Cyclist creates seat built for comfort

“I just couldn't ride anymore,” she said. “It became more and more painful to sit on the bicycle seat.” The frustration led Rutherford, who is a corporate-management consultant from Marsing, Idaho, to pursue a passion to develop a comfortable bicycle seat.

And it was a passion.

“It's my life,” she said of cycling.

Rutherford believes that a comfortable bicycle seat can change the world by fixing waistlines and the environment.

Five years and more than 60 bicycle seat prototypes later, Rutherford is marketing the Carbon Comfort Saddle.

Seat discomfort is the most common complaint from riders, she said. Men have suffered from chronic nerve damage and groin numbness on extended rides with an improperly fitting seat. Women also suffer nerve damage and chaffing, Rutherford said.

So, Rutherford built a different bicycle saddle.

“People over 35 and women love the seat,” said Rutherford, who is 52 and continuing long-distance riding up to 150 miles on a weekend.