A question for experienced Mamils!

vortice

There's probably a good reason to post this in the beginners forum, but as I'm looking for advice from more experienced riders I thought this forum would be appropriate.

I'm a 44 year old male and I was reasonably fit when I started cycling 6 months ago. During that time I've lost a stone in weight, ridden 1200 miles and climbed about 110,000 ft. I had a bike fit, bought a second road bike which is much more comfortable and dabbled with saddles, stems and bars and bar and saddle height combinations. My three longest rides have been about 50 miles, but have also included climbing about 6000 (I like hills!).

So armed with that information, what do you late starters to cycling think? Should I still be feeling beat up after the longer rides? 35 mile rides are fine, but if I'm in the saddle for say over 3 - 3.5 hours then i'm saddle sore and my shoulders and neck are very sore. I have noticed an improvement in my lower back comfort, but shoulders and neck are a pain in the - well you know!

Does it get better with more riding or do I need to change things?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.

schweiz

Your fit may be okay, but your riding style may be contributing to your aches and pains.

Are you tense when you ride? Do you grip the bars tightly? How's your core strength? Or do you just plonk your backside on the saddle. Do you look where you're riding or do you always find that you're hitting lumps and bumps in the road? Are your tyres pumped up too hard?

I'm 35 and I can ride 8+ hours, 200+ km and 5000+ metres. Yes I'm tired, I'm aching, my feet are swollen and getting sore but I don't feel 'beat up' due to anything to do with the bike and a 3-4 hour bike ride is no different from a 1 hour spin in terms of comfort, i.e. there's no discomfort, numbness or pain.

team47b

I don't think you should feel like that over those distances. I agree with schweiz maybe it's your posture, how flexible is your back, are you holding your weight by your legs or sitting heavy in the saddle.

If you don't mind me asking, when you say you lost a stone, how many remain?

If you don't want to answer that, don't

I don't think age (44!) is an issue.

vortice

Thanks for your reply Schweiz and a few things there for me to think about on my rides.

I definitely need to improve my core strength and this is something I am working on. I still fell that there is too much weight through my arms despite playing around with seat fore and aft positions and I'm hoping that core strength will help with this. I try not to grip the bars too tight. On the flats I know I have a very light grip but I do grip more tightly in the climbs. When climbing I tend to alternate between sitting and standing as I've found changing positions alleviates lower back ache and is less fatiguing on the legs.

On the flats, looking ahead aches my neck, so I tend to glance ahead to make sure my path is clear of hazards and the road surface is good and I pick a point ahead. I then look down just in front of the front wheel until I get to that point. I repeat this all the way.

I think on my next ride I will try and assess how tense my shoulders are when I'm feeling fresh and see whether this is the problem.

Thanks for your thoughts.

vortice

team47b wrote:

I don't think you should feel like that over those distances. I agree with schweiz maybe it's your posture, how flexible is your back, are you holding your weight by your legs or sitting heavy in the saddle.

If you don't mind me asking, when you say you lost a stone, how many remain?

If you don't want to answer that, don't

I don't think age (44!) is an issue.

Hi Team,

I think you are right - posture and flexibility. I had knee ligament reconstruction about 13 years ago and it went wrong. I was unable to exercise properly for 2 years and so my flexibility, particularly my hamstrings suffered, so maybe this is a good thing to get working on.

I am 44, 176 cm and 78 kg

Thanks for your reply Team.

bianchimoon

could be you're too aggressive a position as opposed to a more 'sportive ' position? What bike is it? perhaps a pic of your riding position would help give more of a clue?

vortice

bianchimoon wrote:

could be you're too aggressive a position as opposed to a more 'sportive ' position? What bike is it? perhaps a pic of your riding position would help give more of a clue?

Good idea with a picture, though I think it's a fairly relaxed riding position - I'm quite upright, with two spacers under the bars and a seat height only just higher than the bars. My other bike is a Ribble Bianco Sportive, but my regular bike is a Wilier Centro Uno and is much more comfortable that the Ribble. On the Ribble, I was quite stretched out, even with a shorter stem. I looked at the Wiliers as they have a shorter top tube and it definitely is a better fit for me.

pride4ever

Most cyclists neglect stretching exercises. I do 10 mins of stretching 3 times a week. Strengthen your glutes or else minor muscles will have to pick up the slack and when that happens injuries and aches become more frequent as you up the miles and effort.

vortice

pride4ever wrote:

Most cyclists neglect stretching exercises. I do 10 mins of stretching 3 times a week. Strengthen your glutes or else minor muscles will have to pick up the slack and when that happens injuries and aches become more frequent as you up the miles and effort.

I definitely need to stretch more. My routine is a bit haphazard at the moment.

I'm building up quite a list of things to improve on here and it's all good!

Thanks for your advice Pride.

pride4ever

Vortice wrote:

pride4ever wrote:

Most cyclists neglect stretching exercises. I do 10 mins of stretching 3 times a week. Strengthen your glutes or else minor muscles will have to pick up the slack and when that happens injuries and aches become more frequent as you up the miles and effort.

I definitely need to stretch more. My routine is a bit haphazard at the moment.

I'm building up quite a list of things to improve on here and it's all good!

Thanks for your advice Pride.

The cyclingphysio on youtube as some good videos.

vortice

pride4ever wrote:

Vortice wrote:

pride4ever wrote:

Most cyclists neglect stretching exercises. I do 10 mins of stretching 3 times a week. Strengthen your glutes or else minor muscles will have to pick up the slack and when that happens injuries and aches become more frequent as you up the miles and effort.

I definitely need to stretch more. My routine is a bit haphazard at the moment.

I'm building up quite a list of things to improve on here and it's all good!

Thanks for your advice Pride.

The cyclingphysio on youtube as some good videos.

That's brilliant. Thank-you.

priory

''could be you're too aggressive a position as opposed to a more 'sportive ' position?''

I wonder that also. often when I have been advised on fit I have found that I was put in a rather stretched position for long rides. The first time I did a 200km audax I changed the stem for a shorter one the very next day because my shoulders and neck ached so much, and that was very effective.
An adjustable stem is a great thing when you are trying to get your position right, and from what you have said I would get one 2 or 3 cm shorter than your current one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/System-EX-Adj ... 35b004e471

priory

how does one delete a post?

keef66

There used to be a Delete option for ones most recent post, but that seems to have disappeared some time ago

bianchimoon

can't you just go into edit and delete the text?

or replace with ...?