So I turned 45 this weekend, and decided rather than lying around drinking Bailey’s and smoking weed to commemorate the 45th anniversary of my mother expelling me from her womb, I would do something adventurous. I agreed to go on a two-day, 110-mile bike ride from a little town called Williamsport in northwest Maryland down a beautiful, rugged trail to D.C. that hugs the north bank of the Potomac River.
There were seven of us in our group and we set off a bit late on Saturday morning. This meant we had to go pretty hard to make it to Leesburg by dusk.
I had been training by going on three-to-four hour bike rides the last two months or so, but never had I done 50 miles in a day, so I was really nervous for my bum and legs and more importantly, my neck and shoulders, which always cause me problems whenever I am hunched over for more than an hour or so.
I was proud of my bum and legs. I had no issues and they performed valiantly. But by the end of the day on Saturday, the last hour spent negotiating a violent thunderstorm and torrential downpour that made the trail treacherous, I felt like someone was thrusting a red hot dagger into my neck and left shoulder. This was despite a handful of Advil I’d taken when the pain first started to present itself.
There were many experienced cyclists among us and no one could see any obvious signs that I wasn’t positioned properly on the bike or that the frame was too big for me or anything like that. None of us could quite figure it out.
In any event, I spent Saturday night with a heating pad attached to my shoulders, Advil and booze, and the next day it was only slightly better, largely because we opted for a paved trail that wasn’t as bumpy and unpredictable as the gravel travel the day before.
Have any of you ever experienced such a thing? If so, what to do? I want to do a three-day, 150-mile ride in three weeks and I am already dreading it.
July 27, 2009 at 11:50 am
My love and admiration for you grows with every tale of biking accomplishment. My two hour 25 mile ride up and down Manhattan’s west side now seems so wussy.
July 27, 2009 at 12:24 pm
You might try raising your handle bars a bit. Also, when you’re riding, concentrate on keeping your core muscles tight, not leaning on the handle bars as much, focus on keeping your head and neck in line with your spine. When you hit some smooth easy stretches, sit up a bit, relax your shoulders, let go of the handle bars with one hand, press the heel of that hand down, and lean your head to the opposite side toward the shoulder to stretch the trapezius muscle. If it’s really bad, stop the bike and do the stretch so you can lengthen the muscle as much as possible. You can gently put pressure on your head with the other hand to help with the stretch. Icy Hot patches also work wonders after a ride.
July 27, 2009 at 7:17 pm
This is so timely! I just got a bike and am LOVING riding outside instead of spinning all the time. It feels like a better workout too.
No advice, just inspired.
July 27, 2009 at 11:51 pm
it means you should buy a moped!
July 28, 2009 at 10:03 am
The main things to look at would be the saddle height, the height/width/backsweep of the handlebars, and the reach from the saddle to the bars. Raising the stem that holds the bars may help, or swapping to a shorter stem. Ergonomic grips (such as http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/home) can help to reduce nerve pressure in the hands and allow you to relax your muscles more too.
A good bike store should be able to look at your position on the bike and recommend the right changes.
Good luck with the mile munching.
July 28, 2009 at 1:15 pm
My dad used to be pretty hardcore about bike riding, and he eventually switched to a recumbent bicycle because of shoulder pain (which was aggravated after someone in a pickup truck hit him while he was riding and broke his shoulder). It looked sort of goofy, but he said it was very comfortable. If nothing else works, you could go all chopper-style!
July 28, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Hey – Happy Birthday Trixie!
July 29, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I rode 600km (372 miles) across the north of Spain over a 2 week period, when I was 29 (holyfuck, 9 years ago already?!) and each day was as hard as the first.
I now only travel by automobile. If I could drive inside my house, I would.
Happy birthday, slut.
July 30, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I don’t know what kind of bike you’re riding, but my friend hurt her back and couldn’t ride her fancier “real” bike (the one that makes her actually look like a cyclist). She went back to her upright mountain bike and was immediately better.
Good luck, and happy birthday!!
July 31, 2009 at 6:31 am