Neck soreness

I've been riding seriously for about three weeks now. I can do twenty-mile rides, and I'm fairly certain that I'll be doing thirty soon (read: this weekend). I've been riding a mountain bike so far, and I've found that my neck and my trapezius muscles are extra sore, and that I've been popping my neck more often than usual. I think I rode on two rides with a backpack, which gave me pinprick pains toward the end, and they even went down as far as my shoulder blades. I lost the backpack and it's been a whole lot better, but I still have the neck popping problem. It sounds like stretching is in order, but is there a common noob mistake in technique that I should pay attention to?

Edit: I'm going on my first ride with a road bike tonight, I dunno if that helps.

It could be a poor bike fit. Also try changing positions on the bike frequently, especially on a road bike. There was an article in last month's bicycling magazine about neck pain. It recommended holding light weights and shrugging your shoulders to build strength.

Be aware of your posture on the bike.
i find myself slumping once in a while and have to remind myself to lift up my ribcage.

Check the bike fit! I had a bike that was too long for me and it caused major pain in my neck and shoulders.

If fit is good, regular stretching while riding helps as does building up those muscles (carefully).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zencentury

Be aware of your posture on the bike.
i find myself slumping once in a while and have to remind myself to lift up my ribcage.

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I do this too and it's something that I have to make myself be aware of. Most of the time I don't realize what I am doing as far as my posture until I start getting sore, and then I remember to tighten up my core and push my hips forward a bit, and I feel better, in fact I can balance better when I remember to do that too. LOL, I'm such a sloucher.

Along with bike fit - you may be hunching up your shoulders towards your ears. I see it often when people get tired. At stop lights, gently turn your head from side to side & try to touch your chin to your chest. Don't go backwards. Additionally, try stretching your arms backwards & forwards to release tension in your shoulders.

Thanks for the replies, y'all. I'll stretch as often as I can. It already feels better. I can readily believe that my posture has something to do with it; I'm slouching in my chair as I type!
My fitting will continue on Thursday; I think they found out that I'm too stretched out and they need to replace a stem, or something like that. The thing the handlebars are attached to. But so far the riding is nice. I'm fighting the seat right now, though. I'm trying to see if it's something I can get used to.

Hopefully the fit will help a lot.

To expand on something Dogmama said, though... I think she's right that it's really common to ride with tense shoulders. In addition to the stretches she recommends, I find it useful to remind myself often to keep my shoulders down. To illustrate how they should feel, stand over your bike and hold your bars as if you were riding. Quite possibly, you will find that you are "holding yourself up" with your shoulders such that your shoulder blades raise and come towards each other in back. Now, standing in the same position, bent over at the waist, let go of your bars and let your arms hang down, really letting them go, letting gravity pull your hands towards the ground. Notice how different your shoulders probably feel -- notice where your sholder blades are -- probably much farther apart, right? This is how your shoulders should feel when you ride. At first this may be a little tiring to your core muscles, but that will change quickly.

Every couple of miles I check in on where my shoulders are -- sometimes, even if I think they are down, I will try to push them down as far as I can, and then relax and let them come up a little, just to make sure I"m not holding tension there. It really helps, I don't ever have neck/shoulder tightness now.

So...y'all were right about my shoulders. I admit that for the first half of the ride I didn't even think about it, but on the way back I was probably unhunching them every minute or so. I couldn't figure out how to lift my ribcage, though. How do you do that and still keep your shoulders down? I can do it sitting here, but I can't do it on a bike.

And the bike fit is great. They used a shorter stem, switched my seat to the one I'd been using so far, and I think I'm on the right road. We went ~20 miles today, with some hill climbing at the end. I wasn't sorrowfully slow! My neck isn't killing me anymore, either. I made sure to stretch it out a few times, anyway, when we hit a downhill or a red light.

I had some mild saddle pain, but I think it's from riding the hard, narrow, old-school saddle that came on the bike. I only rode eight miles on it the other day, and I rode pretty gingerly once I realized that it wouldn't work out, but I'm pretty sure I hurt myself more than I thought I did. I think my recipe is Bag Balm, padded shorts, and my familiar seat, so once I'm all healed up I shouldn't have any pain. I'm even using Bag Balm off the bike because it sounds like it will help the healing process.

My ride today reminded me - if the fit is right, then slightly bending your elbows will automatically un-hunch your shoulders. If I catch myself hunching, I just increase the elbow flexion by 5 degrees or so.

I think I did what you're talking about. I think. I bent my elbows and I felt less pressure, so I guess that's it? My shoulders didn't stay unhunched for any appreciable length of time, but I was more aware of it today.

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Originally Posted by JLMitchell

I think I did what you're talking about. I think. I bent my elbows and I felt less pressure, so I guess that's it? My shoulders didn't stay unhunched for any appreciable length of time, but I was more aware of it today.

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Try to gently draw your shoulder blades together and down. Also, be sure to unclench your jaw.

Before trying this on your bike, try this sitting in a chair with your hands on your knees, arms relaxed....

To lift your ribcage, first bring your shoulderblades down your back towards your butt. Notice what happens to your chest when you do this. You'll most likely notice your chest comes slightly forward and up. Now bring your shoulderblades toward each other (not pinching though, still comfortable). Your chest will come forward and up a bit more. Your head and neck will be in a more upright position also. This is lifting your ribcage.

On the bike, since you're bent over, this can seem counterintuitive, but doing this puts the neck in a better position. If your back is more hunched, your neck will have to work more to have your head in a position to look at the road/trail. If you bring your ribcage forward and up (ie shoulderblades down and back) your neck will have to work less to get your head in position.

Also, keep your arms slightly bent. This will keep the shock absorption in your arms. If your arms are straight, the shock goes straight to your neck and traps.