First thing to go was the saddle. I was riding the stock Ibis saddle, which my friend Rick describes as a “torture device.” Rick runs Bicycle Engineering, where he hand-builds bikes and also sells Ibis. I think I’ve bought a dozen new, used, and custom-built bikes from him over the years. Along with bikes, he’s sold me a few older (i.e., well-worn in) Brooks saddles. The one I’m riding dates from the 80s. Leather saddles are hands-down the best for riding distance. So I swapped the torture device for one of these. Works well so far.
At the same time, I decided I didn’t want to have to rely on padding in my shorts. I’ve been experimenting with unpadded mountain biking shorts and lightweight quick drying) underwear (too much information?). So far, Patagonia MTB shorts seems to work the best. All in all, I’m pretty happy with the saddle arrangement.