Spring is peak season for cycling in Sydney — the weather’s finally cooperating, the Cooks River Cycleway and Bay Run are busy again, and Bicycle NSW’s Spring Cycle is coming up on 11 October, its 40th year running, with routes taking riders over the Harbour Bridge and out through the Inner West to Parramatta Park. If you’re one of the many locals dusting off the bike and building up your kilometres before the big day, it’s worth knowing where cycling tends to go wrong for the body — because unlike a lot of sports, cycling injuries are usually about position, not impact.
Why Cycling Injuries Are So Often About Bike Fit
Research on recreational and road cyclists consistently finds the same pattern: lower back pain, knee pain and neck pain make up the large majority of complaints, and most trace back to how the rider is actually positioned on the bike rather than a single traumatic incident. Because cycling involves thousands of repeated pedal strokes in a fixed, sustained posture, even a small positioning issue gets magnified many times over on a long ride.
The Injuries We See Most in Cyclists
Knee pain: the most commonly affected joint in cyclists. Pain at the front of the knee often points to a saddle that’s too low or too far forward; pain at the back of the knee often means the saddle is too high or too far back. Patellofemoral pain and iliotibial band syndrome are both common presentations.
Lower back pain: often from an overly aggressive reach to the handlebars, or simply a lack of core endurance for the sustained forward-flexed riding position over a long ride.
Neck and shoulder pain: handlebars set too low can force riders to over-extend the neck to see the road ahead, straining the neck and upper back over a long ride.
Hand and finger numbness: from sustained pressure through the handlebars, particularly on longer rides without regular hand position changes.
How to Prevent Cycling Injuries Before Your Next Big Ride
- Get your bike fit checked: a proper bike fit addresses the root cause of most cycling pain, rather than just managing symptoms as they come up.
- Build up your distance gradually: if you’re training for an event like Spring Cycle, increase your weekly distance step by step rather than jumping straight to the full route.
- Build core and hip strength: stronger core and hip muscles help maintain good position and reduce strain on the lower back over longer rides.
- Change hand position regularly: shift your grip on the handlebars periodically on longer rides to reduce sustained pressure on the hands.
- Don’t ignore knee pain: it’s one of the clearest signs something about your position or load needs adjusting — addressing it early is far easier than managing a chronic overuse injury.
How Physiotherapy Helps Cyclists
A good approach to persistent cycling pain combines a bike fit assessment with physiotherapy — the fit addresses your position on the bike, while physiotherapy looks at how your body moves and loads through that position, builds the strength you’re missing, and treats pain that’s already set in. Whether you’re training for Spring Cycle or just getting back into weekend rides along the Cooks River, getting on top of niggles early means you’ll actually make it to your goal ride pain-free. See our sports physiotherapy page for more on how we support local athletes of every kind.
If cycling has left you with a sore knee, back or neck, don’t wait for it to worsen before your next big ride. Call us on 02 8322 9022 or book online.
