Monday, June 23, 2008

Angel Island








Our trip to Angel Island was fun! It was nice to be cool after the little heat wave we had. It was downright chilly when standing right on the water. We rode our bikes around the island - only 4 miles - but taking our time and stopping at all the little historical landmarks and buildings and ate a little picnic lunch. Then afterward we ate an early dinner at Marin Brewing Company in Larkspur.
The only thing that would have made it better IMO is if we had been walking rather then riding the bikes. Can I be real and say that I *hate* riding the bikes. Because it hurts! And I'm not talking about the muscle hurt from riding up hills and such. I don't mind that kind of pain, in fact I like that kind of pain. It hurts my butt, really really bad. And I mean bad. Immediately I'm uncomfortable and within about 20 minutes it's like I'm literally bruised and I can't even rest upon the seat at all without it being very painful. On flat ground or downhills I just put my wieght on the pedals and stand up, but on the uphills where you need to sit and pedal it was just too painful. I ended up walking my bike a good part of the time.
DH likes to helpfully point out "nobody else seems to be having any trouble". "Yes, dear. That's clearly true" I reply, as dozens of women and girls of all ages fly by me on all sorts of bike seemingly pain free. His comments don't make it hurt any less however, and only serve to make me feel like a giant wet blanket.
I don't know what the problem is. I used to ride when I was a kid constantly and I don't ever recall having this trouble. I've tried three different seats now and this latest one is the worst yet actually. The problem is that the bones in my butt, the ones you sit on where your legs and pelvis meet, get very bruised somehow by the bike seat. To the point that it hurts badly for several days after even a short ride. Maybe I'm jointed different then most people, or maybe I just have an unusally bony butt? I can't figure it out. I'm not a pain wussy by any means IMO, and I've been told I just need to build up calluses so to speak and get used to it. But the experience makes riding completely unpleasurable so I don't see that I'm ever going to ride enough to get used to it. Ah well. I guess I'll just walk. Which sucks because DH hates walking and loves biking so its going to be hard to get him to do anything with me.


2 comments:

Rachel Bradley said...

How gorgeous! I love the pictures. I'm sorry to hear that your posterior wasn't up for the bike seat.

Seamstrix said...

It didn't used to hurt because you rode constantly. :) I know, it's a pain in the a** but the more you ride, the less it hurts (not what you want to hear). Of course, fit is also key in a bike seat. You need to find a seat where the padding is in line with your "sit bones" and everyone is different, making it difficult to find the right seat. And sometimes, too much padding can hurt just as much as not enough padding. Also, padded bike shorts can help a LOT. You can find some that are light weight and go under your regular clothes so that you don't look "spandex clad" like me, hehe. Oh, and one more thing...try adjusting the angle of your seat on the bike. That can make a big difference and change where your weight is concentrated.