Avoiding Pain-in-the-Neck and TTCBCOAB #37

Each of us accumulates wisdom, important information about the world and ourselves that can only be realized over time. One thing I've learned the hard way is I don't recover from strains, sprains and pulled muscles as quickly as when I was in my 20s, 30s, or even 40s. I like to think I'm more careful now. Try as we might, some things remain beyond our control.

About six weeks ago I had to make a panic stop when a driver ran a stop sign, made a sharp right turn, and cut right in front of me and my bike. I ride defensively, but this driver took me by surprise because she was looking me in the eye as she performed this maneuver. When a driver makes eye contact it is usually a good indication that a driver has their head is in the game. On this occasion a desperate braking maneuver was required.

Sliding off the saddle and throwing my weight over the back wheel, I braked heavily and just missed becoming an insult to this driver's rear, left fender. It was over in a flash and a collision was avoided, but i felt something in give between my shoulder blades around thoracic vertebrae T3 and T4. The discomfort grew during the remaining 11 mile ride home, so I did my usual approach: arnica oil applied to the area and rest. After two days, it got better ... mostly. Several weeks later, it was still bothering me and I began to look for other solutions and explanations.

I use the MapMyRide app on the iPhone to track my mileage and reviewing the statistics for the last 12 months, it showed that I'd gradually increased my mileage. And there was an interesting coincidence between the back strain incident and a spike in my daily mileage. Only a few days before the above-mentioned incident, I'd completed a ride significantly above my usual mileage. A physical therapist friend frequently reminds me that ramping up too quickly is a good way to injure an aging body. She's right, of course, but there seem to be other factors at work, too.

Experimenting with different riding positions, I discovered that angling my elbows closer to my torso helped ease the mid-back discomfort. This required placing my hands on the ends of my mostly straight handlebars: Not a longterm solution. Different handlebars seemed to be indicated, so I did some research.

I briefly considered drop bars, but that would require significant re-rigging of the Rohloff shifter - a costly and time-consuming endeavor. Then I found the Salsa Bend 2 mountain handlebars. These come in two versions: The 23 degree bend model seemed to provide the hand position I was seeking.

Salsa Bend 2

The new bar length was roughly equivalent to the old bars, but I wanted a closer hand position and some trimming was in order. 25 millimeters off each end (about an inch) seemed right.

Measure twice ...

Cut once (well, twice actually ...)

A bit of smoothing ...

Old versus new (hard to capture in a photo)

Finished product

My initial impression is that the new bars are helping, though it will likely take a while for things to heal completely. The joys of aging!

In other news, here are more TTCBCOAB (things that can be carried on a bike): Three bags of groceries. Several apples, peaches, nectarines, some pasta, tortillas, various greens, pasta sauce, cucumbers, etc.

Three bags full. A mere 35 pounds!