Giveaway: Be happy in the (this) saddle

Friend or foe?

There is a special freedom found only on a bike. It’s one of those rare thrills we feel at every age and ability. Whether it’s your first wobbly ride off training wheels or your umpteenth century (100 mile) ride of the season, cycling makes us feel independent, strong and happy.

Except when it doesn’t.

For some of us, particularly women, climbing onto the saddle causes more than just a little discomfort “down there.” And until you find a saddle that fits just right (and take off your panties!), biking will never make you feel like a kid again. Instead, it will make you feel like you’ve just had one—right there on the bike.

I have vivid memories of a long ride with my husband back when were first married that resulted in him winning the Heisman Award for a good week. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I pushed through the pain, fleshy one minute and boney the next. Didn’t matter how I sat, I was uncomfortable. Not strong. Not happy.

I went through a few saddles before I fell in love (or should I say, my crotch fell in love) with the Terry Butterfly Ti saddle. It’s lightweight and designed just for “her” by folks who specialize in ladies cycling. The guys like it too since it eliminates the Heisman phenomena–at least as it relates to the bike, anyway. (Come on, riding really shouldn’t be a pre-coital excuse!).

Having saddle issues? Got that “not so fresh feeling”? Just want to try something new? I wanna hear from Hot (Sweaty) Mamas like you about why you like to ride, or about your favorite two-wheeled adventure. I’ll draw one winner from the entrants here and at hotsweatymamas.com and post the winner on Friday. Good luck!
–Laurie

Jungle Gym-Nastics: See Mom Sweat Giveaway

Every day that we are blessed with warm weather is another day I have to feed a lame excuse to my kids about why we can't head to the park yet. My top reasons so far involve mud and water, which basically means I'm not keen on yet another pile of dirty laundry (and means virtually nothing to my dirt-loving children).

I'm usually pretty hands on at the park, but age has made the swings less enjoyable (renders me dizzy) and anything that spins virtually impossible (vomit-city!). To be honest, once I plunk my butt down on a park bench it isn't long before I start thinking about the things I should be getting done at home. I love to watch my kids play, but the park bench feels like an assault on both my productivity and my sanity. So I'm hopeful that my new deck of Playground Pump cards will make park visits as much fun for me as they are for my kids this year.

A husband and wife team who work extensively in the field of health and fitness, Chris Rauchnot and Nancy Levin, created the cards as a way of "incorporating working out into your life" and to get clients "out of the gym and into the fresh air, sunlight, and sounds of nature." Sounds like a perfect fit for moms, doesn't it?

The deck includes cards that are color coded by type of exercise (warm up, upper body, lower body, abs, and stretching), each using familiar equipment found at most playgrounds--swings, parallel bars, benches, monkey bars, rings.

For those of you who don't visit the park or have kids that nap, these exercises will work great on a backyard play structure, too. Focus on upper or lower body exercises, pick out cards using only certain types of equipment, or do a little of everything for a circuit training workout.

Got any great playground or backyard workouts to share? Maybe it's just your favorite piece of equipment (monkey bars for me!) or a funny experience. To help celebrate the March 29 release of Hot (Sweaty) Mamas: Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom (Andrews McMeel 2011), I'll pick a winner from the comments and send off a box of Playground Pump cards next week.