Hegemony

Hi guys,

Does any one else have this problem....

Went for a ride yesterday...75km...my previous longest has been about 60km. It took me about 2hrs 40 mins...average somewhere around 27km/hr.

About 2 hrs 30 mins into the ride I got an occasional shooting pain rom the palm of my hand up my arm to my shoulder...like an electric shock. I do move my hand position regularly during the ride.

Is this just from having my hands down for a long time? Do I judst need to sit up and do a couple of windmills with my arms every 30 mins or so....

Cheers,

Portis

I am new to road cycling and have gotten that a bit as well. I also used to occasionally get it on my MTB's but very rarely. I have experienced it a couple times on my first two rides. I have just around 4 hours of saddle time on those two rides. I suppose some will propose adjusting this and adjusting that. As far as i know, from previous experience riding thousands of miles on my MTB's it just usually went away on it's own.

BTW, i assume we are talking about the same thing. I would describe mine as a very minor electric current instead of a shock. It is sort of like my arm/arms go numb.

slvoid

Do your hands also go numb? Or do you just get the electric shocks?

khuon

I knew bike riding was therapeutic but... the electro-shock treatment?

It may be due to some nerve getting pinched the wrong way. Different padding (maybe you need more... maybe you need less... maybe you need it in different places) on your gloves or how you're resting your hands may be in order. I'm not an expert at this but I once remember this happening to me and it turned out that one of my hand positions I was using forced a certain twist in my lower arm that caused this. After I stopped using that positioning, the problem went away. I think this kind of thing can also be aggravated by road shock/vibration.

Bontrager

Switch hand positions often.
Keep elbows bent.
Consider padding situation in handlebars and/or in gloves.
Relax - you don't need a death grip nor a stiff back.
Consider tire pressures.
Stretch/shake hands/neck/etc. at stops.
Stretch fully (legs too) at longer rest stops.

nchaudha

shouldn't be a problem with your saddle. I agree with Bontrager ... probably a problem with your positioning with your upper body. If you had the same problem with your lower extremity ... I'd say it was blood flow or a "pinched nerve". Any pain after you finished? When it happens next time, try to tap on you wrist under your palm , if you can reproduce the pain it maybe the start of a carpal tunnel syndrome... just a thought .... if so you may want to see a doc before it gets worse .... good luck

Hegemony

I do still get a bit of a sore back in between the shoulder blades....maybe I have a bit of a 'death grip'. I do try to relax...honest. The bike is actually really comfy apart from this. I will just try 30 min stops with good stretches then extend the time between stops as I get more hrs on the bike. Thanks for your help.

Cheers

slvoid

If you're comfy, it's probably because you're locking yourself into a position for too long. Try to keep it flexible. I'm never in a death grip more than 5-6 minutes.