Farawayistan

Author: Sabina

Dealing with saddle sores – Every cyclists’ nightmare

Dealing with saddle sores can be a real pain. I know from experience! They easily result from hours on the bike and from a poor bike position. I share my personal advice on how to treat a saddle sore and how you can prevent them in the first place.

There really is only one big tip, and that is to stop cycling as soon as you feel a saddle sore coming on. Because once the sores develop, they will keep hurting until they heal. If you have a sore it might be a good idea to take a day off from riding in order to let it heal up. Of course this isn’t always an option, but if you have the choice, this should be a no-brainer.

Chafing and chamois crème

Chafing is typically caused by ill-fitting clothing. Cycling clothing should be fitted to the body so that it does not rub as you move. When trying on cycling bib shorts, make sure to pull the shorts all the way up and squat like you’re sitting on the bike.

Rapha Souplesse bib shorts work best for me. I also have a pair from Assos (UMA GT HALF SHORTS EVO) which I really like as well. Bike shorts should be tight so if you are in doubt about two sizes, always choose the snug fit!

I use chamois crème to prevent chafing. Chamois crèmes have antibacterial properties, as well as the ability to moisturize and protect the skin. I’m now using Kwakzalver’s Bal-sem, which I really like. I prefer crèmes with a pump dispenser because it is more sanitary than double-dipping in a jar.

Once, I made the mistake of going on a 200-kilometre bike ride without putting on some chammie crème. Because of the chafing, my skin had started to bleed. Since then, I always carry a small refillable squeeze tube with Bal-sem on mega rides.

Preventing infected hair follicles

Infected hair follicles are easy to prevent. All you have to do is stop shaving your pubic hair. You can still use a body groomer to trim your nether region. Body groomers are often marketed towards men, but they work just as well on female parts. Shaving with a blade is highly irritating to the skin, and it is pretty easy to nick yourself. Since I started using a body groomer I haven’t had a single ingrown hair!

Boils and abscesses

If you don’t let an infected hair follicle heal naturally (meaning time off the bike and no picking!) you risk it turning into a painful inflammation. The boils are caused by skin bacteria that invade surface abrasions. I’ve experienced that these boils get bigger when pressure is applied, and also more painful. The bigger it gets, the longer it takes to heal.

If you are getting a boil, change your position. You can lower or raise your saddle a bit, swap out your saddle, or maybe make an adjustment to the handlebar. Anything to take off the pressure from the sore. Squeezing or picking at your sore will also only work counterproductive. Your body will heal from the inside, and opening the boil up will only allow for more bacteria (that live on your skin) to get in.

Bikefitting and saddles

If your bike or saddle doesn’t fit, your hips rock around on your saddle with each pedal stroke, putting pressure on your skin and chafing it. The result is irritated skin and a greater chance of infection. Too much pressure can also cause for painful swellings.

A bikefitter can help you sit more comfortably on your bike, reducing movement and friction. Some bikefitters use pressure mapping technology to help you find the best saddle shape. This is at the top of my wish list because I hope to find my dream saddle using this technology. Remember that bikefitters only have a limited number of saddles. So, if possible, bring a few that you’d like to test.

Treat saddle sores

The most difficult aspect of treating saddle sores is also the simplest: leave it alone. The more you pick at it, the more irritated it gets. Infections should only be drained by professionals in a sterile environment. In general, your body will heal itself if you give it enough time and keep it clean.

After cleansing your skin with antibacterial soap, apply an antibacterial crème or a crème containing 10% benzoyl peroxide. Benzoyl peroxide kills acne bacteria and works by peeling away dead skin cells, excess oil, and bacteria that may be trapped beneath the skin. But you need to be patient, because results can take up to three months to appear.

Deal with saddle sores

My saddle sores can cause me a lot of anxiety. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to continue training, and I’m afraid I’ll have to withdraw from my race due to the sores. But I also notice, that the sores improve when I use coping techniques like meditation or mindfulness.

