Advice for beginner please

FuManChu

Hi, all

Well after 20 years I've finally got back on a bike. Loved road racing in my late teens before finding women and techno. Carried on loving the sport from my couch until 2 weeks ago.
Upshot is I'm now 40, 4 stone over weight and have done no sport for 10 years.

I started 2 weeks ago with a 10 mile ride every other day culminating in my first 30 miles yesterday (2h 45mins albeit with a 5 minute rest every 10 miles)

Loving riding again and have set myself no real goals with regard to losing weight, distance or times. I'm just enjoying getting out and used to the bike. Averaging about 11/12mph but I am lugging an extra 25kgs around.

My biggest issue at the moment is my wrists, more specifically my left wrist which has pretty bad rheumatoid arthritis. As a result I'm over compensating and putting all the weight on my good wrist which is now starting to hurt as well.
I'm sure if I can lose this extra weight over the next few years this will make a huge difference. In the mean time are there any supports on the market?
Also what kind of riding plan should I be looking at to improve?

Id like to join my local club in the summer but don't want to embarrass my self or hold anyone back

Many thanks

Fu

kajjal

Have a read on bike setup. If the bars are too low or too far away this can put extra weight on your hands as can other setup issues. My road bike has a inch of drop from the saddle to the bars , others on here prefer several inches, it is also down to personal preference.

Initialised

Well done getting back in the saddle.

For wrist pain you can try different hand positions: http://bikebarn.com/tips/cycling-tips-t ... nds-35.htm

Changing position regularly.

Shifting your weight so there's less weight held by your arms.

It may just be adaptation so wrist exercises (no not that) may help, wrist curls and rotations with small weights.

Wrist supports are available: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -11-44464/ or http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... -12-45797/ though these are usually designed for MTBing after a fracture or sprain.

FuManChu

Superb

Thank you

simonj

You may also find that moving the saddle back can reduce the weight put on your wrists as it balances your weight back and removes it from your wrists. May sound counter intuitive, but it's right. Cycle along slowly, put your feet static at 3 and 9 o'clock, hands on the hoods as if riding normally. Then slowly take your hands off the hoods, whilst changing nothing. If you fall forward you have excess weight on your wrists and moving the saddle back will balance you better. I know it may seem backwards but it's right. Think of this instead, stand up straight against a wall, now whilst keeping your bum and legs against the wall, bend over at the waist so you lean forward, you'll fall forward as you are not balanced. Now do it not against a wall, what will naturally happen is as you lean forward, your bum will go backwards to counter balance you, the same is true on a bike, but if your seat does not allow your bum to go back, you'll be putting too much weight forward and on your wrists. If you can't put the saddle back enough your bike may not be the right size/shape for you or there may be other issues to.

FuManChu

Makes perfect sense, thanks. I've just downloaded the "size my bike app" so will also try imputing my measurements in the morning and seeing what that tells me.
I went for the 52cm Specialized Allez after talking to the guys at Evans so it had better no be the wrong bloody size

Cheers

FuManChu

simonj wrote:

You may also find that moving the saddle back can reduce the weight put on your wrists as it balances your weight back and removes it from your wrists. May sound counter intuitive, but it's right. Cycle along slowly, put your feet static at 3 and 9 o'clock, hands on the hoods as if riding normally. Then slowly take your hands off the hoods, whilst changing nothing. If you fall forward you have excess weight on your wrists and moving the saddle back will balance you better. I know it may seem backwards but it's right. Think of this instead, stand up straight against a wall, now whilst keeping your bum and legs against the wall, bend over at the waist so you lean forward, you'll fall forward as you are not balanced. Now do it not against a wall, what will naturally happen is as you lean forward, your bum will go backwards to counter balance you, the same is true on a bike, but if your seat does not allow your bum to go back, you'll be putting too much weight forward and on your wrists. If you can't put the saddle back enough your bike may not be the right size/shape for you or there may be other issues to.

Hi, took the seat back 30mm and also dropped it 30mm, took it for a 5 mile spin and already feels more sympathetic towards my wrists. I'll get a proper feel tomorrow when I do 3 or 4 hours

Thanks for that

Fu

jaxf

I had a big problem with sore arms especially after long descents after an undiagonosed fracture of the left arm. (Turns out a high pain threshold is not an unmitigated good) . My physio recommended this powerballs.com, and that and time have helped, as has making sure my headset is absolutely nailed, no vibration.