Hands are sore just after riding

I'm still very new to bicycling as an adult (but absolutely loving it!). Yesterday, after a longer ride than I'm accostumed to, with more hills, I got off the bike and took off my gloves, and my hands were very sore and painful! The pain is right between my thumb and first finger.

Could I be holding the grips too tight? I know that to get up some hills, I probably hold onto them for dear life as I try to pull myself up the hill. Or is it the gloves? They're basic Trek gloves (WSD) and they feel pretty comfy in general. Or is it because I have the twist-type shifters? Sorry, I hope you know what I mean by that - I don't know what they're called.

Anyway, the pain went away in a few minutes, but I don't want to do any damage to my hands, as I do use them throughout the day. :)

Hi Sonya, I live in South Seattle.
Because of that very pain, i am making several trips to the LBS (Local bike shop)
you have too much weight on your hands. it could be because you have to stretch too far, or because your seat / handlebars are not adjusted correctly.
I agree with you, don't wait until you have permanent numbness to deal with this; pain is a sign that something is wrong!

Ok, thanks! That's good to know. I'll be in the area of the bike shop where I bought this bike soon; I'll have them check it out!

I stopped to ask my "bike guy" about this at the beginning of my season too! First thing suggested was the position of my handgrips -- I have a Specialized Expedition, and the handgrips are not "round" they're sort of egg shaped. The "flat" part needed to be horizontal -- parallel to the ground (sure confused DH with that when discussing it with another new Expedition owner we met lately!) AND I needed to not lean so hard! A subsequent visit had them adjusting my handlebars some -- but that wasn't so much for my hands as my butt! (crunches after dark -- not the Nestle kind) had taken care of my hands already...

Something to try, though: do NOT wrap your thumb around the bar. You can't grip too tightly if you do this, and then you'll know if that's the problem!

Karen in Boise

Hi Sonya,

My sister in law just started riding and she's complaining about the exact same thing. She rides a specialized allez which fits her well (that was checked), with specialized women spec. handlebars and shimano sora shifters.

The interesting thing I wonder about now is that I just got my new bike with Salsa Poco handlebars and Ultegra shifters - she sat on it and exclaimed that the bars and shifters were immediately more comfortable to her. The question is: Does anyone know if there is a difference in shape or ergonomics, between ultegra shifters and sora ones?