Finding the right saddle

When I got my P2 I moved the saddle from my road bike over. I had been riding an Adamo Century, which was a glorious road saddle. Perfectly shaped, very comfortable. I could ride for hours on that thing.

It didn't work out quite as well on the new bike (or perhaps more specifically the new position). If all I was doing was riding around in the bullhorns I'd be fine, but extended period in the aerobars were problematic. It was almost perfect, but two issues caused repeat problems.

1) The prongs at the front were at too sharp an angle. Rather than curve downward, they abruptly turned down at 90 degrees. This meant that when riding on the nose in the aero position, they really dug in and created quite acute points of pain.
2) The prongs themselves were just slightly too wide. I'd get chafing issues on my inner thighs.

Comparing the noses of the Adamo Century (top) and Dash Stage (bottom)

As mentioned earlier, I had take time off the bike after the season to let my undercarriage heal up. When I put my bike on the trainer and started my base training, the soreness returned. "I can't do this all winter," I thought. I had to find a better saddle.

I knew I wanted my saddle to be noseless and split. But I wanted a saddle that was narrower and had more of a slope to the front end. I considered another ISM/Adamo, but was worried it wouldn't be different enough. I thought about Cobb and came close a couple of times to pulling the trigger on one. The saddle I kept coming back to though, was Dash. They're expensive, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about them. Any other saddle, some people like or dislike, and the consensus is always that saddle choice is highly subjective. But there really didn't seem to be much dissenting opinion on Dash saddles. And I liked the shape, and especially the fact that you can choose your width.

I then discovered that Dash actually sells a "basic" version of two of their saddles. They're heavier, they're not customizable in terms of padding or colour, but you can choose from three widths. Still expensive, but significantly less so that their standard models. Realistically, given the hours I'd be spending on the trainer this winter and beyond, investing in a proper saddle seems pretty important.

Dash Stage (left) and Adamo Century (right)

It took a little while to get the Dash adjusted to the correct angle. And it's still taking time adjusting to the dramatically firmer padding - the Century was super plush. And while the firmness does lead to some soreness after a long ride, it's more a general soreness rather than the acute soreness I'd get from the prongs of the Adamo digging in or the chafing on my thighs. The Dash really is a great shape.

Riding on the trainer in general seems to be less comfortable than out on the road, so I know if the Dash serves me well over the winter it'll be great next summer.

Somersault Awards Reception

Last friday was Somersault's annual awards reception. Three of my four races this year were Somersault events, and having done three qualified me for the Champions Challenge points competition (you accumulate points based on your overall finish in each race), and I finished second in the M35-59 category. I never raced against the guy who beat me, but he was consistently a top five finisher in his races - that's where I'd like to be next season, so it's a good benchmark. He also represented Canada at this year's ITU World Championships in Chicago, and I've been considering whether that's the type of thing that might be a long term goal for me.

Realistically there are lots of faster folks in Ottawa who were not part of the Champions Challenge, and that's due to the overall emphasis the tri community seems to place on iron-distance races. I have no doubt there's lots of triathletes in the city that would dominate the Somersault series if they chose to, but they instead focus on Ironman and 70.3 races. So the fact that I finished in the top ten point-getters in the Somersault series certainly doesn't mean that's representative of where I rank among the city's triathletes.

However, if I had been told last year that I would finish my first tri season 2nd in my age group and 9th overall in the series, I would have been ecstatic. So while the award itself isn't all the significant, attending the ceremony to accept it is part of honouring the work I've put in and celebrating my fitness. It's an important milestone in my journey.

The ceremony also marked Somersault founder Terry McKinty's retirement, and it was cool to see some of the big wheels of the local tri community (Rudy Hollywood, Rick Hellard, Ian Fraser) come out to honour him and reflect on what he's done for triathlon in the region. We're really lucky to have a well-run series of multisport events in the area, that not only allows us to race frequently, affordably, and close to home, but is also so welcoming and accessible to newcomers and people of all abilities. To that end it was also cool to see a well deserving Geordie McConnell of the OTC receive a Spirit of Somersault award. He's done a lot to help grow the sport in the city, and his infectiously positive attitude and general helpfulness really helped me get through my first multisport event back in 2014 when he conducted the orientation session at the National Capital Tri at Mooney's Bay.

Next year's dates for the Somersault series have been announced and I've pencilled in my rough schedule. More on that in the new year when I reflect on my goals for the 2016 season.