I'm certainly not recommending it but I lanced mine this year when I got really bad ones and then put some kind of diaper rash stuff on them I forget what it's called. Worked amazing

I'm certainly not recommending it but I lanced mine this year when I got really bad ones and then put some kind of diaper rash stuff on them I forget what it's called. Worked amazing

Nope- not looking for remedies for saddle sores—looking for alternate activities so I don’t loose bike fitness. I’m not taking the chance of it getting infected!

Yeah, I’m going to up the running a bit but I’m worried about missing a long ride waiting til I can sit on a saddle, so I was thinking stairmaster since it works the glutes. Elliptical doesn’t increase my HR enough to be much of a workout

SQUAAAAATS!!!!

Seriously. Call it cross training. Youd be surprised how much basic weight training can help, given specificity. Good luck, man!

I’m not taking the chance of it getting infected!

Pretty easy to keep that from happening.

Open it, squeeze a few times (mine bleed like crazy), put some alcohol and antibiotic on it, ride as usual. Ya, it hurts to be grinding on an open wound, but... man up.

Speed Skating

Pretty easy to keep that from happening.

Open it, squeeze a few times (mine bleed like crazy), put some alcohol and antibiotic on it, ride as usual. Ya, it hurts to be grinding on an open wound, but... man up.

I had bad ones earlier in the season, and a buddy told me the holy trinity of saddle sore treatment is nystatin, hydrocortisone (the Rx stuff, not the cheap drug store 1%), and bacitracin (or triple antibiotic). So I tried it.. it's not like it disappears overnight, but it's better than waiting it out. Personal experience - it'll make it manageable to ride with maybe one day off, and gradually get better even as you ride.

Interesting .. it is important to figure out the "why". I was using chamois cream and stopped, and they've been gone since spring. I know some people swear by cream, I did too, but it seemed like the padding was irritating me and stays better put without it.

+1

Eric Heiden and many other great cyclists were/are great speed skaters.

I don't really think you need to "worry" about missing one (or even two) long rides. Given that you are 4 weeks out, you should be at your peak. You aren't going to lose anything---especially since you are going to up the run a bit.

I think the elliptical would be the most "specific" to the cycling motion (speed of contraction, etc), but it certainly takes some coordination to do right...which I don't have, so I understand not being able to get your HR up.

I think one of those stair master's that lets you alter the step height would also work (the kind with two levers that you stand on), if you kept the step height similar to pedal stroke length, and took faster steps (similar to your normal bike cadence). I wouldn't think one of those stair climbers (the escalator style) would be as good, because the cadence would be SOOO different from normal running/cycling cadences.

But, you're only talking about a week or two. So, just doing SOMETHING/anything will keep your current fitness just fine. Do an extra run, do an extra swim, and spend some time on the stairmaster instead of a long bike. Just don't hurry back to the bike and risk another saddle sore, and you will be fine.

My second $0.02.