Newbie cycling questions

[BrassicaBabe]

Hi

I’ve broken out and dusted off my bike with the view of upgrading my nonexistent fitness level.

One practical question, one daft one

How do I stop putting so much pressure on my wrists?

Daft one: I want to listen to music etc, but I’m guessing that roads and ear buds aren’t a good mix. What do folks do?

Thanks

My wrists really hurt when I started cycling do I can sympathise! I think you do get used to it though.

Whether or not these things help, I'm not sure, but I did change these few things ...

• Female specific bike seat, so more weight through my bum and legs
• Decent gloves
• Core strengthening exercises

I don't listen to music as I need all my senses to look out for my personal safety. Most car drivers don't look out for bike riders. Also, you're more likely to be blamed for an accident if it can be argued that you weren't fully paying attention. BS, obviously but better safe than sorry.

There are special headphones for cyclists wanting music while still able to hear traffic, the sound quality isn't great, apparently.

Could bone conduction earphones be an option? (I'm not a cyclist!) They don't cover the ears so allow more background noise which means they're not banned in road running races under English Athletics rules unlike conventional earphones.

Wrists: what kind of bike do you have and how far are you cycling? Maybe check that the saddle height and alignment is correct (go to a specialist bike shop if necessary). You can on some bikes also raise or adjust the handlebars which might help. if you are cycling with a rucksack maybe invest in a pannier.

Music: I cycle on London roads and so I would never use headphones. It just seems to take away awareness of your surroundings.

Thanks folks. I suspected there wasn't much wiggle room on the music front. I'm on rural roads but still full of folks driving fast, tractors and lorries.

I don't know what kind my bike is without looking. But it was bought from a specialist bike shop thanks to "cycle to work" scheme. Looks like I might have to power through on the wrist front

You shouldn't really be putting much weight on your wrists at all, so it's quite possible you need to adjust your bike to fit you. It can also just be that you need to get a stronger core to hold yourself up!

DH likes to listen to music, and uses bone conduction headphones, which aren't great quality but better than nothing

Just to say that I started cycling again this year after a gap of 20+ years. Getting a grasp of the gears has been my number one problem but I also had the issue with my wrists. I found that by the third or fourth outing on the bike it improved a bit as I was more confident sitting up in the saddle, I couldn't even take a hand off to indicate before that. I have a traditional style hybrid bike - Temple ladies Classic - which is a bit sit up and beg anyway, I don't think I'd do so well with drop handlebars. Yoga is good for wrists and core strength, a bit of planking and downward dogging has worked wonders for me.

It would be worth taking your bike to a good shop (ie not Halfords) and checking it is set up properly for you
You might find an improvement if they raise the handlebars or change the stem (the bit that connects the handlebars to the frame) so you aren't reaching so far forward.

You should also avoid crumpling your chest forward while cycling. Put your arms in front of you and make a hoop with them, and now look at your chest and feel where your shoulder blades are - that is how you should be on the bike.
Now bring your hands up to your shoulders and feel what happens to your shoulder blades and chest - that's what you need to avoid on the bike

But as others have said, you also need to strengthen your core so it would be worth looking up pilates classes.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=1VYhyppWTDc

Have a watch of the link above, get your Allen keys out and get adjusting.

Headphone wise... I listen to music unless I'm on a single lane road (country lane) so it is useful to hear vehicles approaching behind. I use the normal apple ear bud headphones with a control near the right ear so I can adjust volume and pause whilst cycling. I average about 10 hours a week in the bike.