Attention Naked Cyclists: This Seat's For You
In yesterday's New York Times, the Seattle Police Department got a rare nod for being progressive. But it wasn't for sensitivity training, or even the handling of delicate material. No, officer Robert Brown was quoted for his love of a crotch-friendly bike seat that cuts down on the risk of damage down there, including erectile dysfunction, numbness and other injuries for regular bikers.
Yup.
This "no-nonsense saddle," which sounds like a particularly cruel undergarment, is actually pretty genius. Rather than forcing your delicate tissue to conform to hard plastic, the forked or otherwise flexible seat allows for pressure to rest on the "sits bones"--an area that yoga instructors love, but most people don't realize they have. These bones, according to the boring part of the story, are much better prepared to accept the strain of regular cycling.
The article, which quickly devolves from a story about junk to a story about how the seat theory isn't just junk science, isn't particularly interesting for those of us who just want a more comfortable bike seat. After all, if your seat makes your sensitive parts feel uncomfortable, or if you're at all worried about the functionality of your fun-bits, switching bike seats is kind of an obvious choice.
The real interesting part of the article was two-fold:
1.) According to the article, many Seattle area bike cops have made saddle switch, and,
2.) This will revolutionize the way we bike naked.
Really! After all, any time the naked bike ride, which just happened a few weeks ago, comes up, what's the first thing that an opponent mentions? Crotch-rub. How uncomfortable biking naked would be. What damage you may do to your lower extremities. A forked, fanny-friendly seat, however, would quickly reroute the conversation, bringing to light the sheer joy that accompanies nude cycling. Genius.
Overall, we're glad to hear that some of Seattle's bike cops have made the switch to a seat that does the body good. Now, maybe we can convince the Mayor to offer seat-swapping subsidies?
