Hey mjpwoo, by the way, I searched and searched for the e-mail you sent me, but couldn't find the darn thing. Can you re-send it please?

The neck strain may be a phase you are going through until the muscles used to support your neck become strong enough to support your head. When riding indoors we (I) frequently stare at the floor a lot. -Can't do this outside, you have to hold your head up. That gets fatiguing fast until you develop the musculature for it.

Another (guess) idea: It may be that your reach measurement is a bit too long.

Unfortunately, I don't know any stretches for this. Your new (properly fitted) P2K should fix a big part of the problem if the issue is fit. If it's conditioning, it may just fix itself.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

As Tom suggests, it sounds as though you may be reaching too much. Try raising your bars a cm or two. This gives the same effect as shortenning your top tube. I've never really worried all that much about seat tube sizing within reason as I've always believed that top tube is more important.

You could also have a neck problem. I'm a chiropractor and necks are the second most common problem I see after low back pain. How is your neck flexibility? Do you have a good range of motion turning your head from side to side, forward and backward? What about side bending as if trying to bring your ear to your shoulder. Some people have what is termed a hypolordotic cervical spine or "military neck". This means that instead of a normal C curve in the neck, a hypolordotic neck would be strait. These people generally have less range of motion due to compensatory muscle tightness and are often more susceptible to neck discomfort. The only way you can really tell this is with an x-ray. In the office I also have measuring devices that can measure in degrees your functional range of motion. What I would suggest is try making the changes to the Trek and see what happens. If you're getting a P2K and Tom is doing the fitting and you still get neck pain then you should see someone about examining your neck. Probably this is just a fi issue, but be aware that some people complain more about neck pain when riding a tri bike in an aggressive position because you are actually lifting your head up more than on a road bike.

Here are some generic home stretches for your neck Try some of these and see if they help. If you find any of them hurt or other your neck then cease immediately.

http://www.dcdoctor.com/...meexercise_neck.html

yeah I'd agree with those two other guys---neck pain and crotch pain are two things that definetly lessen over time. But as you mention, it might be a fit thing. I noticed that my current aero position is way too low for me right now, so i stuck the 1/2 in risers under my pads to raise it up, hopefully that works. I just didnt have the flexibility that i had back in the season.

Just getting the right size bike is a great start, but you'll want to make sure you have someone who knows what their doing set it up, cause a bike can still not fit even if the frame is the right size. Cause really it doesnt have to be the frame but the other stuff, saddle height, stem length, aero bar/handlebar height etc.

Good luck

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

 Sometimes early in the season or for long rides, I have to ride a little more upright, just to make things not hurt and maybe gradually lower my position as I get used to riding more aero.

Another thing I discovered is, if I wear sunglasses that either have a very thin rim or no rim at the top when I ride on the road I don't get as stiff a neck because I don't have to tilt my head as far back to see under the rim. By the way, say what you will, they may "cost" more but NO sunglasses are "worth" over $15.00.

Richard

Ditto on the sunglasses thing. I forgot to mention it.

The ebook "The Pain-Free Triathlete" addresses this problem from the muscular viewpoint (ie: what is happening and self-treatments to deal with it). You can also post your question on their forum at www.julstro.com.

Might be a day or two before you get an answer though.

to take a different approach from the other posts, I've been swimming the other strokes through the off-season to help with the monotony, and find that the same feeling I get in my back and neck, I get when I swim the breaststroke. so spending some pool time on the breaststroke might help out with this.

I'd also recommend yoga. and maybe get a lighter weight helmet if you're still using an old heavy one.

I used to have the same problem. I went to all the bike shops in town. (Didn't know of Tom at the time, or I would have driven up there too.) They all told me I looked O.K. on the bike. I said "I may look O.K., but I don't feel O.K."

So I went to my chiropractor with my bike on the trainer. He says "I don't know anything about bikes." I said "I don't care, you know about backs and necks, and all the guys that know about bikes can't help me."

Anyway, he looks at my neck, then does some X-rays, and says I have a reverse curve in my neck. He says I need to be more upright on the bike. I put a stem on with a little bit of rise, and viola, no more neck pain.

So maybe you should drive up to Ontario and see Cervelo guy.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the plug Vita-man, but Im sure there's lots of good chiros closer to home!!