Bill,

I have been bothered with lower back pain for years. The more I ride, the worse it gets.I should add at this time, that I ride road bikes exclusively. I noticed that in winter, when I ride less & work out at the gym more, the problem nearly disappears. I have been to orthopods, chiropractors, back specialists, neurologists & even did chants while burning incense made from ground up Continental Grand Prix tires & Pedro's Lube. Nothing helped.

While recovering from elbow surgery, my physical therapist & I were talking about how much I like to ride, etc., & I told him of my back pain. He explained to me that riding makes the quads & hip flexors hypertrophic (built up), while the hamstrings, glutes & erector muscles in the back & abdomen become relatively weaker. This creates an imbalance. The hamstrings & glutes become very tight trying to balance the overly strong quads. Ditto the back & abdominal erector muscles. This tightness creates pain (in my case sometimes extremely intense).

He assigned a series of stretches that really concentrated on the hamstrings & glutes as well as back extensions. He cautioned me never to stretch until I was fully warmed up.

The bottom line is...this really worked for me. My hamstrings & glutes are usually VERY tight. (I suspect this is exacerbated by age...I'm in my late 50's). I do not particularly like like doing the stretches, but when I do them after riding, I am not quite, but nearly pain free. When I don't do them.....I pay!

Hope this helps you. Feel free to E-mail me if you need clarification.