Ouch, my aching shoulders!

Hey Lee, just ordered your book and I’m looking forward to reading it. In the meantime I have a question for you related to posture and bike setup and how they affect muscle tension.

I’ve had trouble the past few seasons with cramping and pain in my upper back, trapezius, lower neck area whenever I do rides longer than 2.5 to 3 hours. I’ve found a little relief when I can consciously roll my pelvis to bring my core muscles into a sort of supporting role, but that’s only a brief relief.

The cramping and pain happen most often when on rides with long climbs at the start. I live and ride in western Montana and frequently have climbs of at least 45 minutes to an hour, with longer climbs on longer rides.

I don’t know whether I just unconsciously tense those muscles when I ride, or whether my bike setup is wrong, or whether it’s my climbing technique. I’m stuck on trying to figure out how to get some relief.

For setup info I’m 5’10” and have long arms (34″ sleeve). I have my bikes set up with about a 1.5″ drop from saddle to grips when I’ve got the saddle at normal traverse/climb height. I’ve got my top tube + stem + seatpost setback pretty much an equal distance on all 3 bikes that I ride. Same handlebar on all 3 bikes.

Do you have any ideas on what is causing the cramping and pain, and what can be done to help?

Thanks!

Sean O’Neil
Missoula, Montana

This was a loooooooong climb to the top of Lower Rock Creek Trail near Mammoth, CA, circa 2002. Check out the braaap-style Enduro position. You can pedal plenty hard, and it’s much more comfy on epic rides. Tour de California 2002

Hi Sean.

This is a great question — a complex one — but I’ll try to lay it out simply:

The problems

If your neck, shoulders and upper back are hurting, then you have one or both of these:

1. Too much weight on your bars, which tires those muscles.

2. Too much tension in those muscles, which often stems from #1 but can come from being a hyper/tense person, Mr. I Ride Three Bikes. 😉

The causes

If you have a 1.5″ drop from saddle to bar, it sounds like you have a traditional road/XC long/low position. This helps you maintain traction on climbs and pedal powerfully, but it puts a lot of weight on your bars, which strains your upper body (and makes it hard to descend with your weight balanced on your pedals, where it should be).

With this position, in order to keep your hands light you must:

1. Pedal really hard, so your weight is going into the cranks, not your bars. And/or

2. Have a very strong core.

That racer-dude position is very hard to maintain for long rides.

Another reason to run a short stem: BRAAAP!!! A 2005 Enduro this time …

The solutions

As with all things, this is part bike setup, part technique.

1. Keep your hands light. Keep your arms and shoulders relaxed. This applies up and down, left and right.

2. Strengthen your core. Always a good idea. James Wilson’s MTB Strength Training Program will make you hate James in the weight room, but you’ll love him on the bike.

2. Proper posture is much easier with a sane position.

– Take one of those three bikes. Switch from the long stem and low bars to a short stem and high bars.

– Raise your bars until they’re even with your saddle. You must run a short stem, say 50-70mm. (I always run a 50; Brian Lopes always runs a 70).

– With your arms straight, your torso should be around 60 degrees. You can bend your arms to get lower.

This setup rocks your weight back onto the saddle, which makes it easier to push your Awesome Power into the pedals rather than your bars. It also helps you braaap on the descents.

Rock it and tell me how it goes!

— Lee

BTW: You say this is more of a problem when the ride starts with a climb. I guarantee you’re all tense and spastic. Relax and warm up gently — you have a few more hours!