The path to 100 miles

Jamey

Last spring I was really getting into cycling and trying to do longer weekend rides ahead of the London to Brighton. I got up to about 45 miles and then, as you may know, I managed to break both of my arms on the L2B itself which took me out of action for ages.

Now, seven months on, I still can't straighten my arms and I may never be able to again. I've been commuting on the bike as much as possible since September but not being able to straighten the arms means a lot more strain on my back and whereas before I would always hope the lights were green so I could sail home, now I hope they're always red so I can stop, stand up straight and stretch the back out a bit.

My commute is 14 miles each way and I do it in about an hour. I'll typically catch about five or six red lights (some only for a few seconds, some for a couple of minutes) during the ride and I'm very glad of them.

Before the L2B I'd already decided I wanted to build up to a 100 mile ride and I still have that ambition but I have no idea what I can do to minimise the discomfort enough to start attempting longer rides again.

If you were in my position, what would you do, do you think?

biondino

Have you considered a recumbent, Jamey?

girv73

Sorry to hear about your pain Jamey. I broke my left arm on a bike (a Grifter) when I were a lad and I don't have full movement in it either.

Did you change the geometry of your bike to adjust for your now shorter reach?

Or is it that the bent arms don't provide the same support as straightened / locked-out arms?

Jamey

I've only just learnt to maintain a normal bike

Seriously though, I don't know if my arms would stretch down to the bars on a recumbent and I doubt I'd feel very safe on one. Plus I'm a big lad and everyone looking (they always stare at recumbents at the best of times) would probably think I just had it because I was too fat for a normal bike and I could do without that tbh.

Feltup

What bike are you riding? How much bend do you have in your arms at their straightest?

Jamey

girv73 wrote:

Did you change the geometry of your bike to adjust for your now shorter reach?

Or is it that the bent arms don't provide the same support as straightened / locked-out arms?

The bike was bought after the accident as my employer's C2W scheme kicked in just after I returned to work, so the geometry ought to be about right for my condition.

It's mainly that my arms can't take as much of the strain, so I use the muscles in the back to 'pull up' a bit. I do try to pedal harder to push up with the legs too but there's only so long I can do that before knackering myself.

biondino

Jamey, are you the guy pictured making the wheel in the wheelmaking thread? Cos you ain't fat! Rather handsome, I thought.

alfablue

How about a shorter, steeper angled stem? You could perhaps experiment with an adjustable one, then buy the ideal fixed one once you has worked out what is best (and sell the adjustable one on). I don't have your arm problems of course, but my aching back was cured with a change to an 80mm stem with 10 degree rise.

cougie

You should try and find a decent Pilates class to. Strengthen your core muscles so that they are taking more of the strain rather than your back and the arms.

Jamey

Feltup wrote:

What bike are you riding? How much bend do you have in your arms at their straightest?

Specialized Tricross Sport Triple 2008.

The arms are a fair way from straight, plus the pain gradually gets greater as I get towards the straightest point (which still isn't very straight).

If you imagine a clock face, with nine o'clock and three o'clock representing straight arms then I guess my arms would be like nine and two. That kind of angle.

Feltup

Maybe consider changing your stem to one of those adjustable ones. You can then raise your bars up more putting you in a more upright position and hence more weight on your backside. As you get fitter and stronger you can then gradually lower the stem to put you back in a more aero position.

It could also help a lot to either go to a gym and work on your back and core muscles or get a swiss ball and do it at home. Most of the time backs get loaded up more than necessary because the other supporting muscles are not doing their job properly.

p.s. people were flying along on Bromptons on the Dunwich Dynamo (120 miles) last year.

cjcp

See a physio and go from there. I had physio after I broke my arm following a fall off the bike.

As Girv (who should be building his bike) said, consider changing the geometry of your bike e.g. a shorter or touring (the ones you can raise) stem. You can only buy sportif-specific geometry bikes, but you really need to see a physio first.

Jamey

biondino wrote:

Jamey, are you the guy pictured making the wheel in the wheelmaking thread? Cos you ain't fat! Rather handsome, I thought.

