19.10.2024 Ouch & Aah!

 ~o~

  Saturday 19th 51F/11C [7.00]  bright start becoming more cloudy. Easterly breeze going southerly.

 Up at 6am after a night of lying awake for hours. Regurgitating memories. 

 I am still unsure whether I want to ride to the vintage car and spares fair in Fredericia. It is a 100km round trip. Last time I went in the Morris and enjoyed a lot of interest. I was even waved in to park with other special cars right next to the vast exhibition buildings. 

 The Morris is unwell. Again! Turning up, like a rag doll on my e-bike, isn't remotely the same. I'd still get to see the Morris Minor Club stand and other members. Admire the cars. Have a good stroll around the huge number of cars and spares stands and assorted junk. 

 I have ridden to Fredericia and well beyond on my trike a number of times. Though that was admittedly a few years ago now. Old age, health issues and the impending loss of assorted marbles, due to statins and statistics. Suggests I won't get many other chances to ride 100km. 

  I haven't managed a 100 mile ride since I was a teenager! That was on the bucket list for far too long. 85 miles on the trike was my last, best effort. About the same as my best on the e-bike so far. Imagine if I dropped dead on the e-bike? My obituary would read that: "He died in the saddle. Doing what he liked best." [While suffering from chronic saddle soreness!]

 It's not my getting tired from the extended exercise. So much the inevitable saddle soreness which I have to worry about.  After a bare few km the Brooks B67 soon feels like I am sitting on the metal frame! Not on a comfortable, suspended leather hammock of a century's careful evolution! The magical e-bike can provide all the help I need to keep moving forwards. Within reason.

 I have endlessly tried changing saddle height and tilt without relief. In desperation I have even wasted a fortune on a pair of Assos bibs. [Padded racing [?] shorts with stretchy braces.] The braces keep the shorts tight up under the rider's crutch. Hopefully avoiding all looseness and the potential for friction. From unwanted folds of cloth becoming trapped between the saddle and rider.

 I have tried numerous saddles without finding a cure. Sitting upright on the e-bike means I should use a wide saddle. To spread the loads more evenly. It really doesn't seem to help in my case. Being an old fart may well be the reason. No personal padding where it matters. I even imagined bits of loose skin were getting folded and squashed by my own weight. Now a rag, skin and bone man of a smidgen over 75kg in my cycling shorts. One kg per year? I'm 77 you know!

 I have tried the Assos with thermal long johns inside, outside and without. I have tried wearing poly-cotton cargo trousers over without benefit. Apart from extra warmth in cooler weather. I tried my extensive range of [recycled] cotton shorts. I have tried the expensive Assos [chamois] padding grease on myself and the thick sponge Assos padding. Perhaps they should mix cocaine in the grease?

 It really seems to be my pressure points [sit bones] causing the pain. Not friction between the padding and my nether regions. Nor any added or absent clothing. I have read online that age increases the risk of saddle soreness. A bit of an understatement for a change.

 I have tried all my old cycling shorts and bibs. With and without underwear, long or short. Nothing has offered pain-free cycling beyond a miserable 25km. The Assos have much firmer and thicker padding than any of my other shorts and bibs. Which was [foolishly in retrospect] what caused me to splash out. Despite the insanely expensive price tag. I should have bought a designer handbag and tried that as a saddle! Nothing else seems to help. 

 8.10 and I am still waffling and undecided. The second battery is on charge. Having dropped to 80% after yesterday's shopping ride. I average 1% drop in charge per kilometer. So, with a healthy reserve in each, will still need two batteries. That means I have to consider security. 

 Will I have to drag my two, fully packed panniers around the hall for several hours? Leaving them attached in an unsupervised, outdoor cycle rack might not be a good idea. Though I can padlock the bags to the bike rack itself. It would be disaster to come back out and find I can only get home with no motor assistance! 

 Nearly 10.00 I have changed the Brooks B67 leather top to the Contec "Exclusive" Touring. Using the B67 frame with a couple of minor changes. I dispensed with the miserably idiotic Brooks tension bolt at the nose. The Contec bolt has one of those newfangled hex sockets in the nose! Making saddle tensioning much less painful than the Brooks saddles themselves.  

 I also needed the Contec serrated lock nuts for the tops of the B67 springs. The screw size was slightly smaller than the Brooks. The spring size and spacing seem identical to the naked eye.

A quick ride down the drive felt fine. Noticeably more comfortable than the Brooks. From which I am still suffering from riding only 16km yesterday in civilian clothes. Tilt, height and tension are more or less the same. The Contec leather top is no deeper on the Brooks frame but smooth leather and the sides firmly joined and riveted underneath. With a much nicer, antique leather finish. Now that it has a few miles on it. I never liked the perfection or Brooks pimples on the e-bike. Too obviously a cycle saddle. The Contec looks like an old motorcycle saddle to my jaded eye. Both are much the same size in plan. With the Brooks only slightly shorter.

 Talking of which: I do not plan to ride to Fredericia after fitting the Contec saddle top. Too much of a risk if anything should break or fall off far from home. As happened with the Contec frame. One of the spring rails snapped at a bend. Despite the claims for quality steel in their advertising! The Contec might be a false memory of comfort. My longest ride to Børkop Cykler of 84 miles/145km was on the Contec.  

 I shall just have a tootle to the familiar charity shops. On the look out for kitchen storage furniture. It is almost too late for morning coffee and a marmalade, toasted roll. I actually feel hungry. Worms? No, getting up at 6am! 

 10.40! A light shower has not dampened my desire for a ride. My cycling jackets are waterproof as far as it matters.

 13.30 Returned from a 55.4km ride. I headed north but the most interesting charity shop was closed. Again. They have some odd opening days and hours. Probably a lack of volunteers. I turned round and headed home by the most circuitous route I could manage. Keeping, as much as possible, to the narrow, rural lanes. 

 The Contec leather top was ridiculously more comfortable than the Brooks B67. I stopped once to lift the nose slightly. Then left it as it was. The B67 has always felt as if I was perched on a small block of wood. While the Contec just felt like a saddle. I passed 50km before I lifted off to adjust my position on the Contec for more comfort. 

 It rained at 13.00 for about a quarter of an hour. My cargo trousers were soon completely dark with wet. I wasn't expecting rain. So hadn't taken my waterproof trousers. I wore the Assos bibs [shorts] underneath the trousers. I just kept going and began to dry off. The jumper I took for emergencies was never needed. The Endura rain jacket was warm enough over just a racing jersey. I didn't even bother with a thermal vest. There was only a very little sunshine during the entire ride.

 30% battery charge left from 100% at the start. That's a bit more consumption than my average. This may have been the temperature. Mostly using Sport mode with a little Turbo for the steeper hills. With an average speed of 22.4km/hr [while moving] it would probably take me around five hours of actual traveling time for 100km. 

 Based on today's ride I could get to my goal at 50km in good shape. It would take me longer to get back as I became tired towards the end. When I would be making much more use of Turbo. Even today's light wind was very noticeable as a headwind. Helpful though, when I had the wind behind me.

 Dinner was sardines on toast.

 

 ~o~