Ouch

Holy cow, we're a full week into September. You know what that means kids? That's right, back to school! It also means my full-time RN wife is back to teaching nursing students two days a week, which means I’ll be driving to work way more often so that I can drop our 11-year-old daughter at school. And that means ... (drum roll, please) ... it’s time for the little saddle sore that always seem to coincide with a drop in riding time. Therefore, my public service of the day—aside from not using a picture with today’s post, if ya know what I mean—is to guide fellow sufferers to a useful article on saddle sores provided by the fine folks at the Rivendell Reader.

Hey, laugh if you will, but bumps on the bum are no picnic. A few years ago, I was off the bike for a few days of fishing right before a five-day, self-supported mountain bike tour of Prince of Wales Island. As I was scooting out of the backseat of a floatplane after landing in Ketchikan, I sat on the aluminum floor of a deHavilland Beaver and suddenly felt like I had landed on a damned nail. Boom, there it was: a raging little demon attacking me for missing a few days on the bike. This was a chilling discovery, considering that the ride was to start the very next day. It made for a couple of days of careful mounts and dismounts, but all was well by the mid-point of the bike trip.

Just goes to show ya, cyclists should never be forced to stop riding, even for a few days. It's simply not medically advisable.

This no-photo thing is weighing heavy on my conscience. I should at least share a link to an artistic little statement from Eurobike and the people who make Ghost bicycles.