The seat I got from Reno Cycling and Fitness felt like a rock with a hole in it. But the very kind and patient gentlemen (yes, it took 3-4 of them to help the lost one) explained to me why a harder seat is often more comfy. Here’s the deal… the harder the seat, the more likely your actual sit bones will hit it. When only your bones hit the seat, that’s a much smaller radius than a giant butt cheek – get it? Lets say you had a nice couch cushion lined with fur… when you sit, your whole bottom hits the cushion so that’s a pretty wide area that is rubbing against something (no, I didn’t mean to call your butt big, I’m just trying to explain the science here.) But if you have a hard surface, your actual bone hits the seat and thats a much smaller area that will be rubbing for hours and hours on end. Eventually, they say it goes numb and you don’t feel a thing – yippee!
But I could have a gold-lined seat and nothing would really matter if I can’t hop on. So Coach Julie (who is amazing in every sense of the word!) told me to swing by her place so she could see what the heck I was doing wrong. How sweet is she to meet with me on a Sunday at her place? She showed me how she gets on her bike, she makes it look so easy. She measured by knee angle again and adjusted my new seat for my short legs and then she watched as I got on – it worked! Ok yay, I’m on the bike! There is hope after all!
Julie also wanted to see how I stop the bike, because that is almost as crucial as starting. I was pretty embarrassed when I tried to stop and fell over… again… right in front of her. I often can’t stop laughing when I do this, even when I’m alone. She calmly asked if I was ok and suggested I try taking out my left foot from the pedals instead of my right. Lo and behold, I easily hit the brakes, clicked out my left foot, placed it on the floor, and the bike stopped. No sudden toppling, no fear, just a simple stop. WOAH! I was blown away! I know, I know… who gets THAT excited over starting and stopping a bike? Well, when you have 100 miles in between the two acts… it’s probably best you get those things figured out. So gratefully I did and was ready for a week of training. Thank you to Julie, Reno Cycling and Fitness, and that rock … I mean, seat .. that I get to go numb on. 
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Wow, this article is very encouraging. Last May 27/13 I fell on my left knee and scratch it pretty bad after having pedal cleats(spelling?) installed on my new Specialized Tarmac. After reading this blog of yours, that Julie told you to unclip your left first rather than right foot, I have to go back in between our 2 vehicles in the garage and practice unclipping my left shoes first. Hope to read more of your riding blogs. Happy biking.