Recreational & Family - sore mussles

After riding a comfort bike for a while (I thought I needed it because of my carpel tunnel), I realized I wanted to go on longer rides, so my LBS let me trade it for a hybrid. He changed the handlebars to straight bars and changed the saddle to smaller/thinner saddle (Milano I think). Now after I ride my butt, forearms and neck are sore. Do I just need to get used to a new position or is there some adjustment I can make. Maybe I'm just trying to put a square peg in a round whole. thanks.
ret

You should let yourself adjust to it before you go on long rides, I think.

You've got sore mussles? I've got sore clams!!! ;) :D

You've got sore mussles? I've got sore clams!!! ;) :D


God, that was funny! :lol:

Part of the problem may just be that you'll need to adjust to the longer rides. It'll take some time before you get used to riding. Just be sure to practice good forum- keeping relaxed upper body, shoulders away from the ears, open chest, slightly bent elbows, relaxed and extended neck, even breathing, and weight back over the pedals and off the handlebars. This kind of stuff takes time, and even the best of us can get fatigued from long rides. Dude, I went out yesterday and just as I was finishing my long ride, I was feeling some pain in the back. Solution? I needed to take a longer rest break at the halfway point and stretch my lower back and hamstrings. In general, I need to work on building a stronger core.

The other part of the problem may be the bike itself. I had a hybrid, and it just killed me to do long rides on that bike. I ended up having the seat so high and the handlebars so low that I was already in a road bike positioning. Unfortunately, I still had the straight handlebar, so it didn't solve my problem too much. But the adjustments did help me to feel more comfortable. But I definitely feel more comfortable on my road bike. Any way you can take that bike back and exchange it for a road bike of comparable price?

Koffee

Try some stretching before and after the rides.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat - getting back into condition for riding a bike. But give it time. Of course having a spa tub helps ease those sore muscles.