Sore knee; should I be concerned?

[Brandane]

I have been a "casual" cyclist for many years, but having got a little bit more serious about it after buying a Tricross last November I have found myself doing a lot more miles than I used to. When I bought the new bike, I set myself a target of 150 miles per month. Last month I did 420! 370 of them were in one week, on a trip to Normandy.

Anyway, to the point... I came back from Normandy with a bit of a pain in my left knee. Nothing too serious, just a bit of discomfort in the region of the top of my kneecap, which isn't too bad on the move but tends to stiffen up a few hours after a ride. I put it down to over-doing things a bit so rested it for a week and all seemed fine. Did a 50 miler yesterday and another 50 today and it seems to be playing up again.

Could it just be part of getting used to the extra effort; in the same way as your backside has to get used to being in the saddle? Or am I risking further damage by continuing to cycle? I don't want to go to the Doc as I know the answer will be "rest it until we get you to see the physio, whose next available appointment is December.... 2012!"

FWIW, I am 48 years old, just over 13 stone (but finally reducing ), and have no history of knee trouble.

PS... I thought I might have had my saddle a touch too high, and cleats wrongly positioned, so after some research on this site I have adjusted them accordingly.

 

[tmcd35]

PS... I thought I might have had my saddle a touch too high, and cleats wrongly positioned, so after some research on this site I have adjusted them accordingly.

From what I've read around these here parts that'd be the type of thing that'd cause these problems. Is it still happening since changing the seat height and cleat positions?

I'm no doctor and am certainly not going to give any medical advice here other than if it's been going on for more than a couple of weeks and is not healing by itself then go see the doc before you cause a perminant injury.

I would hazard a guess and say you over exercted yourself in Normandy and your body probably wanted/needed more than the week off to heal itself.

Still the advice has to be - go see the doc, it's what they're paid for

 

[Canardly]

Any improvement after adjusting cleats prime culprit imo?

 

[accountantpete]

You might simply have overdone it in too big a gear - I'd take it slightly easier for a week and see if it clears up.

Obviously,a s the above have said, if you have changed anything - change it back.

 

[Brandane]

Thanks for the replies......
Have only been out twice (albeit 2x50 miles) since changing seat height and cleat position, so maybe too early to tell if that was the problem. Maybe I better take it easy for a week or two as suggested to see if it clears up. If I then go back on the bike and have no problem with the knee, then I will know what was causing it....

 

[RedBike]

Definately rest it. I found ice, compression bandages and ibuprofean helpfull when I hurt my knees although the only real cure is rest.

 

[potsy]

Definately rest it. I found ice, compression bandages and ibuprofean helpfull when I hurt my knees although the only real cure is rest.

I had a bit of a twinge last week,1st time I've had any knee pain,took Ibuprofen for a few days and rested it,done 2 commutes now and it seems to be OK again.
Sounds like you have just overdone it slightly,should be fine in a couple of days.

 

[tedydim]

Take a break for a few days and if possible stay off the bike for a week or may be just take it super lightly. However, 50 miles is not taking it lightly!
Once you start going back into it -- start off slow and gradually increase. That might be the problem all together - doing much more miles that you were use to. I think ice works wonders and iboprofen is great for the swelling (if there is any). May be schedule an appt. with the doc -- to reserve a spot just in case. If things don't get any better in a month or two you will already have an appt. If all is well - you can just cancel it. Good luck!

 

[mgarl10024]

Hi,

I have knee trouble too, but there can be many causes.

My advice is to make sure that the saddle isn't too low as that wont help, and avoid grinding away in those high gears. I often find that I am 'spinning' more in a gear lower than everyone else - otherwise I'll pay for it later.

Have you read: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/pain.html#knees ?

Finally, I'd recommend going to see the GP if it continues,

Hope that helps,

MG

 

[on the road]

Are your cleats worn? What you usually find with worn cleats is that you have to twist your feet to get them in the clips, effectively twisting your knee.

Normally worn cleats wouldn't have that much of an effect, but if you've been putting extra pressure on your knees over a certain period then it could be that extra pressure combined with the worn cleat.

 

[MacB]

agree with a lot of the advice, saddle position can make a big difference especially the fore/aft, getting this right is harder than the height. Worth doing some more research or having a detailed fitting, especially as you use cleats. Every detailed fit I've looked at seems to spend a significant proportion of the time getting the cleat/pedal interface correct. There're all sorts of little changes that can be made and wedges and stuff that can be used to fine tune.

Not a problem here as I use flat pedals