When you’ve already improved your position, discovered a new chamois crème, and purchased some well-fitting quality bib shorts, there’s not much else you can do but wait. Accept your sores and give your body time to heal.

This article is also very informative, and they address some issues that I didn’t discuss because I haven’t had any experience with them.

Consult a doctor if your symptoms worsen or become unbearable. Also, don’t accept discomfort as a given. The journey to a pain-free bum on a bike can be long, I sure know so. But keep exploring options and give your body time to adjust.

Follow all our adventures on Instagram.

11 December 2021
How I really learned to cycle on a long bicycle tour – Important cycling skills

You don’t need to be an experienced cyclist to start a long bicycle tour. I know this as a fact, because I was a complete novice at cycling just two years ago. I (really) learned to cycle on a long bicycle tour.

Of course I knew how to ride a bicycle. But my top speed never surpassed 15k/ph. Rides were 20 minutes tops and off-road cycling isn’t necessarily a thing in the Netherlands. Have you seen how many beautiful bike lanes we have? Who in their right mind would leave those on a somehow always rusty and squeaky granny bicycle.

Lycra-wearing-show offs

If you asked me back then, I would say that road cyclists were just annoying lycra-wearing-show offs taking over our beloved calm bike lanes. So my shock was big when I found out that my new lover was one of them. ‘You will never get my in lycra!’ is what I said to Robin. I think it took him barely one month.

Somehow he had managed to convince me to go on a bicycle tour. We were both so excited. How hard could it possibly be? It’s just cycling right. I had never cycled up a hill, but I figured you just go a little slower. Inspired by Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking I thought of it like this: I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.

Learning to cycle

Pippi and I were right. I was capable of doing that, I just had to learn a lot of new techniques. Because riding up a hill doesn’t mean you just go a little slower. You might actually pedal faster. And there were many other lessons along the way. These are the most important cycling techniques that I learned on our long bicycle tour.

Cycling techniques I learned on our bicycle tour

Cadence

Spin, don’t push! If you’re grinding too hard on your pedals, your cadence will drop and your power output will decline. In layman’s terms this means that when I feel like I can’t make a smooth circle with my pedals, I’m in a gear that is too high. You can put extreme force on the pedals for a little while but if you keep doing this you will eventually only go slower.

Gearing

To get in that right gearing you have to use your shifters. Don’t shift with too much tension on the chain, it will cause a lot of popping and grinding. If you continue to pedal softly you can shift smoothly.

Most touring bikes are equipped with two or three chainrings in the front (left shifter) and around eight to ten rear gears (right shifter). Make sure the chain isn’t too diagonal. So if the front gear is close to the bike make sure the rear one isn’t too far. Naturally the same goes for the opposite.

Moving the chain closer to the bike makes cycling easier, and moving the chain away from the bike makes you faster.

Braking

Left is your front brake and right is the rear. You use the rear brake to slow down and the front to actually stop. The front brake is most powerful, so be careful. You don’t want to fly over your handlebars. If you’re going at top speed and you need to slow down fast, put your weight on the back of your saddle and squeeze both brakes.

Be extra gentle with hydraulic disc brakes, these are even more powerful than the mechanical ones.

Climbing

See a climb coming up? Try and get some momentum. When you’ve caught on some speed gear down before you have to start pedalling again. You don’t want to shift with full tension on the chain and gearings.

Some like to stand on the pedals and some prefer staying in the saddle. The Rule of thumb here is that when a climb is under 10 percent it is better to remain seated. If the condition of the road is extremely bad you might want to stay in the saddle as well. Not enough weight on the back wheel might cause it to spin. Or if the weight distribution isn’t low enough and the climb is extremely steep, your front wheel might come off the ground. Sounds scary, but you will instinctively push down on your handlebars to not fall.

If you have front panniers, store your heavier items here while climbing. This will help with a lower weight distribution, which is better for climbing.

Feel that burn in your legs? That’s your muscles crying lactic acid. Don’t worry about it, it will disappear as soon as you’ve reached the top.

Instead of focussing on this pain, pay attention to your position. Flat back with bent elbows. Bend at the hips to lower your centre of gravity. A flat back helps open up the chest to maximize lung capacity.

