I have a similar experience. I started into serious cycling about 8 years ago shortly after I retired. Though I was very fit with excellent core strength due to a 40 year strenuous exercise program, had both shoulder and neck pain with the bars even with the saddle. I built up my time/distance slowly and both went away. I also spent a lot of time adjusting the bikes to fit.

Over time I migrated to almost purely mountain biking and now ride with the bars almost 3" below the saddle. However, my seat to bar distance is such that my back angle is about 50 deg. above the horizontal. Forty five is considered optimum by some pros such as Ned Overend. Bar height is only one parameter that affects back angle.

Now I bike about 50% in the mountains and 50% in the flats of N Florida. I'll get neck/shoulder sourness for the first ride or two in the mountains due to the downhills I assume. When I go back to Florida, my saddle will feel uncomfortable and my hands will tingle for a few rides as I spend much more time in the saddle in Florida and use much less body English.

It takes time to adapt, especially as you get older. I now use an ultra thin saddle that 5 yeas ago I would have said would be impossible.

Anyone with a desk job, which was my situation, definitely needs a good weight training/aerobics program especially after 40. Check out the Younger Next Year thread. For me, the most important exercises for core strength/injury protection are: squats, upright rows, weighted crunches and push-ups.


Al

Thanks everyone. Yesterday, while doing my country riding after about 20 minutes into the ride my neck begins to get painful to where I have to stretch it by looking down. I did try tucking my chin as one respondent suggested but that did not help. It just might be I need to strengthen my neck.

Years ago when I was about 19 I fell off a roof onto my neck and broke it. No one was around to help. All feeling left my body from the neck down. All was peaceful. I thought, so this is how people die of a broken neck. I was ready to meet my Maker. But then the pain came. The muscles in my neck became so tense I couldn't move my neck. After some time the feeling returned to my lower body. I went to my car and went home and slept on the hard wood floor for over a month , in extreme pain, till the neck healed up. I never saw a doctor as I had no insurance anyway. Besides, they probably would have made me a paraplegic had they worked on me. Since that day I have led a very productive, very hard working life. About 30 years later a chiropracter x-rayed me and said, You broke your neck at one time!
I doubt the neck, having been broken so many years ago, would be being aggravated now by bike riding. But who knows?

Anyway, I will try the exercise that race car driver did.

You may want to google neck exercises first. The race car driver exercise sounds a little extreme/dangerous to me.

I've read that pushups or bench presses are very good for this. I'll bet that dumbbell shrugs would help, too.

:eek::twitchy::eek::twitchy: Unfreaking believable.

Sounds like a good, typical case that would apply to every case out there. I'm convinced! I'm selling all my real bikes and getting a rowing machine on wheels. :rolleyes:

Truly incredible!!

However, I think the lack of attention might be coming back to haunt Tony. Yes, I know the race car driver exercise was extreme, and probably I stated so.

But it would be worth seeing a PT or chiro again and having them give you a list of exercises to build the strength of the neck muscles. One thing you do need to do is undertake the exercises at least once under their supervision to ensure you are doing them correctly.

My neck plays up from time to time on the right side because of a car crash about 20 years ago. LIke Tony, I didn't seek treatment for it, and might live to regret that young and foolish decision.

I don't know about the experiences of others here, but of all the times I have seen doctors for orthopedic injuries, including last October, the only time any one of them did anything was in 1988 when I had surgery on my left shoulder. I've rarely had them even give good advice! This goes back to high school, then motorcycling and bicycling. If you can still function, they don't do much.
We don't know if Tony's neck pain has anything to do with his injury, we haven't even seen his position on the bike. It may be possible for him to get comfortable on a df bike and start enjoying long rides. I know it works for me, even with neck, back, ankle, wrist, and both shoulder injuries.

I will see if I can get someone to take a side on pic of me on my bike.

BTW, last night I rode with the club 17.77 miles and hardly any neck pain. I went a lot faster than normal as well. Riding with the club tends to bring out the competitive spirit in me.

These are the kinds of neck exercises that a doc is likely to recommend:

http://www.des.umd.edu/os/erg/neck.html

TromboneAl, Thanks, I printed it out.

I've lowered my handlebars a bit in preparation for moving back to drop handlebars. I was thinking about this thread on my ride today, and realized something. When supporting myself on my arms, I can either have my shoulder blades back, or forward. That is, I can let my body sag, or use back muscles to lift it up (you can try this leaning against a desk). I tend to sag.

Might not be significant, but perhaps one position is better (probably the latter position), or consciously switching between the two is good.

Thanks for the glasses tip, Longfemur, I noticed today that I do have to raise my head a little more because of glasses slip.

And one more thing:

NECK AND BACK PAIN A study of more than 500 recreational cyclists found that 85 percent have experienced pain from riding, most commonly in the neck and back.
FRESH FIX: PUSH-UPS, PULL-UPS, PLANKS Many cyclists ignore the need to condition the muscles above the waist. A weak torso opens the door to chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. Do two to three sets of these moves two days a week: push-ups (work up to 25) to build chest, shoulder and triceps strength; plank (support your body on your forearms and toes for up to 60 seconds) to build ab and back strength; and pull-ups (aim for 12) to strengthen upper back, shoulders and arms.

