As the weather finally turns warm, folks eagerly drag out their dusty bikes, fancying themselves ecologically conscientious, economically savvy, and a few miles away from a hot tight bod. Irwin Goldstein, a urologist at Boston University who is also the director of the university s Center for Sexual Medicine, says that riding a bike is like asking for impotence and other dysfunctions. Goldstein explains that both men and women crush vital genital nerves and arteries when riding on narrow Tour de France type saddle seats.
Bike riding can irrevocably impair blood flow in men and nerve endings in women.
And, he adds, even the most occasional riders are at risk. Rethinking that morning ride, we talked with Goldstein about risks, surgery, and what he screams at local riders. There are some studies, but a lot is anecdotal, observational. I ll see seven men and women a day with sexual problems because of this ridiculous biking. There s a new study coming out, with the New England Research Institute in Watertown showing that with minimal hours per week, there was significant risk in those who rode versus people who didn t ride at all.