Take the outer corner if possible, this way is much flatter. If there is no traffic on the road, you can try to zigzag your way up. This also makes it less steep.

Descending

Well done, you reached the top! And what goes up must come down. This can be just as daunting as going up. Remember to always ride in a pace that is comfortable for you. Keep looking on where you are going, so you can properly react in time.

Make sure to adjust your speed and brake before the turn. Keep your butt planned firmly on the saddle to avoid losing traction with the back wheel. Lift up your inside knee and apply pressure to the outside to maintain balance. The pedal on the side to which you are turning is always up.

If you have to use your brakes for a longer period of time, try alternating the front and rear brake. This way they can cool off a bit in between turns. Please don’t squeeze the front brake in full force when you are riding down hill. Unless you want to learn how to fly of course.

These are our bikes, just in case you were wondering.

Bad terrain

Looking at a pothole will probably lead you straight into it. Instead, try to keep your eyes one or two meters ahead of you. Hold the handlebar with relaxed arms and wrists and don’t clench. Don’t worry about a little gravel, the profile on your wheels will guide you through it.

Try to stay about one meter from the side of the road. This way you have enough room to avoid rocks and potholes.

Letting a little air out of your tires can give you better traction if you keep slipping.

Saddle sores

Hygiene is key. Make sure to properly clean your shorts and sitting area before and after every ride. We use coconut oil instead of chamois because it’s antibacterial. If you keep having problems, see if you need to adjust your saddle. My saddle had dropped a teeny bit which was causing me a lot of saddle sores. As soon as I raised the saddle the pain disappeared.

I (really) learned to cycle

The more I rode, the better I got. I got more confident on my bike and learned from my mistakes. The times I fell off weren’t nearly as scary as I had anticipated. I didn’t even get hurt. Maybe a minor scrape but honestly, mostly my ego was harmed.

All I had to do to become an experienced cyclist was believing in my own capability of learning. Pippi was right all along. I had never tried it before, and I was definitely able to do it.

Follow all our adventures on Instagram.

13 April 2020
A day in the life of a bicycle tourer

You may wonder what an average day on the road looks like, when you’re on a long trip like ours. It depends a lot on the country you’re in of course, the circumstances vary. But typically a day in the life of a bicycle tourer goes something like this.

05:30 AM – Time to wake up

I wake up from the cries of my stomach. ‘Feed me, feed me’ it yells. Robin isn’t an early riser like myself, so I give him a few nudges to wake up too. He growls a little too and turns around to get a few more minutes of sleep.

Before I open the zipper of our tent to start making breakfast, I get my morning exercise in: stuffing the down sleeping bag back in the compression bag. This way there’s a little more room in the tent so I can find my clothes and put them on.

06:00 AM – Breakfast time

I pull out the oatmeal which we’ve already mixed with raisins, nuts and maybe some other dried fruits we’ve found along the way. There is also milk powder in the mix, so we can use water to make our cyclist’s brekkie. Just have to filter it first, because we were probably too tired or lazy to do it yesterday evening.

By now Robin is up too. That’s good, he’s better at lighting the stove. Besides if he does it, I can stay in the tent a little longer. We’re going to be outside all day, and the morning sun is still working hard at heating the place up.

While Robin cooks the oats I put away his sleeping bag and start to deflate and roll up our sleeping mats. I get dressed and by then, Robin comes with our breakfast which we usually eat inside the tent. We don’t have chairs with us and eating breakfast while standing isn’t very convenient.

Take a look at our cooking gear to see what we use!

07:00 AM – Pack up our gear

We almost always argue about who has to do the dishes and sometimes we both win. Then we don’t do them at all and make it a problem for later. Together we pack up the rest of our stuff. The tent is always the last part, which we fold together. Everyone has a unique folding technique for the huba huba, but we make up something new every day.

