Shoulder/neck pain

Brewer

I've been progressively increasing the miles I can do. Last 2 weekends completed 100 miles with tired legs but last Sunday finished with a sharp pain, lower neck/right shoulder blade. My waist is narrower so I'm spending more time down on the drops.
Am I getting muscle pain from peering up at the road or is my riding position off?
I know it's impossible to answer properly, but has anyone worked through this kind of sore shoulder?

ut_och_cykla

position on bike,(too stretched, too low) tight clothing round neck, helmet/glasses obscuring view - all can cause neck pain...

amaferanga

Why would a narrow waist make you spend more time on the drops? :?

miggers

Most likely bike fit, worth paying to get it looked at.

Though I used to get it from being to tense on the bike and hunching up my shoulders. Just remembering to stretch out the tension every so often helped me..

Brewer

Thankyou everyone. I had a professional fit done 7 weeks ago. It was a revelation and made life a lot more comfortable. No more aching back for a start. The new fit means that I spend nearly all my time "down" on the handlebars and because I have lost weight I can bend further at the waist to get into the drops. I do wear glasses and they fall steadily further forward as I go along. I will examine the options suggested. Cheers

dennisn

FWIW riding in the drops constantly is not the most comfortable of positions available to you on a bike. Switch around a bit. This helps keep you from getting stiff by not using one position all the time

SteveR_100Milers

I agree with the benefits of a proper bike fit - I had probpems with my track bike. Got that sorted out, and tansferred the contact point measurements to all my other bikes and was stunned to find such a big difference in the pedal offset distance (crank centre to nose of the saddle). Now I ave found te optimum position, and set al the same its been a revelation in terms of comfort and maximising what little power I have got!

Brewer

Many thanks to everyone who made suggestions.
100 miles today in a stinking headwind & rain.
No glasses. Didn't fasten chest strap of backpack. Most useful was relaxing my shoulders. I found that if I pull my elbows closer to my sides, it forces my shoulders to drop, which puts them in a more relaxed position.
The result is much less pain. Some muscle memory contributing to the pain and poor riding position in the last 20 miles.
All told, I am confident I can manage the problem and learn to cycle better.
What a fantastic resource this forum is.

Brian B

Did a hundred miles last week and also developed a pain in my shoulder blades. I found it was squinting through my rain soaked glasses that was causing the pain. Also the best fitting bike in the world will still cause a few pains on long runs at the start of the season.

fungus_the_muffin_man

I've found that my neck shouldere pain as reduced significantly since getting some cycling rx able shades to wear rather than my normal glasses.

They sit further upover your eyes so I don't have to force my head up to see properly as I have to with my normal glasses. I wouldn't be able to ride without glasses so these have been one of the best things I've ever bought.

Garry H

Brewer wrote:

Many thanks to everyone who made suggestions.
100 miles today in a stinking headwind & rain.
No glasses. Didn't fasten chest strap of backpack. Most useful was relaxing my shoulders. I found that if I pull my elbows closer to my sides, it forces my shoulders to drop, which puts them in a more relaxed position.
The result is much less pain. Some muscle memory contributing to the pain and poor riding position in the last 20 miles.
All told, I am confident I can manage the problem and learn to cycle better.
What a fantastic resource this forum is.

Possibly th cause of your pain...

paul.k

rarely use the drops ,only on the downhills ,i have even been known to ride the hoods down holme moss at 50mph but it was comfy and i dont think speed is sacrificed perhaps we kneed a road test drops V hoods .

DubaiNeil

I have a similar issue of neck & upper back pain on longer rides (although not yet 100 miles...)

I can't get a proper bike fitting here it seems, but have picked up a couple of pointers from above:

I do ride on the drops about 80% of the time
I probably hunch my shoulders quite a bit (when on the drops)
I generally wear sunglasses, which probably cause me to crane upwards more
I'm really not sure that the bike fit is correct, and I have tried a few things to remedy this - but certainly no "armchair" like comfort discovered yet...

I'll try some of the suggestions made here and report back....

Neil