Pain between shoulder blades

Woland99

On May 12, 4:22 pm, "joseph.santanie...@gmail.com"
<joseph.santanie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On May 12, 10:46 pm, Woland99 <wolan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On May 12, 3:31 pm, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > On May 12, 2:30 pm, Lou Holtman <lholditn...@planet.nl> wrote:
>
> > > > Woland99 wrote:
> > > > > On May 12, 11:38 am, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >> On May 12, 11:21 am, Woland99 <wolan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > >>> Well I did my first 50 mile ride this Saturday. Started biking in Dec
> > > > >>> with just
> > > > >>> 3-4 miles rides so I guess I made some progress. 50 miles was not too
> > > > >>> bad
> > > > >>> except for really nasty pain between my shoulder blades after about 35
> > > > >>> miles.
> > > > >>> Is that something that can be avoided? I had bike fitted and saddle
> > > > >>> was moved
> > > > >>> forward slightly for less weight on my arms. So I presume bike
> > > > >>> geometry is OK.
> > > > >> You'll have to hope for a clairvoyant responder--as you don't mention
> > > > >> type of handlebars, height, width, your physical issues if any,
> > > > >> etc... ;-)
>
> > > > >> Start with the basics though--try to not hunch when you ride. Relax.
> > > > >> Stop and stretch. Don't grip the bars like Homer Simpson on Bart's
> > > > >> neck.
>
> > > > >> Don't presume bike geometry is OK, btw--and don't think that moving
> > > > >> the saddle is a substitute for getting the bar in the right place--if
> > > > >> that's your real issue. Mind, I just bumped my new saddle forward 5mm
> > > > >> to get "just right" the other day in relation to the hoods--that's one
> > > > >> thing--but if you've got a short stem and your elbows are locked out,
> > > > >> it's time to get the right size stem, as that's a bigger fix.
>
> > > > >> Give us a clearer idea of what's up.
>
> > > > > It is just regular touring bike - Novara Randonee. So perhaps one with
> > > > > slightly longer top tube but it should be ok for me - I have short
> > > > > legs
> > > > > and long torso. Drop handlebars. Bike was fitted so it width of the
> > > > > handlebars is correct for my shoulder width. I do have weight problem
> > > > > and yes I tend to grip bars very tightly - but I work on both of
> > > > > these.
> > > > > I will definitely go to place that did the fitting and ask them to
> > > > > repeat the process (they guarantee it for 1 month). One significant
> > > > > change that they did (beyond moving saddle forward) was moving cleats
> > > > > backward by about 15mm - I think that this position better
> > > > > corresponds
> > > > > to the location of the ball of my foot.
>
> > > > I would wait for some rides before moving/adjusting anything.
> > > > I go through that proces every season. After two or three rides I'm OK.
>
> > > With the adjustable stem on the Novara, it's just a matter of carrying
> > > an allen key in your shirt pocket and doing a little monkeying on the
> > > road. I'm with you, though. If I have been off the "sport" bike for a
> > > month--it takes a couple rides for the back to relax back into
> > > "position."
>
> > Thanks for suggestion. When I bought the bike I got stem adjusted in
> > slight upward position - the idea was to slowly lower it when I get
> > used to a bit more stretched position. But perhaps it may make sense
> > to move it even more upward for now.
> > I hope that it will eventually go away - I tried putting ice pack
> > on the sore spot and it helps somewhat. I have another 55 mile ride
> > this coming Sat - and with that pain it will not be fun.
>
> When you are pedalling along pretty hard, if you cannot lift both
> hands a few inches from the bars for a few moments without falling
> forward or straining, you have too much weight on your arms. This will
> be uncomfortable. As you lose weight, you will be able to lower your
> bar position if you want. Weight is more important than flexibility in
> that regard. You want your weight supported by your butt, not your
> hands and shoulders.
>
> If the guy fitting your at the shop hasn't been fat himself, he may
> not be aware of how that changes things. Weight distribution on a bike
> is very important for comfort, and being overweight changes how that
> weight is distributed on the body and that needs to be taken into
> account. The general way to do that is to move the seat back, and the
> bars up and back to accomodate the seat move so you don't get too
> stretched out. If you have a long torso, that part might not be so
> important.
>
> Try to work on not white-knuckling the bars. I ride with my hands open
> quite a bit to relax my forearms. The relaxation is contagious!
>
> How tall are you and what is the (approx) height difference between
> the bars and saddle? That gives a rough idea of what you ar eup
> against.
>
> Joseph

I was under impression that with seat positioned too much back you
have to support your weight on you arm more. I think that that was
the reason that guy in LBS wanted seat forward (on top of moving
cleats backward - in that case you want to move saddle forward to
reposition you knees correct above pedals).
I am 6ft tall - bike that I ride has (if I measured it correctly -
from center of seatpost to center of head tube) 22" top tube.
The top of the handlebar is lightly above the top of the seat -
maybe 1/4". The stem is already in quite upright position - almost
at 45 degrees.
What you said about whiteknuckling the bars may be true - I hardly
ever climb out of the saddle (there is no reason for that since
Randonee has rather low gearing 48/36/26 and 11/32) but when you
climb sitting down you tend to grab the bars with a lot of force.

JT

dustoyevsky@mac.com

On May 13, 12:26*am, Woland99 <wolan...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Not sure if it makes any sense
> just feels like effective method. Climbing out of the saddle seems
> to require a lot of upper body work for me - I am quite sure I have
> a lot to leasrn there.

Some people make a large deal out of pointing out that "it doesn't
make any difference when measured"-- how you think about pedaling or
try to manage your efforts isn't detectable through instrumentation.
All well and good, I don't let that deter me from doing what works.

> I think that part of the problem with pain in upper back may be
> due to the fact that I tend to allow torso to sortta sag down
> and shoulder blade to go back - that creates tensin in that area.
> IN that respect seat positioned forward is most likely more of an
> enemy than help.

Well, you need to practice your positioning like most everyone else--
grip not too tight, but tight enough to hold on over bumps, elbows
bent to absorb shock, and pointed somewhat outwards, so forth. There
are a couple of places in town where I can ride by reflective windows
(without running into anything or being hit by an MV, so far) and
check on how I'm doing. My problem is tightening up the left shoulder,
actually raising it up and going into clamp mode for some reason.
Something I've had to correct somewhat continuously over the last 30
years <g>. WTH, like playing pedaling games, it gives you something to
do out there!

Try consciously moving your hands around on the bars, changing grip
positions frequently if your hands are clenching. Makes you loosen
your grip (!), and also stops the "going rigid" thing at least for a
moment. Your pedaling power comes mostly from the small of of your
back and on down, when seated-- putting that into the thought process
can help things along.

If you have access to a gym with free weights and/or machines (and
aren't already on a workout regime) some light work, going through
full range of motion, doing a fair number of light-medium effort reps,
can really help with conditioning you for the bike. For me, for some
reason even though you don't seem to use the triceps all that much,
doing some fairly hard triceps work (after building up to it) seemed
to really help. I've had people pooh-pooh that, but there it is. --D-y