Tennis Elbow? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

10-04-2003, 11:12 AM

Hello,
I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I definitely
need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
experienced this kind of difficulty?
Thanks for any help,
Chas

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10-04-2003, 11:23 AM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
Chas Williams <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>Hello,
>I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
>an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
>killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I definitely
>need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
>experienced this kind of difficulty?
>Thanks for any help,
>Chas
>
>
>--
>[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>

I had this 'elbow' pain for about 2 weeks, and I think it's
from gripping the handlebars or a change in the angle of
gripping.

At first it only appeared as DOMS in my left arm, in the
underside of the tricep. Then the upper forearm ached a little.

Maybe just use some NSAIDs and ice it down. If the pain is -in-
the elbow joint, that might be a different causation. In my
case it wasn't in the joint, and it appeared the next day.

After the two weeks, it stopped happening, and no aches or
pains now.

Hey, at least it's not knee pain or ankle pain! ;-)

Sorry, though and hope it clears up for ya.

-B

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10-04-2003, 11:25 AM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
Chas Williams <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>Hello,
>I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
>an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
>killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I definitely
>need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
>experienced this kind of difficulty?

Elbow pain can indicate a fit or riding position problem. That is
usually best to explore with an experienced fitter in person.

I know several people who got relief from elbow pain on the bike by
using aero bars for a while until it healed.

--Paul

10-04-2003, 11:45 AM

Chas Williams wrote:
> Hello,
> I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for
> about an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my
> elbows were killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty
> something, but I definitely need help with ways to keep this from
> happening again. Has anyone else experienced this kind of difficulty?
> Thanks for any help,
> Chas

Change your position around more next time. Is your upper body tense or
relaxed?

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

10-04-2003, 12:10 PM

I had a similar problem when I started riding a road bike.
What helped me was raising the bars to be even with
the seat height. Also stretching my forearms by
interlocking my fingers and putting my arms over my
head, and feeling the stretch in my forearms.

Mann

10-04-2003, 01:26 PM

"Chas Williams" <nns1511@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:BBA477C6.460E%nns1511@comcast.net...
> Hello,
> I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
> an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
> killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I
definitely
> need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
> experienced this kind of difficulty?

Sometimes when I haven't been riding for a long while and I do an hour or
two slow ride and forget to change positions I get sore elbows from keeping
them locked. Of course elbows shouldn't be locked or you lose shock
absorption. And we should change hand positions often, that's why road bars
have so many positions. And when you get to pedaling harder there won't be
so much weight on your hands, but the legs won't do so well.

Doug
Toronto

10-04-2003, 08:28 PM

"Chas Williams" <nns1511@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:BBA477C6.460E%nns1511@comcast.net...
> Hello,
> I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
> an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
> killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I
definitely
> need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
> experienced this kind of difficulty?
> Thanks for any help,

Congrats on the new bike! Sounds like you were either leaning forward too
much (weight on hands more than butt), or "locking out" your arms. (Or both

Make sure your saddle isn't tilted down (much if at all), and make a
conscious effort to keep arms slightly flexed. Also, move your hands around
a lot, stand up a bit more, and bend elbows now and then to relieve tension.

Bill "48-something roadie for all of two months" S.

10-06-2003, 02:16 PM

Chas Williams wrote:
> I took the first cruise on my new road bike yesterday. I was out for about
> an hour through the neighborhood. Legs did well, however, my elbows were
> killing me after the trip. Of course, I'm forty something, but I definitely
> need help with ways to keep this from happening again. Has anyone else
> experienced this kind of difficulty?

Are you riding with your arms straight? If so, that's probably your problem.
You should always have at least a little bend in the elbows so that shock from
the bars is absorbed by your muscles and not your joints.

If that's not it, you probably have some other bad position. Elbows don't like
to bend sideways very much (which is what causes the problem in tennis).
Think about making sure the shock from the bars results in a normal bend
direction in the elbow.

--Bill Davidson
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