40-mile Aftermath and 15-Mile Ride to REI

I was still a bit under the weather from the 40 mile ride the week before. But I had to test the new saddle. Well, I had to because I was itching to test it, not because of any exigency. 

The Bontrager commuter saddle didn't work out. The padding nicely softened after the first ride and provided ample support. But the cutout was too narrow, and it still applied pressure on my groin. I kept finding myself lifting my butt when going over bumps. So, I got this carbon saddle with flat profile and larger cutout from Temu. It was a bit larger than my butt, but it was only $10, so I figured it was a good way to try out larger cutout. If it works out, I'll get a new one of right size and more padding. Selle Italia Boost Free-flow, perhaps. Turned out, it wasn't too big. It fit my butt just fine. 

I wanted to make it another 40 miles, from Guy West Bridge to Rainbow Bridge in Folsom this time. A better sense prevailed, and I decided to do a run-of-the-mill 15-mile ride. I swallowed a Sudafed pill to get me out of the weather and then rode at a leisurely pace of about 7 mph, with 5-minute break every 2.5 miles.

The saddle was a success. At last, I could leave my butt attached to the saddle when going over bumps with confidence. The saddle hardly had any padding, but that didn't matter: the cutout was THE culprit, not the padding. Now I'm itching to get back on the saddle for a long ride. I'll eventually make it to Auburn and back for 80 mile ride. For now though, the ski season is about to begin -- they got a foot of snow in the mountains this week. So I might have to put away the bike till Spring.

The day after the ride, I went on a nicotine patch. I've been up and running like a busy bee, relatively speaking, for the next 3 days. No crash, in other words, except for a 30-minute nap the day after. If that was a crash, it was the shortest one ever. 

So, 15 miles is a piece of cake with Sudafed and nicotine patch. 40 miles is a bit iffy. The patch 2 days after the ride prevented the crash, but I was left weaker and more susceptible to crash for the rest of the week. That is typical of hard crashes. They leave you weaker even after you recover from the crash, so you have to remain well below your baseline for a while. I managed to dodge the crash, but not the weakness that followed. I may have to be on nicotine/Sudafed for a week after a long ride. A lesson learned.

Here is what happened after the 40-mile ride on 11/27. (I recorded it as 35 miles because I didn't account for the detour through the city):

The "Total" column is the number of hours I spent lying down the following day. The total of 3 on the row for 11/24, for example, means that I lied down for 3 hours on 11/25. 

On 11/27, the day of the ride, I had to rest in the evening after 40-mile ride. So, I ended up with 4 hours spent lying down on 11/27. The next day, I only spent 2 hours lying down. That's an excellent performance. Then I spent 4-5 hours lying down starting from 11/29, 2 days after the ride, till 12/3. I colored 12/2 red because spending 5 hours or more (on 12/3) constitutes a bad day. That meant I spent 5 days under the weather. Again, I should stay on nicotine/Sudafed for a week after a hard exercise the next time and see if I can stay out of the weather.