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Do you ever get that nagging soreness in your low back as climb hills? Or have a new leg pain as you increased your bike mileage from 20 miles to 75 mile rides? It happens to just about every cyclist. In fact, the data says that roughly 60% of all cyclists will have some sort of soft tissue injury on a yearly basis. Which really isn’t a bad percentage at all. Running injuries happen to 87% of all runners, and almost 65% of all Crossfitter’s are injured yearly. So cycling isn’t all that bad afterall!

But who wants to be hurt? It slows down training, makes us cranky, and prevents us from having fun racing. Luckily, there are quite a few steps you can take to prevent injuries or head them off as they come about. And of course, they will come about. So here’s what you can do:

• Get regular soft tissue work (ART, Massage, Foam Roll, Lacrosse ball, etc)
• Cross Train (Yoga, Pilates, Crossfit, P90X)
• Get an EXPERT Bike Fit
• and of course, buy everything carbon Di2 aero you can… 🙂

But let’s visit the idea of Bike Fit for a bit. This is a highly keyed in area in the world of cycling. Most fitter suggest that you have an Expert Bike Fit yearly, to which I have to agree. Cycling is unique amongst endurance sports, as it uses another piece of equipment (the bike) during the sport. Therefore, the mechanics of the bike can directly effect your body. And these effects go up exponentially as your mileage per week increases. The more you ride, the more mechanics matter.

I’d like to make further suggestion – Especially to those of you who are riding distances greater than 30 miles at a time. YOU MATTER! In fact, you matter a lot (pat yourself on the back here). Let’s take a quick look at a race car. Not just any race car but a Formula One… 2 + million dollar race car. That car is perfect. Light, quick, sleek, and ready to race. Now take that car and put great grandma in the drivers seat. How does the car work? If great grandma could get it in gear, it wouldn’t live up to its abilities. I’m not hating on great grandma’s here. I loved my great grandma, she brought me the best German cookies at every visit, but I definitely can’t imagine her driving an Formula One car.

So why do we (the cycling & triathlon community) allow great grandma to ride our super high performance, carbon framed, Di2 shifting rocket ship of a bike? This is where Bike RIGHT comes in…

• cycling mechanics
• knee position
• posture
• saddle position and fit
• head position
• pedaling form
• muscular and flexibility imbalances

Bike Right is how you take great grandma out of the driver seat and put Jeff Gordon (YOU) in it. We will analyze your form with biomechanical video software, check your body for imbalances and issues, and teach you how to sit, pedal, and move better on your bike. This Bike RIGHT is all about YOU.

Call the office (949) 276-5401 and schedule your Bike Right session (with Jeff Gordon.. wink-wink).