I don't think it's the saddle or lack of shower/personal hygiene.
I do most of my training indoor and I sweat a lot. I change into fresh dry bibs after/every 60 minutes because they're soaked (even with a fan blowing to vaporize sweat). After my ride, said bibs go in the washer immediately.

You've got it. Sometimes it's just luck. Some of the top cycling pros over the years have famously struggled with saddle sores impacting their performance. Laurent Fignon had one bothering him in the final time trial and was very likely a determining factor in him losing the 89 TdF to LeMond by 8 seconds. Everyone focuses on the tribars that LeMond used but if Fignon could have sat comfortably on the saddle and put his full power out, LeMond might not have won. Sean Kelly had one so bad that it caused him to abandon the 87 Tour of Spain when in the lead and only a couple of days from the end. Eddy Merckx suffered with one through the 1975 TdF, the first one he lost.

I doubt that any of these guys were lax with their hygiene. Dave Zabriskie, for instance, was known to thoroughly scrub his crotch with Hibiclens after every session on the bike. You can be as fastidious as possible and it can still happen. If you put in lots of miles over lots of years, you're bound to suffer with one eventually.

I have greatly reduced my propensity to saddle sores by thoroughly cleaning the area with a couple cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol before and after I shower. I will also use acne cream at the first sign of a sore developing.

Thanks for your input! If 70% of the responses are pointing fingers to personal hygiene, then whether I like to accept it, or not, I might have some room for improvement in that field.

I will definitely try most of the advice you guys shared in this thread, I just hope this never comes back.

Thanks again

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All these antibacterial cleansers can upset the natural balance of the skin. I suggest riding in a pile of your own feces once a week to restore what God intended. No need for photos. I'll take your word for it.

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

I had lots of saddle sores and haven't had any lately. I do all indoor training. For me, I think it was not properly cleaning my tri shorts. I now take them in the shower with me and wash then in there, I have detergent and my tri shorts scrub brush. Also my pre ride routine changed. I got a large tub of coconut oil from Costco that I apply to taint prior to each and I wet the padding I'm my tri shorts. I was using a adamo prologue, it recently wore out and I switched to dash narrow. So far, I like the dash better.

not to get too personal, but you started it, what kind of underwear do you wear. Are you putting briefs or boxer briefs on after you shower? These would definitely keep moisture close to your skin. If you're still warm or not completely clean, bacteria would be trapped right against your skin.

good luck!

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

I feel I kinda brought this to myself, so no. It's not too personal. I will consider most advice I've read here.

I'be been using Spandex/Lycra boxing briefs for 20+ years now, and I've been racing long distance Triathlon for the last 10. Personally, I do not like cotton boxers, because of how "loose" everything feels. I think it's gross feeling your junk sticking to your legs, specially in the summer.

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Follow me on IG: @Commandersnake

now that‘s funny, considering your nick :)

LOL!!!!!!!

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Follow me on IG: @Commandersnake

So Commander will not be going commando.

Just wondering if the Lycra isn't letting enough air to the area. Did your doc, almost typed dong, have any thoughts on your underwear choice and if that might have contributed to things.

I'm going to have to go look through a Victoria's secret catalog after taking so much about a dude and his underwear.

Good luck

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

HAHAHAHHA

That's right. I won't go Commando. It happened accidentally a couple of times when I forgot to bring undies to the pool. (I go to the pool wearing my Jammers) and it was awkward and gross to walk the 4 blocks separating the pool from my apartment in NYC.

Yes, I asked that question (also the hygiene question) to the 3 dermatologists I visited since I started with this, until I begged them to remove it.
Unfortunately, they were not very "active" people, so I kinda lost their attention when I told them this happened riding my bike at home for 4+ hours, "Just for fun".

The undies question remains unanswered, but I did ordered this a few minutes ago! https://us.lookfantastic.com/...l-cool/11355128.html

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Follow me on IG: @Commandersnake

Saddle sores can be from irritations as easily as infections.

Irritations can also have pus or become an open sore. An example of irritation cause could be one hip less flexible than the other resulting in more saddle rub on that side. When this happened to me, I had a saddle sore repeatedly on the left side of the groin.

Sometimes lowering the saddle can lessen the irritation on that side. The best option is to resolve your asymmetrical differences because the bike is symmetrical.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Thanks for the detailed and concise data. How did you solve your saddle sore back then? It's funny, I have a 2% Power deficit on the left leg for a while, that's the side the sore popped up...

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I went through something similar this year and got to the point of getting it lopped off in October. The surgery was a piece of cake. Recovery, not so much. Stitches popped, incision split and it took forever to heal. After a couple weeks I wet a little bit of gauge and put it on bandaid over incision, changing 2x per day. That significantly sped up healing.

