I am going to use this site to help me document my battle with chronic lower back pain when cycling. It will also help my coach, my doctors/physical therapist, and my fellow riders and racers know my progress. Confused?? You should be. For those who do not know me, I am a competitive cyclist and have been racing for 3 years. For as long as I have been riding, I have dealt with chronic pain (lower back). Over the course of that time I have been trying to figure out why this is happening. Initially, when I first got into the sport, I had so much determination to train, that I could just block out the pain. In my first 2 years of racing I did very well on
a local and national level. Lately things have been tough, because the pain has started to eat away at my determination. My goal is to take cycling as far as I can and hopefully get paid to do so. The only obstacle that is keeping me from achieving this is my bummed out back. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I am walking around hunched over like an old man with back pain. I can do any other activity with no problem. When I hop on my bike, I get pain. Pretty simple, but incredibly complex. I really do not have an explanation as to why this happens. I could have given up on this a long time ago. I really don’t have to ride bike, I could just stop riding and spend my time, energy and MONEY elsewhere. I guess it is 
just not in my character to give up.So this season, I will be skipping out on a majority of the racing schedule to dedicate time to figuring out this very odd and frustrating mystery. I have worked with many doctors, physical therapists, and chiropractors over the past 3 years. Lately I have been working with Steve Hogg, a “bike fit expert” from Australia. He answers complex cycling-related problems in a Q&A forum on cyclingnews.com. Steve has been kind enough to work with me in sorting out my dilemma and getting me on the right track to figuring out what is triggering the lower back pain.
Here is a link to my inquiry to Cycling News: http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2006/letters02-13#Lower
That should get things started.
Best,
TG
3 comments:
Sorry to hear of your pain issues. I'm a triathlete and have battled chronic pain on the bike the AND run. Have you tried Andy Pruitt at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine? He helped me a LOT. I had low back pain on my left side, which has resolved almost completely after seeing Andy. I highly recommend him, if Steve Hogg can't get things resolved for you. Best of luck to you!!!
Hey Tim -
I replied to your comment on my blog. But then it occurred to me you're more likely to check YOUR blog. My e-mail address is arkanjill@aol.com
I'm happy to spread the gospel of Andy Pruitt. So drop me a line.
hey bud, hope everything works out so you can race again... soon!
Ciao,
Chad
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