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Preventing Cycling Injuries

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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14 Comments

  1. Lori

    My body aches really only come from the longer rides. I get some tension in my shoulders. My thighs do get tired as well, but you just can’t avoid that on really long rides. I average about 80 miles a week on my bike and you still get aches and pains. The worst stuff happens when I hit an unexpected bump and didn’t get a chance to loosen my grip. That always ends up really hurting my wrists.

    We won’t talk about the scrapes and bruises from falling over LOL!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Good suggestion. I’ve learned to loosen my grip on the bars when going over speed bumps and other stuff and it helps a lot.

      The last few weeks I’ve been having back pain during my rides. I think I need to have my seat re-adjusted soon.

  2. Tiffany

    Great tips! I really want to get back on my bike… but I hate it and need to save for a new one. Worst purchase ever. Live and learn, right? I also very much relate to the ‘tention’ tip, espeically when it comes to hand/wrist pain. My add-on to it would be that if you have pain for too long, get it check out! I hurt my wrist gripping my handle bars too tightly while racing home in a thunder storm two year ago, and I’ve now lost range of motion in my wrist because I never got it looked at, thinking the pain would just go away.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Great tip! YES, don’t ignore lingering aches and pains. Get them checked out.

      What kind of bike do you have? Unfortunately it does make a difference when we buy the “wrong” bike. Check out this post: http://www.110pounds.com/?p=18035

  3. sugarmagnolia70

    Great post! In fact, I just got my bike fitted last night, despite having it for a year and a half so far, so very timely for me.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Good job! Did your bike need a lot of adjustments?

  4. Alison

    This is perfect timing for me – I’m itching to get biking this Summer. I don’t put on enough miles to get saddle soreness but I do get lots of tension in my shoulders and arms – basically because my bike has me lean over quite a bit. Better for speed, not too great on the arms!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      The shoulders and arm soreness is common. I get upper shoulder/neck soreness after really long rides. I bet it’s posture.

  5. C

    I just recently bought a rode bike and so far I LOVE it! I do notice that my hands and fingers tend to get a little numb. Maybe its because I am gripping the handle bars too tightly? I am a little fearful because this is the first bike that I have where I have the clipless peddles so I am probably giving the handle bars the death grip. I do LOVE biking though.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s so great! What kind of bike did you get?

      Yes, the numbness in hands, arms, etc is usually from gripping too tightly. You should also change your hand positions frequently on long rides to prevent pain and stiffness in arms/elbows/shoulders etc.

      Clip in pedals take awhile to get used to. I am still sometimes nervous using them!

      1. C

        Hi Lisa,

        I treated myself to a Trek Lexa S. I was able to get a “good” deal on it because it was last year’s model. I am truly enjoying it.

        1. Lisa Eirene

          Fantastic! There is NOTHING wrong with last year’s model. When I bought my road bike I got last year’s model on clearance. Saved me over $200!

  6. Mary @ Fit and Fed

    Tension, yes, but also pressure that can cause nerve injury to the hand and to the contact area with the seat. Really important as you noted more recently to make adjustments and changes as soon as you notice a problem, to avoid bigger problems.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes! Don’t wait! I waited too long to fix my seat recently. I kept thinking it would get better (stupid mistake).

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