08:00 AM – Ready for today’s ride

Before we take off, we check our camp site one last time to make sure we don’t leave any traces. All trash from last night’s dinner comes with in a baggie which we dispose when we find a trash can. We try to use as little as plastic as possible, because we know that even when we throw it in a designated trash can, it will most likely still end up in the river. Very frustrating, but at least it has made us very aware of the amount of plastic we use.

10:30 AM – Second breakfast

By now we are probably running low on water so we keep our eyes open for a tap. In many countries we got offered fruit, tea and all kinds of food when we asked if we could fill up by someone’s house. The generosity of people is something that kept amazing me.

We always accepted whatever they were offering, because we were also getting hungry again. Time for second breakfast! And a nice chat with people in a language we don’t speak.

The first ten kilometres are always the hardest for me. I’m a cyclist who needs to warm up. If we want to cycle 80 kilometres and I feel like rubbish for the first eight it’s a difficult mindset to snap out of. Luckily there is always something to distract me along the way. And if there isn’t I listen to a podcast or some music and talk to Robin. We somehow never run out of stuff to talk about, must be because we see so many new things every single day.

There are so many elements you have to factor in to determine how many kilometers we can get in before lunch. The surface, the elevation, yesterday’s ride, the wind, it all has a big effect. Some days we were happy with 15 kilometers and some days we strived for at least 100.

01:00 PM – Longer lunchbreak

But as soon as one of us starts to get grumpy, we know we have to take a break. We take some shorter breaks along the way, to take a picture or maybe buy a soda for some extra energy. Snickers breaks play an important part in our life too. But those are always relatively short.

For our lunch break we take more time, usually about an hour or so. We use the tarp of our tent as a picnic blanket. I pull out the pot and… oh shit, we forgot. One of us still had to clean out the pot, which is ten times as hard now, since it has completely dried in. But one of us always steps up and gets it over with.

We are one of the lucky few who thought to bring along an egg container, so it’s usually scrambled eggs on bread and some fruit and veggies to go along with it.

02:00 PM – Just a little longer

At lunch we try to determine our finish line for the day. We check out the rest of the route on Komoot so we can see the elevation profile and the types of surfaces. Komoot is our preferred app to plan our route, together with maps.me. In cities we prefer navigating with Google maps, but for that we need a local SIM card with data.

We usually have one, so after we’ve finished our lunch we relax for about fifteen minutes. We check Instagram to see where the rest of the cycling community is at. Are we going to cross paths? We love meeting other cyclists on the road. We also share the pictures we might have taken that morning.

Wondering what camera we use, check it out here!

04:00 PM – Searching a camp site

The search for a new camp site begins at least an hour before sunset. If we haven’t seen anything to our liking on iOverlander we find something ourselves. I’m usually quite tired by now and don’t really care if the camp site is well hidden or away from the traffic sounds. I could literally set up camp next to the road.

Robin is a lot better at this, so he usually takes the lead here. It’s always interesting to see how this goes when you cycle in a group. Who takes the lead and for how long do they get to keep it. Everyone is tired and hungry by now, so the true personalities come out. How long do the extremely picky camp site searchers get to find that ultimate spot to pitch our tents. So far no one has gotten hurt.

05:00 PM – Setting up camp

After a long day of cycling I usually want to get out of my bib shorts as soon as we’ve put up our tent. We take turns changing inside the tent and wash ourselves with baby wipes. Found a camp site with running water, a river for example? Then we take a skinny dip in the usually ice cold water. With our cooking pot we create a bucket shower and rinse of a days worth of dirt and sweat.

06:00 PM – Dinner time

We cook up a simple meal on our stove with some lentils and rice and eat it either in our tent if it’s cold or find a nice rock to sit on when it’s still warm outside. The argument about the dishes takes place again, but whoever did it at lunch probably gets away this time.

09:00 PM – Nightfall

When it gets dark we cozy up in our tent and talk about what we saw that day. Sometimes we like to tune out and listen to a podcast or watch something on Netflix. But as soon as the starts come out, so do we for one last time that day. We look up to the sky and realize how lucky we are to be here.

Follow all our adventures on Instagram.

6 April 2020