I have a male friend who does the 500 mile Ride For AIDS Research, and he swears by Bodyglide on the butt and Assos cream on the chamois for saddlesore "management," which he calls "as close to nirvana as a bike ride, which includes five centuries will ever get." I know, he's a guy, but he does some 6 hour plus rides in training and the Ride FAR is five 100-mile days in a row in Sept. It might help.

My Brooks B17 Champion Special is awesome and felt like a dream right from the start; she's good for at least 10 miles in street clothes and I get to try it for 15 miles on Sunday (it's my commuter saddle). The B17S on my cross bike felt good from the start, but not as good...summer riding has helped.