Chapter 16: Sporty V
“My bike is my best friend, but my bike seat can be a thorn in my side, specifically, a pain in my Sporty V. I ride road bikes for fun now, after years of competitive racing. When I first started racing I was warned: It’s a dangerous sport. It’s not a matter of if you crash; it’s a matter of when. But no one prepared me for the other, hidden dangers of cycling. [Cue ominous music.] The dreaded Sporty V. Seriously, there’s nothing worse. Most weekends you would find me racing, which meant 15-20 hours of weekly training, with an average ride of 2.5 hours—some weekend rides went 4 or 5 hours. That’s a lot of time perched on a hard carbon-fiber saddle the width of a small postcard. The last half hour of a long ride was mostly spent wriggling around from side to side, sliding from front to back and lifting up and down in an attempt to find a comfortable position—anything to relieve the pressure on Sporty V. Even a specially designed cutout seat—one favored by most male and female riders—didn’t always help me with the V blues.”
—Louise Keoghan TV Producer & Director
