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New biker with thumb pain..........

Old 07-28-06, 09:38 AM
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New biker with thumb pain..........

Hi, I am new to mountain biking. I've only ridden about 5 or 6 times maybe about 20 miles. Some of the terrain has been pretty rough, the longest trail was good and clear. The first time I didn't use gloves and got a major blister on my hand which is better now. The thing bothering me now is some major thumb pain. It doesn't seem to be the the joint connected to my hand but the joint in the thumb. It almost feels jammed. When I stretch my arms it tingles. I did have surgey on my hand like five years ago for breaking the bone connected to my ring finger which is loaded with tiny screws. I rembember having some thumb pain after my second surgery when they did a bone graft on my wrist. I'm not sure if that is related or if this a common ailment among new bikers so I thought I'd ask here if anyone else experienced this problem.
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Old 07-28-06, 10:11 AM
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I started riding about 6 months ago and can remember getting sore and rough hands for maybe the first couple of weeks. If it's something new then it just takes a little getting used to.

If it is serious pain tho and you think it could be linked to surgery - get yourself down to the doc.
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Old 07-28-06, 12:52 PM
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The thumb pain is related to too much shifting. Switch to a single speed and this will eleviate all your problems.

J/k, you may be sitting with too much weight on your hands. A lot of newbies do this. Try shifting your weight to your butt. This will take the weight off your arms. This will also work your abs more.
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Old 07-28-06, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by a2psyklnut
The thumb pain is related to too much shifting. Switch to a single speed and this will eleviate all your problems.
...in your thumbs, you should have said. Depending on age and/or knees, it just shifts the pain elsewhere

Originally Posted by a2psyklnut
J/k, you may be sitting with too much weight on your hands. A lot of newbies do this. Try shifting your weight to your butt. This will take the weight off your arms. This will also work your abs more.
I suspect that Homegirl has a death grip on the bars. The fact that she can go for a ride and end up with a blister on her thumb, would suggest that she is holding the bar way to hard. Try to loosen your grip, Homegirl. You shouldn't try to strangle your bars but just hold them. Try to relax your arms and grip the bars a little more lightly.
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Old 07-29-06, 03:07 PM
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A softer set of grips and/or gloves may do you well.
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Old 07-29-06, 08:50 PM
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You may have the same kinda pain that I did when I started going out. Like everyone else has said, part of my problem was due to gripping to hard.

Beyond that, my thumb pain came (as mentioned... but in a funny way ) from shifting. My normal day consists of either 8 hours on the computer or 8 hours on a piano, and it turns out that my move from grip to trigger shifters was rather hard on my thumbs. You can do little stretches (stretch both out and in), which should help over time; and then learn that you really don't need to shift much unless you have a trail with hills.
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