Originally Posted by crosscut
everyday? oh coach, come on......
I do the normal runner stretches before and after a ride. Any other stretches I should be doing? I know that there has been mixed reports of the pros vs. cons of stretching, but I find it helps me more than hurts.
edit: the stretches before a ride are minimal, as stretching when you are "cold" is not a good idea.
I do my stretches *every* morning IN BED! Well most of them anyway. I do this as I'm warm and unlikely to 'pop' something. I can't stress enough how important stretching is.
I started racing early this year, and combined with core strength work I stretch every day, often twice a day and I plan on increasing this regime. I've recently been able to lower my TT bike bars about 40mm and flip the stem on the RR bike. I've raised the seats 10mm on both bikes. I did this in conjunction with moving the seats forward, about 12mm on the RR bike and 30mm on the TT'r. It caused me a little discomfort initially but now I'm way more aero and much stronger generally and particularly so when sprinting in the drops. (I'm currently running in the top 5 in the club pointscore)
A lower position reduces air pressure which is *the* biggest hurdle we face when riding.
Get yourselves more flexibility guys. Flip them stems and improve your riding.