Four "Firsts" for 2024
15 hours ago
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Tinkering
I flipped over my stem for today's ride. I've been having some neck/shoulder pains and I wanted to see whether being slightly more upright would reduce that. It ended up working great - I did 63 miles, riding in a slightly higher position, and my neck feels just fine. I planned today's route to spend a fair bit of time on the bike and not kill myself on the 10+% grades, and it worked out great. Old Santa Cruz highway to summit, down summit to Soquel, and then across and back up via Eureka Canyon, a 9+ mile, 2000 foot climb; not a killer, just long and sustained. The best part of the ride was coming back down Old SC highway, trying to chase down a heavy guy in a Cafe de Colombia jersey (nothing like the throwback kits). That descent is very enjoyable, windy but not so technical that you can't get a good pace going. Ended up with 63 miles and 4000 feet of climbing to bring my annual riding total to 488 so far.
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You should see about getting fitted for your bike. I'd bet Chris has a few good names of people that have a clue when it comes to fitting. I've been twice and had decent (UC Davis) and great (Dario in Marin) results with the fitting.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's some good information online about what to change if X hurts.
Worth the $$$ if you get into riding.
it'll happen eventually.
ReplyDeleteNothing beats tweaking your position. Had similar issues where my hands were going numb and my arms were getting weak on long rides. Had to raise my bar 1.5 CM to match the 1.5 CM I raised my seat. Bingo. Seems to have made a big difference as my hands seem to be much better. You have to tinker on this stuff.. Its a life long quest...
ReplyDeleteI guess I got pretty lucky with Dario. He got me into a great position that worked well for me as long as I kept up the cycling and stretching. Once I stopped and started having back problems I had to buy a raised stem, but since then I'm good. I have no illusions of getting back into aerobars any time soon though.
ReplyDeleteso this is so rookie, but I can' believe how much more flexibility I have with this bike just because of the long sterring tube. My last bike wa cut down basically to the shortest position.
ReplyDeleteI'll get measured when I''m back in the workforce and can afford the new stem they'll recommend. Maybe I'll get golf lessons someday too. Or maybe just maybe I'll do it my way. ;)