It was a little over 4 weeks before I could ride and as soon as I did a knot started forming, which was super frustrating. For 5 days I did a soak in warm water with high concentration of Epsom salt, followed by Neosporin. That amazingly did the trick and at the first sign of irritation I'll be going right back to that to get under control.

Other thing I did was raise saddle a couple millimeters.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot for your input, how did the stitches pop up? Did you went on the back on the saddle while you had them? Dr. advised ZERO exercise, not even swimming, since being in warm water for an hour could soften the scar tissue, so I am grounded for real.

I'll keep the Epsom salts+Neosporin combo in case the healing goes south,,,

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Unsure why the stitches popped, not a lot of material to hold things together down there.

After 3 days I started core & light resistance work plus lots of walking—stuff with limited range of motion to prevent further tearing. Following week I added to resistance sessions and increased difficulty along with more miles. 3rd week started doing 3-mile 2 min jog / 4 min walks a couple times / week. Key thing is the keep the package wrapped tight when doing stuff. Bandaids helped a ton.

Ironically, that detour enabled me to put a lot of focus on a weakness that might end up improving fitness when all’s said and done.

My saddle sore popped naturally during a flight from DC to Hawaii... ouch and I wasn't prepared for it.

Before it popped I wasn't able to walk normally. Even lying in bed at night was painful. The morning after it exploded I was able to run again.

I went to the urgent care got prescribed an antibiotic and was told to keep the wound open and clean (no stitches) to allow it to drain.

Hot water and rubbing alcohol were my friends. I believe running actually helped with the drainage as it provided some motion to the area which helped with keeping the wound open without putting the kind of pressure that you get from a saddle.

I did have a few setbacks where the sore started growing again mostly because I kept doing bike workouts when I felt better as opposed to wait for complete healing. But it was always manageable and never grew out of control.

If you are a triathlete and do open water swim stay away from that until the sore area has totally healed. The doctor said not to be fooled by the beautiful "pristine" beaches of Hawaii as the water is not free of bacteria...

had something similar on my back for the last couple years.. just a bump that didn't hurt or anything. My dermo said to leave it eventhrough I would have liked it to be removed. I joked and called it my race radio :)

anyways fast forward to a month of so ago.. it started to hurt and get red.. then super painful.Called my dermo and she is busy as hell and it was around thanksgiving...well I smacked it on the edge of the stairway rails oneday and boy did that hurt like crazy and I basically popped it. My wife helped get the rest if the waxie/oiley mass out of my back. I was left with a 22cal. sized hole. Tegaderm and Silver colloid .. it's been like 3/4 weeks now and the hole is closing up pretty well and my race radio bump is gone. Still doing the tegaderm/silver treatment but not changing it as often as the first week.

I would not want one in the saddle area.

i was suffering with saddle sores earlier this off-season due to extended trainer time. Someone on here posted a link to a tea-tree oil thing and i read through it. Been using a Q-tip soaked in the oil to wipe down the area post shower and drying as it acts like an anti-septic.
Been good since I started.

I used to get saddle sores pretty much every spring when I ramped up my mileage.
I tried using Clearasil Ultra (an anti-spot facewash) on it and it reacted really quickly and went down, then away for good.

After a ride I use it now to stop sores from coming back. It works for me.

The saddle sore can come back whenever our bodies get asymmetrical again. I really try to keep up with my stretching and occasionally go to a massage / chiro / physio therapist. However, the best way is to avoid repetition that drives the asymmetry or an accident could also cause it.

Hint: while cycling or running try breathing/exhaling every third pedal stroke or stride. It's like bilateral breathing while swimming carried over to cycling and running. On my power meter, this improves my power balance.

Good luck.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Thanks for the tip! I still have 7 more days with stitches, so there will no no bike involved, but I'll give that a shot as soon as I am back.

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Follow me on IG: @Commandersnake

Ya you still sit or stand or what not all day and still sweat. Reach your hand down your britches after work one day and see how moist it is down there.

I wash my shorts after every cycle and my magic cream is Neosporin mixed with Vaseline and I lube up all nice. I have to scrub pretty hard in the shower to get it all off but a little still remains (which I think may help since I basically sit with neosporin down there all day)

I also sleep nude so I get to air myself out every night.

Never had an issue (knock on wood) yet

That was going to be my input - I tend to get my right gluteal crease folded over a bit while riding if I'm not careful, and that can generate a saddle sore no matter how clean it is.

For the OP, I used to "like" the Adamo Road. I love the PN3.0, and am about to try the PR line as well, I think. That's after trying a number of saddles, including the Prologue which definitively does NOT work for me.

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.