stitch

jimycooper

only ever had it when i was starting out, but this weekend and today when i've been on a road ride i've had it when not even been at a fast pace.

anything i can do to stop it as it's really annoying and can be painful

cheers in advance...

ARob

based on no science whatsoever, i tend to get one if i drink a load of water before riding or eat something with high amounts of saturated fat adn then go out hard. curiously a cake or water mid ride doesn't have the same effect - maybe becasue of being warmed up before hand.


sorry - thats probably no help at all to you but for what its worth..

DomPro

Thats strange, I've been getting stiches more recently as well. I put it down to adjusting my pedalling technique and sticking to a higher cadence. It goes eventually after a few minutes of gentle pedalling.

jimycooper

havent noticed it being linked to anything i've eaten/drumk pre-ride.

everything else is the same aswell, no pedel adjustment e.c.t...

thanks for the ideas but anyone have a scientific answer?

slunker

I'm the same. I have cycled for a couple of years and not had any problems at all. Now in the past 2 months I'm getting a stitch every ride I'm on.

My theory is that it is something to do with your diaphram. I think the muscles that control it are cramping. I say this as I take long deep breaths and exhale until everything is out the lungs. I feel this helps getting rid of the stitch.

This is only my opinion....................

BigDarbs

I posted this reply on another thread, this is my solution...read on...

I had exactly the same problem. I was quite concerned as I considered myself fairly fit. I raced mountain bikes at expert level for 13 years, then stopped racing but carried on riding. For the past 12 months I have been training properly again to start racing on the road, and I started getting stitch occasionally which had never happened before. I only get it in maybe one in every 7 or 8 rides, and generally when giving it some onions uphilll.

There seemed to be no real pattern to it, I varied the time that I ate before riding, used plain water or energy drinks etc, I couldn't replicate it.

As I couldn't prevent it, I started to look for ways to deal with it. I think it may have been on this forum that I found the best advice. Having read a lot around the subject, there seems to be no real certainty about the causes of stitch, but this is the solution that works for me every time.

When I feel it coming on or it suddenly appears, I take a very, very deep breath and exhale hard through my mouth, forcing every last drop of air out of the bottom of my lungs, repeat this 3 times. hey presto, no more stitch!

I have now perfected this technique so that as soon as I feel it coming on I carry this process out (sometimes one deep breath and hard exhale does it), and it prevents it coming on any further. I have also started to make sure my breathing is very even and deep when working hard on the bike, as this definitely helps with preventing it coming on at all.

jimycooper

thbkas a lot bigdarbs will try this next ride...