Braking from the hoods

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I find that if I descend a hill where I need to brake a lot, I get incredible hand pain. It's really hard to brake effectively from the hoods for me. I get pain especially badly in the joints where the thumbs meet the hands.

I guess the solution is to descend in the drops, but I feel nervous in the drops.

When you descend a steep hill with your hands on the hoods, you are putting all your weight on that very spot where your thumbs join you hand.
With your hands braking in the drops, the pressure changes more to the heels of your hands.

Your should practice riding in the drops on downhills- start with less steep ones. Also practice shifting your weight back OFF your hands onto your feet and butt more when descending.