This topic gets beat to death all the time, with all the usual advice about fit, handlebars, exercises, etc. As a tired and retired MD, from a purely physiological/mechanical view, riding an upright road bike HAS to be the most unphysiological and illogical position to hold your neck that I can possibly think of! If you can do it, great, but if it continues to bother you, then stop doing it and try something else. "If it feels good, do it! If it doesn't feel good, then don't do it!" But continuing to ride hunched up craning your neck forward likely won't fix the problem.
But if your neck is fine sitting on a recliner watching the boob tube, then try a LWB bent and neck problems (and hands and back and...) will simply go away! Like peddling a recliner chair. And, NO, I don't sell bents - was just amazed when I tried one a few years ago after repeated extensive back surgeries and continuing pain and misery after trying literally everything, medical, non medical, alternate medical, etc. For me at least, it's about the only thing that works! Wish I'd found them years ago.
Even if I could, I wouldn't go back to an upright now, except for off roading, for which bents are rather worthless.

Could it possibly be that you are over 50 years of age and not as flexible as you were at 18?
I know that's the case with me.

After 100 miles it's my neck that wants a massage a lot more than my back or legs.

I had neck problems until I decided that I really didn't need to see what was going on a mile or two down the road. Keeping my head down and using my eyes to look maybe a 100 yds ahead with periodic farther glances solved the problem. Concentrating on relaxing the neck muscles helped too.

What's an LWB?

Long wheel base. Step away from the Kool-Aid, Tony.

Sorry, just checked back after riding for a week or so! LWB is a 'long wheel base!" Excluding trikes (3 wheelers) there are basically two types of recumbents. SWB (short wheel base) and LWB (long wheel base)
There is the short wheel based ones which you recline backwards to a fair degree and these are a bit harder to learn to ride, are generally faster, and to me more uncomfortable. Although lots would take me to task for saying that.
But for a newbie, especially with a lot of neck pain or back pain, you might do better with the second type of recumbent, one where you are sitting in a more natural position (like riding a lawn chair) and your neck is not bent in either an extended (like on a road bike) or more extreme flexed (like on the short wheel base more laid back) position, the long hweel base. The bottom bracket (pedals) are lower than your seat, placing you in a natural physiological sitting position.
For most riders, I believe the long wheel base position is most comfortable and most physiological position to ride in. Back and neck pain are dramatically improved for MOST people (trial and error - I did see one guy who got WORSE sciatic nerve pain, but this is unusual) ) and hand pain or numbness are non existent as you have no weight on your hands. There are other advantages as well.
Do you get a free lunch?? Unfortunately no! There are three disadvantages of bents. First off, the entry level price is a bit more, usually not a consideration for most of the over 50's in this website from what I can gather of the bikes that are commonplace in this group.
Second, as they are longer and a bit heavier they are a bit more difficult to transport on a vehicle, although there are many mounts available that do the job just fine. Once set up to haul them there are not an increased bother at all.
Finally, most recumbents are a bit slower on climbs, maily because the rider can't stand up on the pedals and add his weight to the pedals. however, this is vastly overblown on upright websites and you soon learn to gear down and spin and you can climb anything, albeit a bit slower than an equivalent upright rider. BUT, because of less wind resistance, you pass your upright friends on the flats and downhills and more than make up for the slower climb anyway. You may have to explain to your upright riding buddies that you are not rrying to be a smart butt passing them on the flats and downhills then dropping back on the climbs to pass them again at the top. Seriously! Overall you'll either be a bit faster or finish the end of the day less tired and fresher.
The bottom line is that they are extremely comfortable bikes to ride, but a bit different from uprights.
So each type of bike has its advantages and disadvantages. Even though the recumbent is a real salvation for upright bike riders with back and neck and hand pain, etc. (I've converted a whole bunch after they rode mine) and in my opinion would be a much more comfortable bike for most non racers or non off roaders in most age groups, they are not a panacea to everything.
All bikes, upright and recumbent are great precision modern marvels of engineering and all are fun. Never be too stuck on one type or another - there's a lot of options for riders out there.

Thanks big john. Not sure what is meant by the Kool-Aid though.

bobkat, thanks for taking the time to write such a helpful post. It is very appreciated.

I wonder if people who ride recumbants are more afraid of not being seen by cagers due to being so low to the road?

Most bent riders never seem to have a problem, even the low racers. A buddy I ride with thinks that cars seem to have more respect for you, maybe because recumbents look different and they are curious, or as another buddy says, maybe they think we are all crippled or something!

Tony, this will improve visibility http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-43924/Detail

Never been a problem for me...but then mine isn't all that low.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_0755.jpg

Happy Trails

COD did you make that recumbant yourself? If not, where did you get it? Was it expensive? It looks really neat.

It's a Sun, EZ Sport steel frame. Relatively heavy, entry level Cruiser, 24 spd,
26"-20" wheels. Very easy for the beginning recumbent rider. Not built for speed
or touring, but quite capable of riding centuries. Somewhat upright seating with a low
BB and higher seat position than most recumbents. Price is low, just under a Grand.

My next 'bent will be either a faster, lower LWB like a Rans or an Easy Racer...or a
SWB (Short wheel base), I haven't decided yet. I also still ride several DF bikes...
A Trek Mtn. bike as a commuter, a couple road bikes, a tandem comfort bike etc.

edit: I bought it in mid Sept. of 2007 and I have just over 1000 miles on it. It's
performed flawlessly for me so far and I like the bike as much now as when
I first purchased it.

Pain in the neck
 

You have what's termed Turtle Shell Crouch syndrome.
You're hunching your shoulders.
"What" worked for me was going to 44cm wide bars.
I got a new carbon fibre motobecane and the bars are 44cm width.
The first long (over 50 mile) ride I was on I realized: No pain in the neck.
Asked several pros at a local bike shop and they had me come in with the 91 Paramount with the 40cm wide bars and the moto with the 44cm.
a simple video of me on rollers on each bike showed how much my shoulders were hunched with the 40cm vs the 44.
That did it for me..The 1991 Paramount now has 44cm bars and the soon to be finished Signature and Paragon will as well.