We’ve assembled a team of medical professionals and experts — all of them with a keen interest in our sport — to address the issues in reader questions. Your health matters, and we’ll do our best to provide information RBR readers can use to improve and enjoy cycling even more.
We use reader questions, and answers from our experts, in the weekly RBR Newsletter, and here in the Health Matters section.
To submit a question, click Health Matters Ideas.
QUESTION: My wife thinks that with the time we spend on our long rides (6-8 hours), always including the strongest sun of the day, we should be putting sunscreen on underneath our jerseys. There are very few cycling jerseys that explicitly list the ability to filter UVA/B rays. Should we be coating our upper backs…
Question: I’m in my 50s, a lifelong cyclist doing 175 -200 miles per week. As a result of earlier trauma to the lower leg and varicose veins, three years ago I had a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) that resulted in pulmonary embolisms (PE). Luckily the PEs were not big and I was soon back to riding…
Question: It seems from the relatively small population of distance cyclists I know that there are a disproportionate number of people who have experienced detached retinas. I wonder if there has been any correlation research or conclusions? I experienced a detachment in 2003 which prevented me from traveling to France for PBP that year, and have heard of 2-3…
Question: I feel like I’ve gotten very contradictory advice about what to do at the end of a training ride. Nutritionists say the top priority is to prepare and eat a meal within 30 minutes, to get carbs and protein into the bloodstream before the glycogen window closes. Physicians advise that the first order of business is to get those shorts…
Question: My wife is just starting to ride. She has a new hybrid bike, with a comfort bike-type seat. We want to ride the Katy Trail (250 miles) this October, about 40 miles per day. We have started a training program. She complains of “tail-bone” pain after about 5-6 miles. She thinks she needs more seat padding or…
