I first realised I was developing a problem when I was driving home from a ride, and put an ice-cold energy drink bottle between my legs. After years riding a hybrid bike, I'd just bought my first racer, and had been out riding on rough, potholed rural roads around Camden, in south-west Sydney. I knew I'd taken a bit of a pounding from the saddle, but I was still surprised at the soothing effect of an ice-cold container on my groin — even through padded cycling shorts.
Until then, I'd only half-noticed that I'd often experience a tingling discomfort after long rides. Suddenly, the fear that no man likes to mention began to percolate. I'd taken up cycling as a way of having a healthy, active life, with all the benefits that implies. Was cycling putting me on the road to erectile dysfunction? If you ask Dr Google, as I did that evening, you can find a lot of conflicting information on the issue, from those who are convinced that cycling could cruel your love life, to others who say that the theory is unproved, and any possible problems can be averted with the right equipment and posture.
Blair Martin, a Sydney physiotherapist whose practice, The Body Mechanic, specialises in fitting people on bicycles, says cycling's possible relationship with sexual health problems is difficult to quantify, and much research appears to be anecdotal. In the weeks after my Camden ride, I found a shop that would lend me saddles for test rides.
I tried wider saddles, soft ones, saddles with cut-outs — nothing made much difference. Finally I consulted Steve Hogg of Cyclefitcentre. He recommended a Selle SMP , a distinctively weird saddle with an epic centre cut-out and a beak for a nose. Try it for a week. Five days later I called him to say I'd pay him any money - there was no way he was getting the saddle back off me.
In the six years since, I've ridden on rough roads and smooth, sometimes doing a hundred kilometres every day for a week at a time, with no deleterious effects thank you for asking. The issue lies with the perineum, the area between the genitals and the anus that is a mass of soft tissue, nerves and blood vessels.
