I don't know if I publicized this much or not but at the beginning of the season I was having a bit of back and knee pain. Did you know you weren't supposed to have pain when you ride? Yeah, really! I had never thought about it before because I just assumed that any little aches and pains I had were associated with the effort I was putting in, but turns out its because I was pedaling wrong. I had read an article on velonews.com regarding fitting your bike according to biomechanics instead of the typical KOPS method and was intrigued. Since I was in a bit of pain all the time anyways...and its really boring sitting on a trainer every night...I decided to use the biomechanics method just to check out my bike fit. This involved several trainer sessions of sitting in front of a video camera and then viewing the video and analyzing my pedal stroke at various positions. There are alot of ins and outs of this method, but lets suffice it to say that I was "all over the place" with regards to pedaling efficiency. I kicked one knee out to the side a bit at the top of my stroke, turned my toes in at the bottom of each stroke, and was hunched way too far over my handlebars. After analyzing my bikefit I realized that my position was leading to my pain, and not only that but I was losing valuable watts and tons of energy because of it. If you are not fitted right you bounce or rock too much in the hips, which kills momentum and really lowers your all day fitness and I looked like a bobble-headed hula dancer floating on around my saddle.
So I got down to business. I adjusted my seat, stem, and handlebar position in painstaking millimeter increments until everything felt "just right". Then I worked on my pedal stroke. I adjusted my cleat position and began to focus my pedaling to bring my knees straight up and down, keep my leg from twisting in the middle of the stroke, and to keep my toes pointed straight forward all the time. Guess what happened? Once I was dialed in there was no pain, nada, zilch. My pedal stroke was smooth and I no longer rocked in the hips. My wattage and lactate threshold increased notably and I could stay in the saddle all day long if I wanted. I was elated! This new position was amazing and I started the season out in it full of confidence...then I sold that bike. I purchased a new bike mid-season and hastily threw together a position that looked and felt similar to my old one, but I didnt take the time to put it together right. I made it through my season well enough and usually felt pretty good on long rides and in races, but lately I had begun to feel that all too familiar pain creeping back into my knee and I was beginning to "lose my back" on some of our longer/harder forays. At first I attributed this to being past my peak and figured that with some rest I would be back good as new. Turns out that wasn't the case as my numbers continued to fall even after plenty of rest and recovery. Every time I mounted my mountain bike it was like a breath of fresh air (I had dialed this position in early on in the season). I felt like I could put hour upon hour in on the MTB but as soon as I got back on the roadie I felt sluggish and tired.
So with races over for the year and a bit more time at home on my hands, I went to work on my road position on my new bike. I again adjusted my position millimeter by painstaking millimeter until...finally today it is dialed in perfectly again. I commuted into work this morning without the slightest bit of warmth in my lower back. When I went out on lunch, I hammered for over an hour and ended the ride still feeling fresh. I mount my bike now as if it was a piece of a puzzle that I fit perfectly. I have no back pain, no knee pain, and feel as if I can (and will) spend hours in the saddle "on the rivet" once again. Its amazing how a single millimeter one way or another can make such a big difference, but believe me it can. My average speed on a few of my typical training routes has risen to near mid-season levels and my attacks again have some punch to them.
So I guess I send this out as a friendly reminder that you should feel as comfortable riding your bike as you do walking. If something hurts or doesn't feel quite right, it probably isn't. The good news is there are tons of little things that can be done to make your ride much more comfortable. None of the shops around here offer the biomechanics fit, but they can at least get you close. From there its all about the millimeters. Experiment a little here and there. Your body will tell you what's working and what is not. If you need or want help, I would be more than happy to work with you on it a bit. Just don't ride in pain...cycling is so much more fun if you don't!
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