Newbie - Riding a bike

Padded shorts are good, but they're more to protect the 'undercarriage' than your sit bones! I'm a fair weather cyclist, so my bike stays in the garage all winter, and then in the summer I use it a lot more. The first couple of rides, my sit bones feel battered beyond belief, and then they get used to it and I get to a point where I can ride for hours without pain.

PLEASE don't wear headphones. You need to be fully aware of what's going on around you.

And be very careful about cycling on pavements. Pavements are not for cyclists (unless they are shared use paths). Use parks etc initially to build capability and competence, and then potentially some pavements if you must, but cyclists should be on the road.

Do you have a canal towpath or park you can ride in, even if you have to push the bikes to get there? It sounds like your DS needs to practice one thing at a time. He needs to be confident that he's not going to fall before you deal with traffic, because he will need the majority of his attention to be on the traffic. Would sending him out to walk the route and get the bus back on his own be an option? Then at least he knows the route and has some confidence doing it without you

And as others have said its important to remember that anything with a chamois needs to be worn next to the skin without underwear. It feels weird at first but you get used to it.

I really really recommend measuring yourself to check your saddle fits. I struggled for years with 'womens' saddles and always found cycling very sore. Eventually I measured my sit bones (pointy bits at bottom of pelvis). You can do this by sitting on your bottom stair on a piece of tinfoil. It needs to be on a carpet or mat so that your two pointy sit bones make dimples in the tinfoil. Then measure the distance between the two dimples. You can then measure your saddle and check that it is wide enough for your sit bones to be actually sitting on it with a small margin.

I spent a decade cycling with my sit bones off the edges of the saddle and basically all the weight was on my vulva l, ouch! My sit bones are right at the widest measurement of the womens range, so a saddle especially for wide sit bones was game changing.

You do still have to do a bit of breaking in if you haven't cycled for a bit though! For me it takes about four rides over a couple of weeks before it becomes comfy again. But it's achy rather than agony 😆

It's likely that you are actually fine and your sit bones fit on your existing saddle, but definitely worth sacrificing a bit of tinfoil to check.

Definitely clothing with a chamois makes a bigger difference than a padded saddle. I started cycling last November (with an ebike) and that made an instant difference to how comfortable I am. Before that I had a bike with a padded seat but it was still very uncomfortable.

I only do short distances so padded knickers are enough to be comfortable. I got some by Baleaf as they were less expensive, but still got good reviews and I found them to be brilliant so if you wanted to try something with a chamois that is probably an inexpensive way to go.

The further you cycle the more likely you are to need proper cycling tights.

Padded shorts will definitely help. If you don't like the lycra look you can get casual shorts with a padded chamois inside.

I'd wear padded shorts.
DS may not need them...different saddles, different anatomy!
Most saddles are built for men so it can be worth investing in a women specific saddle. I spent a small fortune on mine, but DD finds it uncomfortable, whereas it suits me fine.

Hopefully the padded saddle will help. You can always wear padded cycling pants (decathlon;) under your normal clothes. Don't wear knickers though as the seams dig in the wrong places making it quite painful!
Check saddle height- you should not be able to touch the floor if the seat is the correct height...but this requires confidence which will come in time.
Check the gears...if you have a range of gears on the back wheel, sim to be in the middle of them. Too big a gear (the ones closest to the frame) will tire you out quicker, the ones closest to the wheel hub will have you spinning like a hamster in a wheel! Stick to the middle ones unless going up a hill and then change to being the hamster!
Find a car park or business park and ride round that traffic free until your confidence is higher; they are good places to practice corners and using gears, brakes etc.
Have fun!

Make sure you keep your tyres pumped up to the recommended psi (found on the wall of the tyres), makes it a lot easier to cycle and reduces the amount of effort you need.

I agree with getting in touch with British Cycling.
Have a look at 'Let's Ride' You can do Breeze rides which are relatively short rides for women only to help gain confidence and enjoy cycling.
Using the filters you can also find family rides which you and your child may enjoy.

Also look at local cycling clubs. Ours do a Saturday session for kids.

He's very slow and defo not in danger of hitting a pedestrian. More likely to see someone, panic, stop and fall off!
Maybe it would be better learning at a quiet space in a local car park or similar where he can have more space to learn to gain a little speed and confidence with no people around. Maybe put some markers on the ground for him to navigate around and to practice stop and starting and turning.

Can you google to see if your local council or British cycling have any adult cycling confidence courses for you? Because then you can teach ds what they teach you? Or your local bike shop might? I assist with adult intro cycling via my local bike shop. It’s all free.

I got a bike a couple of weeks ago and I love it. Managed to make myself very sore but did 100km in the first week. I’ve changed my saddle for one that’s hopefully more suitable and it’s on a 30day trial so I can change it if it’s not the one. I’ve also bought some chamois cream as I had some chafing and I got a pair of padded shorts. I’m goi g to see how that goes. I’m definitely less sore after week 2.

Padded shorts really will help. Not so much a padded seat. You will condition your behind and the pain will go.

As another poster said above, this was me in 2015, I now have a 2 mountain bikes and race in Enduros, so be careful 😉

Came to say padded shorts also!

You’re generally better with padded shorts rather than a padded seat but maybe for short distances it won’t matter. Also, no underwear! It chafes!

He did his bikeability classes at school so I don't want to go against anything they have taught him.
Have a look at the Bikeability and the national cycling standards on line if you are worried about giving conflicting advice,
.
The main things are knowing when to be in primary position , that is further away from the kerb. This is passing junctions, passing cars etc and when to be in secondary nearer the kerb. Also knowing about who has priority on the road. It’s about being confident and staying safe. Eg, by doing safety checks, making your intentions clear and being able to make good decisions in regard to road safety.

>>thank you for your reply. I did really enjoy the ride and thought how lovely it would be by myself with some headphones and a good playlist

just noticed this = strongly advise against this - see above on traffic safety. Smell the roses, hear the birds. the wind in the trees.