providing 2 separate layers of material to greatly reduce friction) but not really provide any cushioning to speak of. I never ride w/o my bibs.

KBentley57

Not to scare, but that sounds similar to a hemorrhoid issue, especially with the donut pillow. A few years ago I had a pretty extreme bout of trouble with them, and ended up having some surgery to take care of them, not fun. Most of us are adults here, ect.. Any trouble with that in the past?

joshcls

Had so,em small external hemroid issues in the past... This just feels different. And is most certainly NOT external.

havent ruled out internal roids...

joshcls

My LBS owner is loaning me a vintage cannondale until I save up "for a real bike"
frame is probably 25 years old.
seems to have newer shimano everything else, spent some time fixing it up before loaning it out to me.
super generous, and I'll absolutely be buying everything from them as a thanks.

miles better than the MTB I've been riding,
but will obviously want to upgrade eventually

joshcls

I'm not really sure what shorts I got 100%, but there is a fancy gel insert that seems like it will provide plenty of cushion once I start riding again

softreset

Careful on the 'padded gel inserts' on some bike shorts. Some of them are way too pillowy and while the first X miles feel great at some point it becomes Y miles of horrible discomfort.

Example: I bought the Performance Century II gel shorts on sale a few weeks back. At less than $35/pair with discounts and coupons, I figured what the heck. They had a very thick gel padding so I figured for my first metric century they'd be great. They were great, for the first 40 miles. The last 25 miles I was absolutely miserable and I needed a full 3 days off the bike after the ride to recover.

At the same time I also bought a pair of Performance Ultras with 1/3rd the padding of the Century II. At less than $42/pair with discounts and coupons and a much nicer fit I figured that I would try them in yesterday's metric. HUGE difference. Although they're not nice and pillowy, I went the full 65 miles with the same comfort/discomfort sensation of sitting on my saddle.

Long story, short... Just be careful with going for too much padding.

joshcls

Ive pretty much concluded that I've got a bruised tail bone. If it continues to hurt for another couple of days, I will contact a doctor, but just trying to take it easy for now.

eja_ bottecchia

OP, go see a doctor, and stop popping Advil, or Tylenol, or whatever, like if they were M&Ms. That's bad joo joo and a recipe for liver damage.

Hope you get better soon so you can keep riding!

Lacumo

Total agreement w/ eja_bottecchia. Get thee to an MD and do it post haste! This may be the result of a poor quality seat, inappropriately sized seat, lack of decent cycling shorts, incorrect height, position &/or angle of the seat or all or any combination of those OR other possibilities, BUT... What you're describing is a serious and stern warning from Mother Nature and it shouldn't be taken lightly. If I was experiencing what you described, I'd be seeing my doc -- not just @ the first time convenient for him, but on a priority basis and either tomorrow or the next day. Also... I'd suggest not doing any more riding until this whole experience is a distant, rapidly fading memory.

anthonygeo

What you figure out?

indyfabz

Try a good old fashioned enema.

joshcls

Problem went away on it's own. Went on a smaller ride yesterday (5 miles) with no pain. *shrugs*

Gnosis

Respectfully, “they say” is essentially as meaningless as “hear say”. Even the best of saddles fail to work for everyone therefore, it’s misguided to convey that gel cell saddles are “no good”. It’s akin to stating Brooks saddles are no good simply because they don’t work for all. Let’s stop this perpetuation of parroted misguided presumptions and instead, convey actual firsthand experience.

I use a Bontrager Sport “gel cell” saddle ($39.99) on a couple of my mountain bikes as does my friend (as he liked the comfort of my saddle prior to purchasing one for himself) and neither of us wear padded bicycle shorts. Personally, I’ve gone on a 200-mile ride with my gel cell saddle as well as many century rides and longer. My friend has only ridden with me on two metric century rides, but his gel cell saddle worked fine for both of those rides. Needless to say, our gel cell saddles work well, just as they do for many others though certainly not for all, as no saddle can make that claim.

I’m not suggesting that our Bontrager Sport gel cell saddles are the saddle that everyone should seek to purchase, as it’s highly probable that there are far better gel cell saddles available. I’m merely stating that after just over 3,500 combined miles on these saddles, they still work quite well even on my longest rides while carrying a large heavily provisioned backpack weighing 25 to 30 pounds. Clearly then, some gel cell saddles are quite good for some individuals.

starkmojo

Getting the angle of the seat right is as important as the right seat. I have a pretty sharp angle in mine, enough that bike shops offer to "fix" it whenever I get it tuned up. But it's the result of lots of adjusting on my part to get it right and Incan ride all day on it comfortably.

UnfilteredDregs

I did the stupidest thing a couple of weeks ago...Now, my rides are typically 20-40 miles, I average 60-110+ per week. No problems other than typical soreness at times. I'm 5'10"@207#

I rode to work, less than 3 miles, without my compression shorts on, and a laptop in a bag slung over my shoulder on my back. Maybe 7-8 pounds...

Swinging slightly like a pendulum on my back.

My tailbone felt murderous for a good 2-3 days.

CliftonGK1

If the pain was sharp and stabbing, and specifically centered around your bunghole, you may have a fissure. More common than you'd think, and often they'll heal on their own by not aggravating them (no harsh exercise, no spicy foods, etc.) They can easily be caused by dehydration and constipation.

I had one a few years ago and it got bad enough that I needed surgery from having ignored the problem for a long time. If it persists, have things checked out.
Here's some sound advice from a wise man...