GRRR :mad:

N-type

just drink more. take the pain. work through it, don't let it work through you.

Not sure of any places in the city, I'll ask him. I get those four needles in my knee and when they come out 30 minutes later it feels like I've got the knees of a ten year old kid, all limber and bendy. No idea on the cost. I always carry around a few needles with me though in case my knee starts acting up, he showed me the points, but I'm scurred of needling myself.

And yes, this weather does suck. My Phils saw their first rain day today :(
Slippin and sliding all over the place on the way in today...

I'm more familiar with bodies than I am with bikes, but here are my suggestions: It seems maybe most appropriate to play around with your stem and bars. Maybe longer/shorter stem, or bars with angles that change the rotation of your arms. Another option is to alter where you are gripping. Sometimes we think something works best because it is comfortable out of habit. Changing may feel weird for a while but may work better after you get used to it. Just hanging out for a while looking at how your body interfaces with the bike and feeling for what seems best for your body can possibly lead you to a solution.

Maybe just thicker/more padded grips would keep you from over-stressing your carpal tunnel?

On therapies...
A friend of mine had some *really* bad carpal tunnel syndrome, mostly from computer work. She succesfully 'cured' it with a combination of a yoga instructor specializing in repetitive motion injuries and backs(believe it or not, but a lot of wrist pain can start in your mid back) and deep tissue massage therapy.

Whether you do yoga or something else, stretching is *always* good. I won't attempt to describe wrist stretching right here, but the rules of thumb are to stretch in the opposite direction of your usual grip (flexion); do it nice and slow while breathing "into" the stretch; hold each stretch for 1-3 minutes. Don't get agro, just slowly increase the pressure over time. Learn some stretches for your shoulder girdle as well. I like The Trager Approach's "mentastics" for general loosening..it's kind of like what swimmers do before they swim in a meet, only more lightly.

Many massage therapists will barter, this would be my first attempt at professional therapy. Maybe do a survey of different bodywork modalities, what works for one person may not for another. Feldenkrais, The Trager Approach and Rolfing are just a few of the ones that do don't only rub you, and they all teach movements you can do at home. If you decide to try some accupuncture, most schools offer clinics with a sliding scale ($$ for full practitioners, $ for interns and sometimes free by students with supervision). There is one or two in SF and at least one in Berkeley.

Hope this helps...whatever you do, when you are feeling pain like this for a consistent amount of time, make it a new hobby to learn to care for it. It can sometimes get lots worse and *no one thing* will always cure it for you. You are responsible for learning how to make your body feel good (kinda like lovin', eh?).

Seriously, I think you should put some padded grips on your bars. That should help, and try altering the position of your arms when you skid.

Oury grips pushed up to the flats, then keirin grips in the curves, that way you get a nice cushy ride on the flats and a grippy surface to hang onto when you skid.

That's a sweet setup Judah. My next bike's going to be breakless, and that's what I'm going to do!

I have my blue bike setup like that. Remember Dennis' Serotta? Same deal...
Now if only it would stop raining so that I could ride it...

I don't remember Dennis having Keirin grips. I see him riding down Valencia all the time...

The same Dennis? I'm talking about the guy who rode to all the slides with us brakeless. Blue serotta, black phils, tubulars. Not Harryhood....

The key is to cut the ends off of the oury and keirin grips so that you can slide them all the way up the bars. Use lots of hairspray and do it fast and it's easy.

that sounds good, but i do like the naked look of unwrapped track bars. i do want some grips for the drops though

Yeah, that Dennis. I don't think I've ever met Harryhood. I thought he only had grips on the tops of his bars. I could be wrong tho.

When I get the new bike built up, I'll hook it up. Thanks for the help.

Well, the bare chrome *looks* good, but it just isn't as functional as the setup I'm talking about, not even close. With the bare chrome bars you realllllly have to clench those bends when you skid, which may be where your pain is coming from. With the keirin grips pushed up to the bends you don't even have to wrap your fingers around the bars.

like this...


i thought about doing this, but i just love the look of naked bars with the keirin grips to much to do it....

That's bar tape on the drops too right???

yup, oury grips, then keirin grips, then taped the rest of the way. Cushy on the flats, grippy on the bends, and a bit cushy/grippy in the drops. Works well. Function and form.

that's about what I plan to do next, minus the tape in the drops. white keirin grips from the stem to the shoulders, clear oury grips over the k-grips at the stem.

I love the look of bare chrome bars or half-taped drops, especially with a chromed stem, but it really is just for the look. Function over form for once.

I seriously don't get how you could be puting SO much pressure on your wrists and arms that they hurt while skidding. When I skid I just lightly have my hands on my bullhorns so that I can steer. My theighs are resting on my handlebars so that most of my weight is rested on the handlebars and my rear wheel is almost completely unweighted. If you're using skidding to stop for any other reason than an emergency then you're effed. It's not mean't for that. I can't remember the last time I used a full on skid in an attemped to stop, and if I ever did do that then yes, my arms would probably be taking on a lot of my weight because the weight to the rear of my body would be trying to grind the wheel into the ground while my legs were stopping it. You shouldn't be using that type of skid for practice. Your rear wheel should be gently gliding across the ground and as you get slower you should start to fishtail a bit.

And yes, you should try to get up a good amount of speed while practicing. About 10-15mph depending on your comfort with it. Also - practice after it has rained.

Check out this video to see how a non-emergency skid should be done

http://accelerate.oldskooltrack.com/...s/no.hands.avi

but for non show skids (emergency-skids, that is), you can't use the "put your pelvis to the stem" technique, don't you agree? you have to be able to muscle the cranks to a stop (some where between a skip and a show skid). It is bad for your knees and your arms/wrists potentially, I guess, which is why excessive skidding should be avoided... yes/no?

oops, I didn't read the last post correctly, so my statement was kind of redundant...

It's ok if you're being redundant. Seems like she's not getting it.

i'd say if you've got the money, go see a biomechanist. he or she can analyze the interaction between you and your bike. they'll be able to provide feedback that will permanently change the effectiveness and safety of your performance, thus eliminating the pain you feel in your wrist.

Biomechanist? That sounds kinda HR Giger to me.

and sounds like someone else feels like being an *******