biking

I was in the same situation about a year ago. My seat didn't come loose, but certain areas were so sore after my first longer rides.
First, make sure your bike is set up for your build and everything is tight before you go riding. Another suggestion, read the owner's manual, that helped me alot.
Get a good pair of biking shorts with padding. I have Hind, but any brand will do. They also make these gel covers for your seat but I found that it bothered me more so I took it off.
If you keep up with it, you won't be so sensitive. Everyone says you get used to it and you actually do. I change my position quite a bit while riding when certain areas start getting sore.
Hope this helps a little!
Brenda

It comes with time, when I first started biking there were times when I couldn't sit back on the bike within a day or so of a long ride, now I tend not to even bother with the padded shorts, a comfortable (gel) seat does make a huge difference however especially when in the seat for a long time, also what Brenda says about sitting in different positions when 'bits' start to get sore helps greatly.
Hope the sore butt subsides soon.

I too have been riding for a few years now. First a word of encouragement, your "saddle soreness" will go away after time, but even at times, when you haven't ridden in awhile, or maybe sometimes when you ride and you are just tired that day, your saddle soreness will come back. It just all comes with the territory. But a pair of padded shorts does help, tremedously!!!!

Now, about the seat postitioning. There are several things you can do. Of course, you want you seat at the right height so that your legs are just slightly bent when you extend your legs all the way, seperately of course. But you can also adjust your seat to move forward and backwards. If it is too far forward or too far back, a certain little area will get very irritated, and this can cause extreme chafing to occur. Also, you can adjust your seat at an angle. You can angle it up or even down. Your local bike shop should be able to show you how to do this. Miss around with this at this should all help. You just need to get to know your bike and your body and find out what feels more natural and what helps reduce the pain and chafing.

I hope this all helps. If you need more advice or have any questions, please feel free to email me anytime.

Janet

The soreness will definitely go away!! A lot of biking is getting your contact points toughened up, this is your seat and your hands. Changing position a bit as you ride is a big help. If you can get out of the saddle a bit as your peddling that's good too. There are TONS of different kinds of bike seats out there, maybe you might want to try some other seat. The gel covers are also a good suggestion.
As to the chamois on bike shorts. Cushy is good, but absorbant is much more important. If your chamois is cushy but not absorbant, your pain is going to be much different than muscle soreness and last longer too. OUCH!

As somebody else mentioned, it might also help to make sure that your seat is positioned correctly. Height, front to back, and nose angle. It's really important that the seat position is correct, not only for comfort of your special parts but also because of knee placement. If your seat isn't correct, it puts more pressure on your knees. People sometimes complain of knee pain and often a simple seat adjustment fixes that right up. The height adjustment was already explained, but the front to back is this: Sit on your bike on a stand, or have somebody hold you up.
Position your feet at 3 and 9 oclock, that is, one foot equally forward and the other equally back. The bend in your knees should be close to a 90 degree angle. Your knee should be straight above your ankle.

But mainly, everybody EVERYBODY is sore when they first ride after not riding for awhile, and biking on the road uses your muscles a bit differently than on a stationary bike.
By the way if the person who put your bike seat on did not bother to make sure that the bolts were tighted, I'm willing to bet they didn't pay a heck of a lot of attention to your positioning.

Sorry to ramble, but biking is my passion and I hate to hear of folks getting off to unhappy starts on something that can be so happy making!