Saddle Sores

Get a bike fit if you are not

Get a bike fit if you are not 100% sure that what you have is perfect – your position may be agravating the situation.

Might be that the saddle you are using just isn’t right for you.

Try changing to a different brand of shorts – different shaped pad may help.

May be an issue where is is worth going to the doctors – there may be an underlying issue that they could help with.

May be worth checking yourself for ingrowing hairs down there – sorting these out may help.

Let the sores recover – take a break for a week or so to let them heal up

I am training for the London

I am training for the London Bikeathon https://bloodwise.org.uk/event-challenges/cycle-bikeathon/south-east/london-bikeathon at the moment and sadly have the same problem at the moment 

A friend of  mine advised me to give Vagisil a go and it works rather well, both in terms of prevention and relief. I have also used Tea Tree Oil in the past and that has helped as well. Failing that, simply strap a cushion to your saddle. 

I fall into the same boat as

I fall into the same boat as you, tried allsorts of under garments and no unders, creams etc, even shaved (very nervous if you dont have a steady hand) but in the end i just have to grin and bear it with lashings of sudocrem on when i first go out.

Saddles are overrated. I

Saddles are overrated. I hardly bother really sitting on mine any more until I’m wrecked and moody and just want to pedal efficiently at the end of a ride. I just sort of rest on it lightly. Or up hills, I tend to plant myself down pretty hard on it then. I’m a bigger rider too, 78 to 85kg at any given month.

I started doing stretches recently to increase the amount of time I can spend with more of my bodyweight on on the bars. The Indian knot one seems good for me.

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20130617-Phil-Burt-s-Big-Four-0

I know it’s a roundabout solution, but for me I can go 100 miles+ easily without any saddles sores. Some bruising/tenderness on the sitbones the next day or two after a major ride, but that’s preferable to sores in tender places.

I know from distance running how bad it can affect you. I used to jump in the shower after marathon training and feel like a cat suddenly jumped on my nads! Only would realise when the hot water hit me that my shorts had grazed the skin badly down there. Terrible stuff. Funny, but it becomes a major issue.

It’s strange how this differs

It’s strange how this differs from person to person. I ride 250-300 miles a week and never get anything, only feeling like I need to smear myself up with chamois cream on rides longer than 100 miles. I use the Muc-Off stuff, which may be expensive, but it smells so bloody nice.

le Bidon wrote:

Good job at not being too graphic.

The “graphic” way of framing it, which the OP apparently spared us from, must be really something.

Proper rest is usually a pretty good idea.