What is the most common question I get asked?

There is no competition on this one; Don’t you get a sore bottom?  There is an obsession in the non-cycling community about the state of a cyclist’s bottom.  This is understandable. Looking at a saddle from a non-cycling perspective it hardly looks the most comfortable thing to sit on for many hours every day.  I must admit I, like most women, have experimented with numerous saddles to get one that is the most comfortable.  Women have wider hips than men so the saddle does need to be wider to support the pelvic bones.  However, if it is too wide or has too much padding this results in chafing as your legs turn the pedals hundreds of thousands of times.

Obviously I have done many miles to get my bottom comfortable on the saddle.  I have tried numerous different pairs of shorts and have found the ones that are most comfortable for me. To be sure I get the right ones I even know the product numbers of all of the parts of the shorts!  However, sore bottom does represent one of the issues that could prevent me from completing the record.  Typically saddle sores go through three stages: redness and sensitivity, open wounds and worst of all abscess or boils.  The second or third stages usually get caused by a build-up of salt in the shorts from sweating which rubs repeatedly on the bottom,  a bit like sand paper on the bottom and is exceptionally uncomfortable.  Once you have broken the skin there isn’t much that can be done to alleviate the continuous pain on every pedal stroke.  There are creams that help but my experience is they don’t completely alleviate the pain.  I will try to prevent this with changes of shorts on hot days every cycling loop and plenty of Vaseline and good hygiene every night.  In sixteen days I have used four large pots of Vaseline already.