Headaches while cycling

[alimey]

A couple of thoughts - it might be neck angle - that's what gives me a headache (esp. on my roadbike). First get your position checked - if you are too stretched out, you will have to hold your neck at too sharp an angle. Next, if you are riding with a helmet w/ a peak, take it off (the peak that is) - as it can cause you to crane your neck. Next - if you ride in prescription glasses consider having some sport glasses made esp. for cycling (they grind the focal area towards the top of the lens - also make sure they sit up high enough. Also you might want to consider treating yourself to a really light helmet & don't overdo the tightness.

[SheFly]

Also check your helmet. I was getting the worst headaches riding for awhile and couldn't figure out why. It turned out that I had my helmet adjust too tightly, and that was causing my headache! Like you, I hadn't really thought about it since I was a headache sufferer anyway, but loosening the tension in my helmet has worked wonders!

SheFly

[badger]

All the suggestions here are great.

I second seeking out professionals like chiropractors, cranial sacral massage therapists, and acupuncturist.

Are you getting close to that time of the month? I regularly get hormonal migraines, and find that when I have a particularly hard workout, it triggers it or makes it much worse.

[Bike Chick]

Do you suffer from allergies? A sensitivity to certain grasses, trees, or flowers would certainly trigger a headache.

[m.eliza]

Wow, thanks! I hadn't though of a lot of this stuff. I have sinus tachycardia (frequent and random increased resting heart rate - not dangerous, just annoying) which causes low blood pressure sometimes. I always figured that was the main reason for my headaches. I never considered they might be tension headaches. I paid attention to my shoulders today while I rode and I noticed that I do tense them a lot. I tried to keep them relaxed and, like magic, no headache! Could have been a coincedence since I don't get them every time I ride, but I'll keep paying attention to my shoulders and see how it goes

[Chile Pepper]

Yay! Glad you prevented a headache with relaxation. You might try shifting your hand position more often, to help prevent tension in your shoulders. You might also try stopping periodically and doing a few stretches.

As for other ideas, are you riding a road bike? If so, did you take the visor off your mountain bike helmet? The more crouched position on a road bike makes it really uncomfortable to hold your head up high enough to see out from under the visor.

Someone else mentioned sun. Sun glare will give me a headache every time. Do you wear good, dark sunglasses?

[NadiaMac]

too-tight pony tail, sunglass arms crushed under helmet straps, and insufficient caffeine (eg, if you ordinarily consume a lot of caffeine during the day but skip this before or during a long ride) have triggered headaches in folks I know. For me, glare is the big issue--- squinting into glare leads to tension/eye strain headache, though usually the day after the ride. good luck