Triathlon - Riding position for a newb
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I've just started riding my tri bike and have been practicing getting in position on the tri bars. I find my neck is really straining when I look up to see where I'm going. (Probably smart to see where I'm going) Anyway, is this something that gets more comfortable with time? Any suggestions are great. Thanks!
kmkurdone
09-22-07, 04:00 PM
Your body will get used to the position in time. (it doesn't take that long) Good luck!
chrisesposito
09-23-07, 09:17 AM
Assuming you are not in a position that is genuinely too aggressive for you, yes it will get better. One trick is to roll your eyes up instead of craning your neck back so far - instead of looking directly straight ahead at something, it feels like I'm looking through the top of my eyes.
Depending on which set of aerobars you have, you might be able to get spacers that you can use to initially raise the bars to where they are more comfortable and then gradually lower them. I found just 15 mm to make a world of difference.
Lastly, if you aren't very flexible you might try yoga as a way increasing flexibility (and therefore comfort) in the aero position. I was talking with my physical therapist about stretching and he prefers the whole-body connected stretching you get in yoga to a series of stretches that isolate individual muscles.
Flexibility has always been a problem of mine. Hopefully it gets better soon!
bvfrompc
09-24-07, 11:10 AM
One trick is to roll your eyes up instead of craning your neck back so far - instead of looking directly straight ahead at something, it feels like I'm looking through the top of my eyes.
+1, look up with the eyes and not the head. I wear sunglasses that sit pretty high up so I don't see the top bar on them when I am bent over and looking up.
Looking up definitely helps. Also, my glasses had the bar right in my line of vision so I was straining to tilt my head even further. I'm not where I would like to be and still have some neck stiffness, but it seems to be better than before.
chrisesposito
09-28-07, 09:31 AM
You might try some rimless sunglasses - if I wear any sunglasses at all I usually wear a pair of rimless ones from Tifosi - http://www.tifosioptics.com/single/scatto.html