newby question about sore seat bones and saddle bags

[hike n bike]

greetings! I am a new mountain biker and was previously an equestrian for 35 years. I had to stop riding horses because of back troubles so I have some background about saddles and saddle bags but of a different nature. I rode in a hard seated saddle ( for horseback) and when I went to the LBS for a saddle for my Trek 820, I said I needed a good fit and a fairly hard seat. (It seemed to me from these posts most ladies had difficulty with excessive size and padding.) I had my seat bones measured 155mm and left with a Bodygeometry saddle to fit. I like it but...directly on my seat bones I am pretty sore. The wonderful thing is my back doesn't hurt at any time and I am having a lot of fun on this bike being able to [I]ride[I] again!!!. Usually, on previous dressage saddles, if a saddle was bad it might feel god while riding, then I'd have debilitating pain, later, off the ride. I am wondering, do I need to build up some sort of seat bone "callus":confused: ? Will this discomfort from the harder seat diminish?
I am in pretty good shape, ride about 5-10 miles, 4 to 5 times a week. 119 lbs 5'4" Many many hills, mountains and trails here. If I lose more body fat, this may get more uncomfortable??
Also, on the horses we have sturdy, leather or deerskin bags. Would the weight of those be awful to convert for the bike? How is best to carry heavier items- panniers or backpack or on the riders body somehow? There is MUCH less to carry without the horses!! I am looking forward to biking for our family outings of camping, hunting, fishing but am uncertain without a packhorse to help.
I have benefitted much from this forum as a visitor and am sooo excited to join and participate now as a member!:) Thanks in advance....

[Eden]

Sore sit bones after riding are pretty common when you are first starting out. If you ride regularly this will diminish until it goes away. If you don't ride for a while and come back, usually you have to break your sit bones back in... What won't go away is friction - so if you are experiencing rubbing, blisters even, experiment with your fit.

[OakLeaf]

What Eden said.

As far as saddlebags ... I think it would depend on the size of the bags, and in any case it might have to be a permanent conversion, just because a horse's back is a whole lot wider than a rear rack on a bicycle. The bottom of the bag needs to be higher than the rear derailleur. Also, for saddlebags, you want to make sure you have a rack with plenty of side coverage to keep the bags out of the spokes.

Weight carried low is always going to affect your balance less than weight carried high, so yeah, while some people can ride comfortably with backpacks on, they're not really a good choice for loaded touring or heavy shopping. As far as the weight of the bags - that's entirely up to you, just keep in mind that everyone has a range of weight that's comfortable and safe for them on any particular bike, and the more of that is luggage, the less weight you have left over for "stuff."

[TigerMom]

If no other part of your groin/butt area hurts other than your sit bones, then you are pretty lucky. Most likely, after 2months of riding, your sit bones shouldn't hurt anymore after riding 10 miles. If it does, then I would re-evaluate your saddle choice. Personally, it took me around 2months in the beginning (plus, I think that my saddle finally softened up a little) and, now, when I don't ride for a week, it takes 1-2 weeks of riding for my sit bones to not hurt again.

Personally, I like having chamois padding and I feel like it helps greatly with my sit bone pain. But everyone is different.

[hike n bike]

thank you for the help! Sounds like I'll try to adapt some of my old saddle bags to sit on the bike itself and continue with the current bike saddle I have. TigerMom - I have only been at this for about a month, so yes I guess I am lucky to not have other issues:) I may try some padding, yet I'm afraid of chaffing. I'll post photos of the adapted bags once I get them done. This is fabulous!!

[Eden]

lol - the first set of bike panniers that I had way back in the 80's were very much like horse saddle bags - they were attached in the center with bags hanging down on either side. They worked just fine. Bike panniers have been refined since to be more bike rack specific, but horse style work fine.

[Crankin]

Are you wearing bike shorts, with a chamois? While you might get chafing from shorts with a chamois that is not right for you (and that is generally done by experimenting, recommendations), it's a lot easier and cheaper to buy a diffrent pair of shorts than a saddle. I'd keep your current saddle and experiment with shorts first. Call customer service at TE and let them guide you.