MMMMonday! Guest post: VP's overlord, The Main Tank, cycling, vulvas, and you!
rockstarbob! Bob is into cycling too these days, and she has started a shiny new blog at The Main Tank. This post combines her bike-love and her vulva-love...and the ways in which those two loves can sometimes need a little help to work together. We hope you'll join in the discussion, and remember that this and other MMMMonday posts can always be found under the tag "featured-posts", or in our Featured Posts sidebar (still with a delay, apologies about that).
Your friendly benevolent overlord and VP founder has recently leveled up in her obsession with cycling. I have a couple of kids now (ages 4 and 2) and we bike everywhere together--in fact, we've all but replaced our car with my newish Surly Big Dummy longtail cargo bike.
Before I had the Dummy, I was riding a bike that wasn't really configured well to me. It had all the stock components and I would end a lot of rides with vulvar pain. No one really talks about this, and the problem is made worse by the fact that most bike shops seem to be to staffed by people who don't have vulvas. It is awkward, to say the least, to walk into one's local bike shop and say something like, "Hey, my clitoris and labia minora have been chafing/hurting/going numb when I ride--can you help me adjust my seat, give me some lube, or give me some tips on how to mitigate that?"Yeeeaaahh.
Plus, the issue is compounded if you're trans* and maybe don't present as someone who has a vulva, or if you have disabilities that are also at play. So I think that for plenty of reasons, vulva-owning cyclists tend to stay silent on the matter, which is unfortunate.
I write a blog called The Main Tank about being a feminist family cyclist and I'd love to break the silence on this issue and create an informal guide on maximum vulvar comfort/health when riding. I'd like your help! Lovely Bicycle wrote up something pretty great, and the commentversation that followed was also instructive. That said, I'd love to write up something even more in-depth that is also heavily imbued with the VP spirit. When I've gotten your feedback, I'll compile everything into a series of posts for my blog. I can also repost here in VP if there's interest.
Let's talk vulvas and cycling! When you comment, please let me know:
- If you'd like to be credited and how I should refer to you (your LJ name, your real name, etc.--feel free to email responses to bob @ vaginapagina.com if you prefer not to state your real name here in LJ Land). If you don't mention it, I'll leave it anonymous.
- If you have a related blog you'd like me to link
- If you have relevant credentials (you work at a bike shop, or you've been riding for x years, etc.)
Here are some questions about which I'd love your feedback--feel free to add any other questions/comments, too! Pictures and links are especially welcome.
General: What types of vulvar comfort/health issues have you experienced while riding bikes? What kind of biking do you usually do? Do you have any issues that make achieving maximum comfort/health while riding difficult?Saddle/Bike: If you've experienced clitoral or labial numbness/pain, how have you worked with your saddle to improve it? Did you change the angle/height, or perhaps try out different saddles? Did you end up getting a different bike altogether? Is there anything that you've tried that definitely does not work for you?
Clothes: If you've experienced clitoral or labial numbness/pain, how have you worked with different clothing arrangements to improve it? Is there anything that you've tried that definitely does not work for you?
Products: If you've experienced clitoral or labial numbness/pain, how have you worked with different products (lubricant, anti-chafing powders/creams, etc.) to improve it? Is there anything that you've tried that definitely does not work for you?
Menstruation: When you're on your period, what menstrual products or clothing do you use for maximum comfort while riding? Is there anything special you need to do while riding (stop frequently, etc.)? Is there anything that you've tried that definitely does not work for you?
Health: If you've experienced urinary tract infections, yeast infections, or other health issues while riding bikes, what have you done to prevent/remedy them? Is there anything that you've tried that definitely does not work for you?
Other: Anything else I forgot to mention that you'd like to share?
Ride on!
--Bob
AKA The Main Tank
Also on Twitter!
However before bike shorts upgrading to a women's saddle and making sure to keep my weight dispersed between my legs, arms and seat bones made a huge difference as well.
Currently I have 3 bikes, all men's and all technically too large for me. I own 1) an old haggard rode bike that I ride inside on a trainer 2)a centurion that was rebuilt into single speed that I ride to work or to go out and play and 3) an 8ish yr old mtn bike that I've ridden so much nothing is original and I've bent the frame (I'm saving for an upgrade) I ride this bike mtn biking and when I'm riding with people who are slower than I am. (Not that I am fast by any means!)
I have found that for me personally, "gel" seats are too soft and not supportive enough for long riding this "too soft" is particularly worse when combined with shorts. Of the three saddles I own I like my Terry saddle the best. I think I like this saddle because it is the correct distance for my seat bones and their are no seams to get "tangled up" in my labia. This seat is on my mtn bike because the "labia tangles" tend to happen the most on uneven terrain.
Edited to included: I need no credit, and I don't really have any credentials aside from "I like bikes". My SO is a (very patient) bike mechanic so he helped me adjust my bikes and he insists saddle issues are very common problems for all kinds of people and that saddle choice is very personal. (He also jokingly insisted on calling my horse's saddle a "horse seat" until I called the a "bike seat" a "bike saddle).
Edited at 2012-06-18 06:57 pm (UTC)