Fussy Bottoms

My latest bike came with this hard plastic saddle, which didn't quite agree with me.  The pain would set in after about an hour into the ride, and cause considerable discomfort.

I bore with it for about a month, thinking I would get used to it, but that never happened.

Son No 1 then gave me the saddle above, one he had bought but turned out to be painful for him.  Also a plastic one, I tried it for another month, but my bum said no.

So I removed my 20 year old leather saddle from another bike and put it on my new one.

As you can see, it's nicely curved from years of use.  Riding it is like sitting on a hammock.

It's contoured itself to fit me beautifully.

We've been having a strange summer.  After the hot days and that terrible bushfire, we've had a cool change and a run of 25°C days; it's been almost spring-like.

So two days ago, I took the opportunity of this wonderfully cool weather to take a ride to the city, on my new old saddle, to have my first look at the new waterfront development called Elizabeth Quay, due to be opened in a week or two.

You can view a map of my ride by clicking the link in the right hand column.

On reaching it, I found that it was still fenced off, still a construction site and this was the closest I could get to it.

I'm afraid the photo doesn't show very much.  The development is currently that forest of streetlights and those two arches which support a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the water.

Previously, that patch of land was public open space.  Now there will be more tall buildings, restaurants and cafes.   A change for the better?  I wonder.

I aimed my iPhone around and took these 2 shots around me.

That patch of development looked somewhat like this before.

And the flag tells me I will have a headwind on the way home.

A view of South Perth before I leave.

Lastly, I'd like to add that for all of the 46km ride, and for nearly 2.5 hours it took me, my bum was in bliss.

(Incidentally, in Strava site which details my rides, my account is under one of my many 'net pseudonyms - Nat Hopnoo.  Those who have known me for a very long time may like to hazard a guess as to why I chose that name.)