Introductions - Hello Everybody

Hello Everybody,

I'm new here so just introducing myself. My name is Jon Foster, i'm 16 and i really enjoy cycling to work every day (only 7 miles each way) and enjoy going for a decent cruise on the weekends now and again. My main bike is a Marin Kentfield but i'm saving for a real racing bike, i have a Falcon Veloce but its old and in a sorry state. I always enjoyed cycling from when i learnt to ride but been since i moved to Portsmouth (england) 4 years ago its been my only means of transport and i've clocked up quiet a few miles. About 3 years ago i started doing some riding on my falcon racer about 10 miles a day and a training session on the track every Friday, i stopped this in November '03 when i got a serious rip in my calf muscle from running. In February i got my Marin bike and its really nice to ride to work on, thin tyres like a racing bike and a "comfortable riding position." I have a question about setting my bike up for a proper ride as i did a 3 hour ride on Saturday and i have a real back ache now and my hands were starting to ache while i was riding so i clearly need to sort it out, what bit should i post in about this?

Cheers guys

Jon

Try posting your ? in the Road Cycling section and explain your bike set-up and the problems you're having. You should get a few responses to point you in the right direction.

Oh, by the way, Welcome ;)

Hi,

At one time I used to commute 22 miles each way to work nearly every day. I did it intially on an old Raleigh Grand Prix, and then later on a Trek 1000. I've since moved to a different state and the commute distance has decreased to about what you are riding. Both bikes fit me reasonably well and I could ride for quite a long time. More recently I found I couldn't ride more than about 15 minutes before varous parts of my anatomy would get sore, go numb (weird feeling when your hands go numb), etc. I quit commuting and even riding for short errands. Since I don't compete and race I was not inclinded to continue in the direction of a traditional diamond frame bike. I swithced to a recumbent. Guess what, I've spent more time on the recumbent in the last week than I had spent on the road bike in the last year. I'm getting fit, losing some weight, nothing hurts anymore. I've even started some limited commuting again. The importatn thing is that the 'bent fit me well and fit my needs. The important thing is FIT. As a suggestion try analyzing your fit to see if there are some very minor tweaks to make it more comfortable. Sometimes even very small adjustments will make a huge difference. As a last resort try a recumbent, if you feel the need to race there are the IHPV events.

'bent Brian