Originally Posted by
Noonievut
Yeah it’s those contact points I’m most concerned with. When I get off the bike I usually stretch my upper body, so that would be even more important. I have had issues with my neck and ‘down below’ years ago from poor posture and never stretching some muscles. I now routinely stretch and do yoga poses and all good, but nervous about “the long day”.
A few (10?) years ago I planned for a 300 mile sagged tour, 60 or so miles each day. 2 days on, one day off, 3 days on, one pretty hilly at least for Michigan. So I set four training goals originally: develop my saddle position adjustment to achieve a comfortable 40 miler, then continue to achieve 60, then achieve 60-0-60, then tackle 60-60. I started with a Selle Anatomica saddle so sitbones pain was initially zero; not so for perineal abrasion! By edging the saddle lower (1 mm at a time) while focusing on spin I was able to kill that source. I never had unmanageable leg discomfort even when I reached 60-0-0-60. Additional small adjustments were discovered for setback, tilt, bar tilt, brake lever position, and saddle rotation. Whenever I upped the distance a little I discovered new adjustments were needed, including Selle Anatomica slot widths.
Seems to me the real intellectual property or critical skill set here is to know what gentle change is needed to remedy the latest new discomfort. And my feeling is that one can’t go on past the comfort level without the skill to resolve the problems, for example to actually train up to a ready-for-200 level.
I didn’t get to finish the 5 day tour due to a surprise phone call with a job offer, and resulting 10 years as an engineer in an entirely new discipline. Just now starting to build back better!