Biking after Implant

[rancher]

Thanks, Greg.

[DonDon]

3 years after RP, almost 1 year after implant. Just ordered a new seat to START riding again. I have to sit on the edge of any chair, to let the balls and pump hang over the edge, so I am being careful. Fit the saddle to my "sit" bones, almost nothing between my legs, taking all the pressure off that area where my prostate used to be. Was a distance rider for exercise. Even did the Hotter Than Hell Hundred a few times. (Wichita Falls TX, last weekend in August,) and about a dozen MS Tours. I miss riding and need to get back to it. It is just SOOO crowded down there. My pump is positioned very high and protrudes a lot. I just push it back in. The right testicle pushes forward and the left recedes back. My penis lives at 3 o'clock inflated or not. Don't know how these things will get pushed around with rhythmic pedaling. I sure don't want to cause any damage to my pump. Had pudendal nerve problems in the past with some hard saddles (penis goes numb after a long ride, and sometimes stays numb for hours.) The new saddle will cure that also. Wish me luck.

[VinceMH]

Just ordered a new seat to START riding again.

What seat did you order?

Would like to know what seats others have tried, that worked or not. I bought eight kinds of underwear for post op. Don't want to do that for cycle seats!

[rancher]

Well, I did the ride. Ended up doing 20 miles (pretty level). No pain, but a hell of a lot of discomfort. Especially the longer I rode. Lots of squirming around. First,there was the Bulge. Stuck out like waving a flag, so I wore my longer jersey. Then I had to shift around a lot to get all the "parts" set up so nothing was getting squashed. First 5 miles felt pretty good, but the longer I rode, the more my shorts and bike seat would rub my tender parts. By time I finished, my scrotum felt quite chaffed . Not the most fun ride I've ever done. Maybe after a while I won't be so tender (30 days post op) ?
Here's the seat I used https://www.amazon.com/Selle-SMP-Hybrid ... smp+hybrid.
But it's also about wearing some quality shorts with a good pad. I'm not done yet. Biking is an important part of my life. I'll report back with what is working for me and I request those of you who are also experimenting, to do the same.

There has got to be a workable solution.
Yeah, Don, what seat did you order ?

[Eveready]

Hi Rancher
As one who's been in this situation since May '17 I can offer encouragement.
You're doing very, very well if it's only 30 days since your implant: at that stage I could no more get astride the bike than fly to the moon.
Your saddle looks good. I found the old Brooks B17 no much good because of the direct pressure it put on the pump and other plumbing. More discomfort than pain, but enough pain to make the experience unpleasant. A properly fitted Specialized Power Expert (ha ha - me expert? me powerful?) has largely done the trick. But I still can't get down in the drops for any length of time: that puts pressure on the device. So it's mainly on the hoods for me.
And you're right about padded chamois. Yesterday did 90 km in my flashy new Assos bibshorts, and while they're fine for the sit-bones the lack of softness around the nuts was noticeable for the last 20 or so. My cheap-o six-30s are more forgiving, though not near as well made and a bit inclined to chafe in the groin. There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.
As for the Bulge - men will envy you and women admire.

[rancher]

Eveready
Loved your reply. Got a good laugh. So I'm actually buying a recumbent off of craigslist today to "tide me over" till I feel more comfortable on my Waterford. It's about biking, outside, pedaling, enjoying nature. With the Bulge leading the way.

[palace01]

Although an avid biker in my teens I have not done a lot since.
HOWEVER, 2 years after my implant I was in Amsterdam, and the wife wanted us to rent bikes for a few hours.
Of course the rentals are very heavy clunky bikes with basic hard seats.
I had ,zero problem, as far as pain discomfort, but, although I was about 98+% cured of urine leakage before the implant I could not prevent quite a bit of leakage during the ride despite stopping several time to try and empty the bladder as much as I could.
As soon as we returned the bikes my leaking stopped...

[Eveready]

Eh, palace - I'm guessing that the leakage is related to prostatectomy, no? I've been very lucky in that respect.
As a matter of general interest, I'm now trying out an ISM PN1.1 saddle in place of the Specialized, in the hope that absence of the saddle nose will allow me to get down in the drops. Did 45km today (its first outing), and it looks promising. I could actually do it without a feeling of painful crushing of foreign objects into my crotch. It has a little more padding than the Specialized, which isn't necessarily a good thing if the sit-bones are acclimatised, but it ain't plush by any means. And it will take them bones a bit of getting used to: ISM sits one further forward on them than conventional saddles - in the narrower part of the ischial tuberosity.
All that stuff is explained here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJ47ctMrPY
I don't imagine that it will be any more difficult to adjust to than the old perch, but we'll see. And then I'll be flying along like this:

Smoking04.jpg (241.45 KiB) Viewed 2414 times

[rancher]

Eveready

That's pretty wild, as I have also purchased an ISM saddle. I got the PL 1.1 model. Reactions are about the same as yours. Felt more comfortable on the "extra equipment in the bag" but didn't feel the most comfortable on the sit-bones. Thinking maybe time will help adjustment.
Meanwhile I've got a recumbent being built up so I can do some comfortable riding. Should be ready by next week. Anxiously awaiting.

Good luck to all who get out there and ride.

[VinceMH]

Eh, palace - I'm guessing that the leakage is related to prostatectomy, no? I've been very lucky in that respect.
As a matter of general interest, I'm now trying out an ISM PN1.1 saddle in place of the Specialized, in the hope that absence of the saddle nose will allow me to get down in the drops. Did 45km today (its first outing), and it looks promising. I could actually do it without a feeling of painful crushing of foreign objects into my crotch. It has a little more padding than the Specialized, which isn't necessarily a good thing if the sit-bones are acclimatised, but it ain't plush by any means. And it will take them bones a bit of getting used to: ISM sits one further forward on them than conventional saddles - in the narrower part of the ischial tuberosity.

Thanks for the post! Love the picture. I have a beer holder on my bike
I have been shopping saddles. I have a Lithia Hollow Cr-MO on my Specialized Roubaix and can't put any weight on it. On these ISM's, I was looking at the Performance Recreation instead of the Performance Narrow like you have. I always thought my current saddle was a bit too narrow. Do you think the recreation is too wide? I'm 6'1", 170#. Really need to find something that works. I miss biking...