Have been putting in a few harder solo rides out on the road over the last couple of weeks and, like the title says, I’m getting a burning pain right at the bottom of my back when I get out of the saddle on climbs.
The pain then stays until I stop and straighten up / stretch for a couple of minutes.
This hasn’t been a problem on the trainer or doing easier, but longer, club rides.
Today I had the pain and stopped for a few minutes, then I was fine all the way home pushing quite hard on the flats, in the drops.
Before anyone mentions core strength, I don’t think it is. I’m doing quite a bit of strength training at the moment. I’m sort of wondering if it might be related - I’ve been doing quite heavy deadlifts recently. My back actually feels really good generally though, but I wondered if it might have tightened up.
I did have something similar (but different) a year or two back and this turned out to be tight glute medius. I suppose this could be related but I don’t see that stomping out of the saddle would bring this on.
I suppose it could just be a matter of getting used to riding harder outside again but any ideas on what might be causing this would be appreciated.
Are you using the same bike for your turbo sessions and you outdoor sessions? I’ve my TT set up indoors, after a couple of months of indoor only I took the road bike out and ended up getting a sore back. Had to adjust the saddle on the road bike to sort it out. I think I just got used to working hard in one position on the trainer. Shifting to the road bike I was engaging muscles that I hadn’t needed to engage in a while. It seemed to sort itself out after a few rides.
Think this might by some of the problem. I have my trainer bike with a TT saddle that is set quite far forward. I’ve jammed my road bike saddle forward just over 5mm and things are feeling a fair bit better in the saddle. Back still lights up when I do a hard climbing effort standing.
I suppose riding on the trainer doesn’t really use the stablising muscles and with 99% of the TR stuff I do being in the saddle I guess certain muscles could be under-worked.
I’m glad it offered some relief at least. I’d gone from a 200km audax in December with no problems to getting a sore back after a couple of hours. Very frustrating.
There’s limited outdoor cycling cycling here now. So, I might set the road bike up on the turbo and gradually shift my position back.
Edit: Be wary of the stack on your shoes as well. I use different shoes indoors and out. My Tri shoes have a much thicker sole than my road shoes. Means the saddle in the road bike needs to be a little higher.