Pain in knees
Most road cyclists ‘clip in’ to their bike, fastening their feet to the pedals via cleats that sit on the bottom of their shoes. The problem here is that if your cleats are not properly positioned at the correct angle, you will end up with shooting pains in your knees that will simply continue to grow until corrected. The easy fix is to correctly set up those cleats. There’s plenty of online guides to show you how to do this. Fix it as soon as possible to avoid unwanted pain.
Forget boxer shorts
Saddle sore is the main thing to watch out for. It’s caused by friction between your skin, clothing and the saddle, and can result in sore buttocks or a nasty rash. Decent padded shorts can prevent it. Never wear your boxer shorts under the cycling gear!
Back pain
After sitting in the offices, our posture is far from good, and many of us have pains in our back. Cycling can make it even worse. The best answer is to get a professional bike fit done. It will cost some money, but you’d be amazed how much difference small tweaks can make. Once you’ve found that perfect riding position, those aches and pains in your back disappear pretty quickly.
Numb hands
By holding the handlebar in the same position for a long period of time or gripping it too tightly, you risk of compressing the ulnar nerve, which runs all the way from the little finger up through the elbow and into the upper arm. It’s the largest unprotected nerve in the body, so it’s easy to damage. The simplest prevention is to make sure that you move your hands around the handlebar a bit.
Try not to get stuck in one position. Change the grip on the handlebars. You can hold it on the sides, above, or down below on the drops – so just make sure to alter your position as you ride. If you start to feel pins and needles or discomfort in your hands and fingers while riding, that’s your body telling you that you’re not shifting position frequently enough.
