I guess I'm a chicken
, I just started using the clipless pedals and that was very scary for me at first. It took me a lot of kicks in the butt to get out there with my tri bike. I love biking, but I'm far from being comfortable, compared to my mtb.In fact, today was my second time only. Clipless was fine, didn't have a problem and I can really appreciate how useful they are. I didn't talk about my first ride with clipless yet, but that story will be coming soon.
Of course I'm not very confident, and I suppose it's going to take a while. But the main problem is that after only a couple of minutes, my right index finger became numb, especially the tip, and it made me even less confident about controlling my bike. I suppose aero position would be more comfortable, but don't get me started on this one, I'm far from that point right now!
So after a 25 minutes ride only, I came back home.My finger is still a bit numb now, 2 hours after my ride, and I was wondering what might cause that. If it was my bike fit (and I got a bike fit at my LBS), than I thought I would have felt something in both hands if my weight was too much forward (which I found out is wrong)...I also wear biking gloves with a very good padding.
So I discussed on the Trifuel forum about my problems, and here's the feedback I got.
Problem #1: There might be too much weight on my hands, caused by either my seat angle pointing downwards, or by my handlebars being too low. This could be compressing some nerve.
Problem #2: My grip is too tight. But without confidence, I don't see very much how I can loosen up a bit. Hey, I'm just holding on for dear life here! :p No but seriously, I think I'm a bit too stressed, but you can't blame me, it's a lot of new things at the same time for me!
So, I'll have to experiment a bit I suppose, but I also don't want to damage any nerve. I'm hoping that numbness goes away quickly! I think it's getting better...or am I just getting used to it?
3 comments:
You'll get comfortable soon. I'm sure. You know, sometimes when I'm riding and there is heavy traffic, my shoulders will tense up. I have to make a concious effort to relax. Maybe the next time you go out riding you could check to see if you are tensing up your hands. Say everytime you take a drink, just do a quick check. Then you'll know if that's part of the problem. Good luck.
Thanks for the encouragement! I know I shouldn't expect everything to be perfect at once, when all I've ridden before was a MTB. You're right, I will have to force myself to relax, I'm sure I'm too tense.
since the hand position is different than on a mountain bike, it will feel a bit different in terms of numbness. I find that my hands have a harder time on mtb than road :)
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