/blushes

Yeah, that's me.

alfablue wrote:

How about a shorter, steeper angled stem? You could perhaps experiment with an adjustable one, then buy the ideal fixed one once you has worked out what is best (and sell the adjustable one on). I don't have your arm problems of course, but my aching back was cured with a change to an 80mm stem with 10 degree rise.

You mean something like this?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Ritch ... 360033324/

Would that fit my Tricross? Are stems fairly standard or do I need to worry about measurements?

Jamey

cjcp wrote:

See a physio and go from there. I had physio after I broke my arm following a fall off the bike.

I didn't mention it in the opening post but I've been doing a course of physio. It's not helping much though.

Feltup

Something exactly like that Ritchey stem would do the job. Just measure the diameter of your handle bars and the diameter of you steering tube to make sure you know the correct size to buy.

cjcp

Jamey wrote:

cjcp wrote:

See a physio and go from there. I had physio after I broke my arm following a fall off the bike.

I didn't mention it in the opening post but I've been doing a course of physio. It's not helping much though.

Have you mentioned this to your physio?

Jamey

That Ritchey doesn't seem to come in different diameters, just different lengths (80mm, 120mm etc). Hopefully it'll fit anyway.

My stem's already a riser though, and I've got it set as high as possible (ie all the spacers are underneath it) so I don't know how much difference it'll make. Looking at my bike from a few metres away it already looks like my bars are a bit high up and makes the bike look a little ugly, I think.

cjcp

Jamey - why don't you post a picture of yourself on the bike?

Jamey

cjcp wrote:

Have you mentioned this to your physio?

Yes but it's not like there's some miracle manoeuvre he can perform which he'd been saving until the day I turned up and asked him to try something new. He tries to bend my arms straight (with his foot up on my shoulder and both hands on my arm, levering it down against the bench) and for a while it helped a bit but now it doesn't anymore.

Jamey

cjcp wrote:

Jamey - why don't you post a picture of yourself on the bike?

I'll try, if I can work out a good way of taking the picture.

cjcp

Jamey - do your arms hurt or is just your lower back? If it's the latter, a shorter, higher stem would seem to be the answer, together with core conditioning. However, doesn't a Tricross have a more upright position?

Also, is your seat further back than it should be?

Jamey

The seat's in the middle and yes, the Tricross has a slightly more upright position, so I'm told (never ridden an out-and-out road bike).

Both my arms and my back hurt during the ride. The arms are 'cured' within an hour or two of the ride finishing, back gets progressively worse throughout the week's commuting and then gets better over the weekend, ready for the cycle to begin again.

jonginge

Jamey, this won't help the underlying condition but some core work will help with the back. eg: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/How ... 75129.html

I used to get a sore lower back on longer rides, core work definately helps me when I remember to do it

greg66_tri_v2.0

OK, first things first.

Your arms. What's the reason that they won't straighten? Is it a mechanical obstruction - like a bone overgrowth, or spur, or a soft tissue problem - like shortened tendons?

If it's the former, then chances are you've got bent arms for good. If it's the latter, then you should be able to get mobility back over time. As a comparator, when I was under 20 I tore a cartlidge in my knee. I waited 18 months to have it fixed, and it took another 18 months to regain full mobility. The tendons around my knee shrank, and the only way to get them back to normal length was to try to kneel down - a bit further each time, using the weight of my torso as a lever. It was fcuking painful, btw, but worth it.

Second thing: a century ride.

You're looking at over 5 hours saddle time. Perhaps over 6. I can tell you from personal experience that it your arms will be uncomfortable well before the end of the ride. Neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands. They will likely as not all give out before the end, even with "working" arms.

Your problem will be that not being able to lock out your elbows, you can't put your weight on your shoulders and wrists. OK, that's a problem, but it's not a huge problem. On a road bike you should have bent arms. You lock out your elbows when your arms/neck gets tired.

What I'd suggest (as others have) is some core - ie trunk - stability work, so that you can support your torso at an angle without placing all the weight on your lower back (trust me, that's a *really* bad idea). Pilates, swimming, yoga. All good.

