Neck pain!

Sojourner said:

Did my first 50+ mile ride on my Terry Madeleine (boy do I love that
bike!) this past weekend. With the MS 150 fast approaching (9/16 -
9/17, this next weekend) I have only one issue yet to be dealt with.

After about 40 miles I start having some neck pain. Since I'll be
riding as far as possible for 2 days in a row, any advice for how to
prevent or cope with this would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sojourner

Where is this pain? Make sure to change your hand positions often, and
try to not tense up you shoulders. This is easier if your positioning
is correct in terms of fore-aft balance. If there is too much weight on
your arms, it is hard to not tense up your shoulders, which could be a
cause of your neck pain. I've also seen people wearing glasses and
helmets that block their vision such that they crane their neck at an
odd angle to be able to see. Make sure you are not doing this.

Good luck!

Joseph

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Quoted message said:

Sojourner said:

Did my first 50+ mile ride on my Terry Madeleine (boy do I love that
bike!) this past weekend. With the MS 150 fast approaching (9/16 -
9/17, this next weekend) I have only one issue yet to be dealt with.

After about 40 miles I start having some neck pain. Since I'll be
riding as far as possible for 2 days in a row, any advice for how to
prevent or cope with this would be muchly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sojourner

Where is this pain? Make sure to change your hand positions often, and
try to not tense up you shoulders. This is easier if your positioning
is correct in terms of fore-aft balance. If there is too much weight on
your arms, it is hard to not tense up your shoulders, which could be a
cause of your neck pain. I've also seen people wearing glasses and
helmets that block their vision such that they crane their neck at an
odd angle to be able to see. Make sure you are not doing this.

Good luck!

Joseph

Better yet, consider a recumbent bike or trike... ah the comfort!

Quoted message said:

Every time I hear about Terry bikes, I remember when I first married my
ex-wife. She had just bought a Terry frame, and she swore it was SO
MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE and FIT HER SO MUCH BETTER than the Colnago she
had been riding. So I measured the top tube and seat tube distances on
each frame. They were exactly the same, because both frames had been
sized properly. Despite my having proven that there could not be any
significant difference in the comfort of the two frames because they
had exactly the same measurements, my ex continued to tell anybody
within earshot how much more comfortable her Terry frame was.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Every time I hear about Terry bikes, I remember when I first married my
ex-wife. She had just bought a Terry frame, and she swore it was SO
MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE and FIT HER SO MUCH BETTER than the Colnago she
had been riding. So I measured the top tube and seat tube distances on
each frame. They were exactly the same, because both frames had been
sized properly. Despite my having proven that there could not be any
significant difference in the comfort of the two frames because they
had exactly the same measurements, my ex continued to tell anybody
within earshot how much more comfortable her Terry frame was.

I was just thinking something similar when I read the OP. Neck pain after
40 miles but loves the bike.

On 11 Sep 2006 09:16:34 -0700, "Sojourner" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Did my first 50+ mile ride on my Terry Madeleine (boy do I love that
bike!) this past weekend. With the MS 150 fast approaching (9/16 -
9/17, this next weekend) I have only one issue yet to be dealt with.

After about 40 miles I start having some neck pain. Since I'll be
riding as far as possible for 2 days in a row, any advice for how to
prevent or cope with this would be muchly appreciated.

One tip that helps me is to watch the scenery on either side -- roll
your head to one side, watch a while, roll to the other side, watch it
go by over there. Don't know if this will do it alone, but it helps.

Pat

Email address works as is.

As I'm sure others have already mentioned, neck pain (as with most
pains) are usually attributed to poor bike adjustment. In this case
either handlebard to far forwards (or seat too far back), Bars to loe or
seat too high.

Since you mention no other pains, I would guess either your bars are too
low or too far forwards, causing you to have to bend your neck too much.
A good test to see if they'r too far forward is with your hands on the
drops, the front hub shound be hidden behind the bars (or slightly in
front if it's a touring frame).

If this is fine, try the bar height.

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