My cycle commute is 16 miles (each way). I started this earlier this year (July) and was managing this 3 times a week. A couple of months ago, my workload increased dramatically for a period which reduced this to 1-2 times a week (and one week none!). Work has calmed down a little now, but I'm struggling to increase the cycling again.
The last few weeks, whenever I cycle I get a pain in my lower right leg. It feels like it's in the muscle that goes from the back of my knee down the outerside (i.e. the right hand side) of the lower leg. It's pretty uncomfortable when cycling, but bearable. However, the next day I'm limping and woudln't be able to ride (especially as it'd make it worse) - it takes about a week to return to normal. This is limiting my cycling to once a week. (it's not the cold dark mornings, honest guv!)
I've googled this a bit and one possibility seems to be the position of my cleats. My feet are slightly splayed - i.e. they don't point forwards, but slightly outwards (My Dads fault - rubbish genes!), my right foot being a bit worse than my left. When I'm clipped in (spds) my foot is forced to point forwards, which effectively twists my knee inwards (towards the bike). I can see that this could put additional strain on muscles (and joints).
Has anyone else experienced this?
I was thinking that maybe I could adust the cleats so they they're not straight - to allow my foot to take it's natural position (pointing to the right). Assuming this is possible - does this sound like a good idea? Are there any alternatives ideas?
One other thing that confuses me - why has this started now? I never had this before when I was cycling more frequently.
The last few weeks, whenever I cycle I get a pain in my lower right leg. It feels like it's in the muscle that goes from the back of my knee down the outerside (i.e. the right hand side) of the lower leg. It's pretty uncomfortable when cycling, but bearable. However, the next day I'm limping and woudln't be able to ride (especially as it'd make it worse) - it takes about a week to return to normal. This is limiting my cycling to once a week. (it's not the cold dark mornings, honest guv!)
I've googled this a bit and one possibility seems to be the position of my cleats. My feet are slightly splayed - i.e. they don't point forwards, but slightly outwards (My Dads fault - rubbish genes!), my right foot being a bit worse than my left. When I'm clipped in (spds) my foot is forced to point forwards, which effectively twists my knee inwards (towards the bike). I can see that this could put additional strain on muscles (and joints).
Has anyone else experienced this?
I was thinking that maybe I could adust the cleats so they they're not straight - to allow my foot to take it's natural position (pointing to the right). Assuming this is possible - does this sound like a good idea? Are there any alternatives ideas?
One other thing that confuses me - why has this started now? I never had this before when I was cycling more frequently.
