When Sitting is Painful

It doesn’t get much more personal than a bike seat.  I mean, just look at one and your down-below area starts to hurt!  Bike seats are unique to bikes and it’s the one part of a bike that gets a lot of comments from non-bike riders.

“How do you sit on that thing?” is often a question regarding bike seats.  You see, the idea of getting exercise and seeing the countryside sounds kind of appealing to many.  But that all changes when looking at a bike seat.  The seats I use are a mix of elaborate metals, carbon fiber, and minimal amounts of foam.  In short, they look more like torture devices that a la-z-boy.  Bike seats are a pretty big deterrent to actually riding bikes.

Due to the nature of bike riding you need to have a seat that allows you to pedal.  It can’t be too wide.  And just adding padding doesn’t guarantee comfort either.  Each one of us has unique behinds and seats should match up to our anatomy.  But no matter what, bike seats can be a bit tough to handle by our bottoms.

Now there’s a lot of research and thoughts into making a bike rider's saddle somewhat comfy.  There’s new technology.  There’s padded bike shorts.  And many bikes can adjust bike seats fore and aft as well as up and down.  But one thing remains despite all of the research:

You will put a lot of pressure on a sensitive area.  And that just doesn’t feel good.

Bike seats cause riders to do a few things in search of comfort.  

It’s very common to just complain about bike seats and accept it as part of the process.

Some chose to walk away from bikes altogether.  You don’t have a bike seat problem if you don’t sit on a bike seat!

Another avenue people will venture down in search of saddle sweetness is to buy bigger saddles.  Buy more padding.  Add MORE STUFF so that the pain is masked by foam and more foam.

Yet another way I’ve noticed in search of bike seat nirvana is to constantly tweak, adjust, analyze, and scheme.  There are endless products and theories on how to achieve comfort.  All of this can be done in one’s head without ever actually sitting and pedaling a bike.

The best way I’ve found to tolerate saddles is to pedal.  Pretty simple but that’s the recipe; just pedal!   No matter the shape, softness or bold claims an advertisement makes, it always feels better to press on the pedals and lift the hurt off the backside.   Bike seats create pressure on delicate areas and the best way to offload that pressure is to put some power down!

Pedaling requires some focus and energy.  But when the pressure is focused on such a sensitive area you will do the things that help.  It requires a bit of effort.  Sitting still and complaining doesn’t make sense when you are on a machine designed to move and help you offload that uncomfortable pressure into something beneficial.  With your diligence to put pressure on the pedals you can get away from the soreness created by a saddle!

I’m writing about bike seats but I can tell you there is much in life that is uncomfortable.  There’s specific pain points in areas that just don’t feel good.  Life has times, circumstances, and moments where things are just all “up in there” and it's really uncomfortable.  Personal pressure areas can be dealing with loss.  Or delay.  Acceptance or lack thereof.  Maybe it's financial, political, or relational.  The point is we all have bike seat-like pressure on sensitive areas of our spirit.  What do we do about it?

Well, we can complain about it.  

We can ignore it.  

We can pile so much stuff around it that we think we can minimize the discomfort.  

We can focus on it a lot and try to tweak it, adjust it, and reduce it. 

Or…we can start pedaling.  What you are experiencing is real but it doesn’t have to stay there as a giant pressure on your backside.  Pedaling is prayer.  It’s talking it out with God.  It’s moving, maybe not in a physical sense, but in a way that declares you want healing.  You want for it to be a chapter in your story and not THE story.  You trust God and his timing but pedaling is a practical way of lifting the discomfort off of you and into the space where God can heal, make you whole, and write more chapters.  

Pedaling is letting God shape your thoughts and attitudes; Even when the thing that creates discomfort doesn’t go away it’s possible to process a new way of approaching and living with it.  When we choose to move ever so slightly into a posture of pedaling we are choosing to not let the pressure define our mood.  Or our outlook. And we choose to move off of the temporary pain of earthly living and into a heaven-bound focus that can change our circumstances, our heart, and our surroundings.  It’s pretty amazing how the pressure of (whatever is grinding your gears or pushing your buttons) what’s ailing you is real but we don’t have to sit on it.

The last thing about pedaling…it’s so personal!  While you can ride with others no one can choose to pedal your bike other than you.  Will you choose to pedal rather than sit on that old bike seat?  Can you read, pray, ponder, and speak to God about it?  Are you willing to renew your mind through a pedaling process over focusing on the uncomfortable things of the world?

Let’s pedal.