Base of neck pain

[DeF]

I went for a long (for me) ride on ANZAC day - over 120km
through the Perth hills. By the end, besides being a bit
tired and having a little muscle soreness, the only persistent
problem has been a bit of an ache/pain at the base of my neck.
Not debilitating but annoying. One of the guys I rode with
reckons he has this almost permanently. I've been getting
this pain/discomfort on longer rides for as long as I can
remember.

Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?

Otherwise, the ride felt great and the bike felt comfortable
on climbs, flats and descents. I recently lowered the saddle
by a few mm and that seems to have sorted some leg-ache
I was getting.

Any suggestions (especially ones that don't require new parts)
most welcome.

DeF


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[EuanB]

I went for a long (for me) ride on ANZAC day - over 120km
through the Perth hills. By the end, besides being a bit
tired and having a little muscle soreness, the only persistent
problem has been a bit of an ache/pain at the base of my neck.
Not debilitating but annoying. One of the guys I rode with
reckons he has this almost permanently. I've been getting
this pain/discomfort on longer rides for as long as I can
remember.

Are you using your bones to support your body on the bike or your muscles? Refer http://www.sheldonbrown.com/pain.html#posture

 

[Terryc]

DeF wrote:

> Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?

Drop bars? {

 

[suzyj]

Def wrote:

> Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?

Yes, it does. There's a fundamental conflict between positioning for comfort and positioning for speed. Your neck and shoulder pain is due to riding for too long with your head tilted back, so you can see where you're going.

This in turn is related to having the bars too low for comfort.

That said though, I also have my bars set a lot lower than comfort would dictate, because I go faster with lower bars.

Aside from raising your bars, there are two things you can do to reduce the pain.

The first is to make it so you don't have to lift your head up as high to see. If you wear glasses, try contacts. If you have a peak on your helmet, remove it.

The other one is stretching. Periodically on the ride, like every twenty or thirty minutes, sit up straight (no hands on bars), clasp your hands behind your back, and give your neck muscles a stretch. If you do it habitually, you'll keep your neck in good shape. I generally do this as I go over the tops of climbs.

Cheers,

Suzy

 

[cfsmtb]

Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?

Have a visor attached to your helmet? Consider removing it, I had a similar problem and after the visor was taken off - hey presto - no horrid neck pain.

 

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 09:37:31 +1000
suzyj <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Aside from raising your bars, there are two things you can do to reduce
> the pain.

Well three, but I suspect the third option is not as useful to the
original poster as the other two

Zebee
- who not only doesn't have to look up but has this lovely neckrest

 

[Parbs]

Terryc wrote:
> DeF wrote:
>
>> Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?
>
> Drop bars? {

Nah, drops are good. I bet he's probably riding on the road.

Parbs

 

[Dave]

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:57:36 +0000, Parbs wrote:

> Nah, drops are good. I bet he's probably riding on the road.

Could also be shifters. Those things do all sorts of funny things, like
make you soft. Right Parbs?

--
Dave Hughes | [email protected]
There are some things so serious you have to laugh at them.
- Niels Bohr

 

[Parbs]

Dave wrote:
>
> Could also be shifters.

Could be. Finishing off a bike build yesterday it took me 6 goes to
thread the right cables to the right derailleur. They were a pain in
the neck and I still can't get the front to shift.

Parbs - who fixed his 1x1 this morning.

 

[Campag_nut]

I found a disc fusion in the c6-7 region didn't help. You haven't been
operated on in your sleep by any chance?
<g>

 

[rooman]

Def wrote:

> Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?

Yes, it does. There's a fundamental conflict between positioning for comfort and positioning for speed. Your neck and shoulder pain is due to riding for too long with your head tilted back, so you can see where you're going.

This in turn is related to having the bars too low for comfort.

That said though, I also have my bars set a lot lower than comfort would dictate, because I go faster with lower bars.

Aside from raising your bars, there are two things you can do to reduce the pain.

The first is to make it so you don't have to lift your head up as high to see. If you wear glasses, try contacts. If you have a peak on your helmet, remove it.

The other one is stretching. Periodically on the ride, like every twenty or thirty minutes, sit up straight (no hands on bars), clasp your hands behind your back, and give your neck muscles a stretch. If you do it habitually, you'll keep your neck in good shape. I generally do this as I go over the tops of climbs.

Cheers,

Suzy

many bike set ups (for fit ) establish your usual comfortable riding position with your hand resting on the bars, at this position you will be most comfortable, thus for long rides ( not short races or short interval training rides) if you spend most of your ride with your hands on the hoods or extended periods on the drops , your head will be lower and extra strain to lift your head to see forward then your neck will ache, and hands get numb and other things as well).
If you saw Stuart O'Grady riding the Paris Roubaix this year you will note that for the most part he is riding with his hands on the bars, as relaxed as he can and for maximum shock absrobtion ( which isnt easy on a Cervélo, but that's another story)- and the bulk of the bike setups had the riders on longer wheelbases and more upright positions-(as per commentary). Stuart rarely had his hands on the hoods or the drops when he was out in front and needing to go quickly but relaxed. He wouldnt be able to do the whole ride on the hoods and drops and not have a neck ache, get tired and lose performance.
It's most likely you either spend too much time too far forward or the bars need to come up . The amount of adjustment is dependant on your physiology, riding style and fitness/flexibility...not easy to resolve here. Likely you may need an adjustment to your set up which may need parts...(ouch I hear)...sometimes you can prepare for a long ride by reversing (flipping) your stem and lifting the bars before you head out. Swap them back when you get home for shorter rides. Try it out , flip the stem and see how it feels, may seem weird at first but on a long ride your neck will love you, I am sure.

Make sure your cables are long enough and not strained by a more upright position. Some LBS's cut bcables too short and prevent "flipping", necessitating a visit to the shop and new parts bought (naughty eh!)

One thing I found once was that my spectacle prescription placed the long focus object position in the wrong place for me and I was lifting my head a bit too much above a comfortable position set by my fit. So I had to factor that in and lift the bars, until I got new lenses with a wider field which enabled the long focus "spot" to be better placed on the lense. - no hassle after that!

 

[DeF]

Parbs wrote:
> Dave wrote:
>>
>> Could also be shifters.
>
> Could be. Finishing off a bike build yesterday it took me 6 goes to
> thread the right cables to the right derailleur. They were a pain in
^^^^^^^^^
> the neck and I still can't get the front to shift.
^^^^^^^^
>
> Parbs - who fixed his 1x1 this morning.

Back on topic eh?

DeF


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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
To reply, you'll have to remove your finger.

 

[DeF]

DeF wrote:
> I went for a long (for me) ride on ANZAC day - over 120km
> through the Perth hills. By the end, besides being a bit
> tired and having a little muscle soreness, the only persistent
> problem has been a bit of an ache/pain at the base of my neck.
> Not debilitating but annoying. One of the guys I rode with
> reckons he has this almost permanently. I've been getting
> this pain/discomfort on longer rides for as long as I can
> remember.
>
> Does this point to any obvious positioning problem?
>
> Otherwise, the ride felt great and the bike felt comfortable
> on climbs, flats and descents. I recently lowered the saddle
> by a few mm and that seems to have sorted some leg-ache
> I was getting.
>
> Any suggestions (especially ones that don't require new parts)
> most welcome.
>
> DeF
>
>


Lots of good suggestions so ta. I'll try the options that
don't require purchases - flipping the stem might be high on
the list.

Also, I wear sunglasses (Kuota) and notice that they perhaps
sit a little low on my nose. I'll make 'em sit higher and see
how I go.

Cheers,
DeF.

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e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
To reply, you'll have to remove your finger.