too much traffic = aching neck

beckenham

I was at the Free Wheel thingy yesterday and due to the levels of traffic (other cyclists rather than motor vehicles) had my hands covering the brakes pretty much all day.

It was a slow day and I was out for around 6 hours in all and covered just over 50 miles(average speed about 10 mph, top speed 30 mph, on my way home).

After a few hours I started to get a painful neck ache. I've never had this before and presume that it was due to covering the brakes all the time on drop handle bars. Has anyone else suffered with this before? If so any tips on how to avoid it?

banana_man

It is possible to brake whilst riding on the hoods, rather than having to have your hands on the drops all the time when there's the possibility you may need to stop. Obviously the ease with which you can pull the lever when your hands are on the hoods depends on the model of brake lever and the strength of your grip, but I find it extremely easy on my bike and certainly wouldn't relish the thought of riding around a city having to ride on the drops all the time to brake.

beckenham

banana_man wrote:

It is possible to brake whilst riding on the hoods, rather than having to have your hands on the drops all the time when there's the possibility you may need to stop. Obviously the ease with which you can pull the lever when your hands are on the hoods depends on the model of brake lever and the strength of your grip, but I find it extremely easy on my bike and certainly wouldn't relish the thought of riding around a city having to ride on the drops all the time to brake.

I was on the hoods, perhaps I need to adjust the saddle etc?

Bronzie

It's quite possible that riding with your hands in the same position on the bars for 6 hours could be the source of the neck-ache - the beauty of road bars (as opposed to flat bars) is that you have a few different han holds to choose from, allowing your shoulder and neck muscles a bit of variety.

I quite often get a sore neck when I race - even if it's only 1 hour - I put this down to riding on the drops and having to concentrate on the riders in front much more than when on a club run - looking ahead when on the drops puts your neck at quite an acute angle.

Best solution I find is to move your hands around on the bars every 5 minutes or so to stop the neck and shoulder muscles getting too tense - obviously a little difficult to cover the brakes when riding on the tops, but if it became a regular problem you could consider fitting so of those cyclo-cross style repeater brake levers on the tops. It's also possible that you are too stretched out - maybe try a shorter stem or higher rise stem.

ricadus

May just be the result of tension caused by having to be extra-cautious with all the other slow moving cyclists around.

Don't change the bike set-up yet; wait and see if it disappears once you get back to riding at normal speed in a more relaxed situation.

mea00csf

or.....could be just that your a bit under the weather. If i get stuff like that it's usually because i'm gonna get a stinker of a cold in a couple of days

beckenham

mea00csf wrote:

or.....could be just that your a bit under the weather. If i get stuff like that it's usually because i'm gonna get a stinker of a cold in a couple of days

Thanks for that :? I'm supposed to be doing Oxford to Cambridge on Sunday and my youngest has been puking up for the last few days I feel fine though so I think I've avoided it. I knew that locking him in the garage was a good move Wifey got a bit stroppy so i had to lock her in there as well. Do you think I should let them out now or wait until after Sunday :?: