Age 60 and have had my bouts with lower back pain. Typical causes are carrying heavy shoulder bags (asymmetrical), odd seated position for long hours at work, and pretending I'm 20 years younger and lifting too heavy items incorrectly.

I've decided to go from occasional century rider to tourist this summer, and have bought a new bike (Trek 520) and started a weekly training routine of 40-50 miles or so and 2000-3000 feet of climbing and a daily of about 20miles and 1K of climbing.

For the first time, I have some back pain that's pretty clearly associated with cycling. Not on every ride, but when it hits, I'm out of commission for a few days. I'm not being aggressive in my riding in any way, and take my time to do the climbs. I can't quite nail down what I'm doing that's causing the stress.

I need some help coming up with a list of things to be mindful of as I ride, to avoid the back stress.