And work up to the century in easy increments - add 15 miles at a time, see how you go. It's all doable.

Jamey

With the arms, I don't actually know whether it's a bone problem or a tissue problem. Everything looks ok on X-rays (well there are some tiny fragments on the left elbow but it doesn't feel any worse than the right elbow which is clean) and my physio can certainly get my arm a bit straighter than I can bend it myself (as with yours it's fcuking painful), but not much. And it does feel like there's a definite point beyond which they won't travel. But the short answer is, I don't really know.

On a brighter note I find swimming incredibly easy. I regularly used to swim 2.5km before the accident so I should be able to do a bit of that. I'll try to do some sit-ups and stretches at home too. Don't really have the spare cash for yoga/pilates right now as I went private for physio, plus still recovering financially from a big holiday in South America and of course Xmas.

Are there any other core exercises I can do at home besides sit-ups?

biondino

It's got to be shortened tendons, no?

Jamey

I was only in plaster for a week though. And I was unable to straighten my arms instantly after the accident.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Jamey wrote:

Are there any other core exercises I can do at home besides sit-ups?

Yes.

1 Find your transverse abdominis. Lie on your back, with your knees up. Place one finger on the flesh just inside the tip of your pelvis. Place the other hand on your stomach about 1.5 inches below your rib cage. Now squeeze the muscle under the finger, without tensing the muscle under the hand. Easy? One trick is to try to pull your balls up into your abdomen. That will fire your transverse. If done properly, you should feel it tightening across the front of your ab and around the rear either side of your lumbar spine.
Tense, hold for 10 seconds, relax. Repeat x10.

2. As 1, but whilst tensing, lift one heel, extend your leg, return your leg and place the heel back down. Repeat x10, alternate to other leg.

2A. As 1, but whilst tensing, raise your buttocks off the ground so that you forma straight line from neck to knees. Repeat x10.

3. Stand up, tense transverse, stand on one leg and do ten dips. Knee should bend over the second toe - now swaying/rocking/twisting to stabilse. Repeat x10, alternate to opposite leg.

4. Plank. Press up position on your elbows, with toes touching the ground. Form a straight line from head to ankles. Tense transverse. Hold for 10 seconds. Now roll onto one elbow; facing a wall; still straight line body/legs position and chest facing a wall (should be on outside of one foot and inside of the other). Hold for 10s, then come back to starting position and roll to other elbow; hold for 10s. Repeat x5.

5. Hamstring stretches. However you like to do them - I do them on my back pulling my knee up to my chest and then gently kicking my lower leg out. The position in jonginge's CW article would put way too much strain on my lower back.

1-4 are basic pilates exercises. It may be worth investing in a pilates book to get some more ideas.


On the elbows, when I was trying to get flex back into my knees, I remember feeling as if there was a solid object tucked in behind my knee, it was so hard to bend them. Roughly how long did you lose full flex before starting to try to regain it, and how long have you been trying to regain it?

Jamey

Rough timeline goes something like this...

Accident - immediately lost most movement in the arms from the elbows down. Put into plaster with arms bent 90 degrees.

One week after accident - plaster comes off, slings meant to stay on but I only used them when out walking (at this point I was walking 12 miles per day for exercise as I was off work and couldn't do anything else).

Four weeks after accident - begin physio. At this stage physio can only really give me exercises to do myself as the bones are still healing.

Six weeks after accident - this is when the physio begins to hurt as he can do more.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Hmm. Scotch the short tendons idea. If they were tied up for a max of 6 weeks, and this took place in the middle of last year, you should have been able to get full mobility by now.

If there's no physical obstruction that's inhibiting full movement, then the culprit has to be (I think, I'm no doctor, remember) scar tissue. But God knows on what.

Feltup

My Dad had to have his shoulder manipulated under anaesthetic because of scar tissue growth on the ligaments which severely restricted his movement. I wonder if something similar has happened to you?

btw Dad has almost full movement back now