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Help! Knee pain

Old 06-08-20, 03:39 PM
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Help! Knee pain

Hi all
I started this morning on a week long ride. 25 miles in my knee started hurting real bad. It's the upper part on the left side. I've moved my seat up and down and moved my cleats back and forth. I ride often and never had any trouble. I switched pedals to Funn mamba dual sided a day before I left. I also adjusted the seat to compensate for the height difference from my old pedals.. I cant hardly think this would be the cause. I very concerned because Its difficult to continue. Any and all advice is appreciated
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Old 06-08-20, 04:02 PM
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This sounds a lot like chrondomalcia patella (CP), a condition I've lived with the past 40 years, I was diagnosed 3 days after onset when I had to drop out of a race and series I'd nearly podiumed the year before. lucked out. I was diagnosed by a doctor at the race; friend of the race promoter, on the spot in the back of a van. Sports orthopedist. Told me after a quick exam that I had CP, it was for life and to do these things. It took decades before I ever saw all of what he told me and to this day, never all of it in one place, So many years ago, I wrote a post (on a different forum) that I have re-posted many times, Here it is again.


Chrondomalacia patella. Yes, I can tell you a little about it. I was diagnosed in ’78 and given very good advice by the doctor (an orthopedic in sports medicine. He was also a novice bike racer, so he had more understanding of the cycling aspects of CP than most). I will do my best to pass on what he told me.In CP, the kneecap is not aligned with the knee under it, hence there is chafing as the knee is moved. This causes wear, first to the cartilage, then to the bone under it. The wear accumulates with number of repetitions and pressure. At some point, the wear can cause permanent damage.

Some people are more prone to CP than others. It can be triggered by exercising in cold weather, exercising without adequate stretching of the hamstrings, i.e. touching your toes or less extreme stretches of the same tendons. It can be brought on by exercising without adequately strengthening the small quadriceps muscles just above the kneecap.

I brought on my CP by training to return my body to racing form after a very serious accident. (I was weak enough after my hospital stay that I was no match at 24 years old for any 7 yo.) The accident was in November, and I returned to riding miles in March. I did nothing to keep my knees especially warm and did no stretching exercises (rationalizing that since my leg never extended to anywhere near straight, there was no chance of injury, hence no need to stretch). I was wearing just full tights and thermal underwear under them in Boston. The temperature was probably not much above 30. The ride that started it was 100+ miles on my racing bike, my first outdoor ride on that bike. It had 175 cranks. My trainer, with fixed gear and very low BB, had 168’s. After the ride I had a dull pain in my mid to upper knee in front. That Saturday was the first race of the season. I was forced to drop out, my knees hurt so much.

After that race, the race promoter introduced me to an orthopedic surgeon who diagnosed me in the back of a cold van. He laid out for me then and in later phone calls a plan that I will pass on here.

He first stressed that I had to stretch my hamstrings, touch toes or lean forward against a wall or post with one leg back and straight and stretch that hamstring or sit and touch toes. I now prefer the lean forward method. Very specific and hard to hurt yourself. (I am now a 48 yo, I damage if I am not careful.)

Second, he had me sit on the floor and do leg raises. He had me raise one leg at a time and hold it several inches off the floor for a while (I don’t remember the time, but 15 secs should work. Important – while the leg is raised, tense up your quads big time and tense up those little quads just above and beside the kneecap. Feel for them and get to know them. It is those little guys that keep you kneecap aligned. If you are in riding shape, you can do this with say 5 pounds on your ankles, but the tensing up is much more important than the resistance.

Third, KEEP YOUR KNEES WARM WHEN YOU RIDE!! For me, this is critical. I wear these dumb looking “knee warmers” for most of my rides, always below 70 degrees, often under tights. Since keeping the hamstrings loose is important, I had to stretch the elastic. To keep them from falling down, I sewed on garters that I clip onto my shorts.

Fourth, back off riding until you have been doing these two things long enough to make a difference. Keep up the exercises and especially the stretches after you resume riding. Build up your riding slowly. The doctor stressed this to me and it has been very true. My ability to come into real form and resilience on the bike is limited more by my knees than by my lungs/muscles.

After rides, take aspirin or Ibuprofen to speed recovery. I personally think aspirin is better, that my knees recover more with it. I disagree with the ice. I have always felt that moving my knees when they are cold is causing the damage I am trying to avoid. Perhaps ice speeds recovery, but I feel it also continues the damage (at least in my knees).

Big gears are the enemy of CP knees. I love to climb hills standing. I love to ride hilly country on fix-gears. It is a fact of my life that I can only ride certain not-so-steep hills on my commuter and that I have to have and use a granny ring on my custom. It is a fact that there are days, weeks and months when I have to let whippersnappers blow by me on hills where I know I can humble them.

Lastly, what you did not want to hear, but again what the doctor told me. Get used to the idea of CP. If you are at all like me, it will be a fact of your cycling life for a long time. 23 years later for me and I am feeling my knees now because of a very easy ride I did in street clothes without knee warmers at noon today.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can still do a lot of riding. I raced that season (I already knew it was my last) and have done 60,000 (?) miles since. I still commute, but only on alternate days. (But for the first 7 years with CP, I did not own a car and rode everywhere.)

I took the time to spell all this out because in the 23 years I have had CP, I have never seen all of this in one place. In fact, I have only heard about the importance of keeping the knees warm from that one doctor. That is the single most important aspect of the program for me. Thank you Dr. Kish, wherever you are. I will probably ultimately need those carbon fiber knees, but by following the regime, I figure I can wait until a) the product improves, b) the price comes down and c) I’m old enough that my cycling level will be within the abilities of those knees. I hope to delay another 10 years.

Since I wrote this a year plus ago, my physician has recommended that I take glucosamine. He was very specific, that I should take 3000 mg/day in the form of glucosamine sulfate or glucosamine hydroxide, but to avoid chrondroitin. This I did faithfully for 9 months. Between riding steadily starting two years ago and the glucosamine, my knees never felt better than they did last summer. I was passing whippersnappers uphill. Then my riding tapered off, I tapered down on the glucosamine and got sick so my riding and conditioning dropped. Thanksgiving I rode 50 miles with 2500’ of climbing on a cool day. My knees hurt. How many of those rules outlined above did I break?


Ben
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Old 06-08-20, 04:42 PM
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If I were in your shoes, I’d switch back to the old pedals, or something very similar. There’s obviously something about the newer ones, that literally rubs you the wrong way. 🙄😉

I’ve had a major ACL reconstruction, so I’ve earned the right to my weird sense of humor. 😉

Good luck with figuring everything out, and hopefully fixing things enough to ride without problems. 🙂
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Old 06-08-20, 05:04 PM
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You said nothing about what you did during those 25 miles. Maybe standing on the pedals to power up hills or something like that?

I have had intermitent knee problems since backpacking in the rockies several decades ago. I think I have not stood on the pedals to accelerate up a hill or accelerate from a stop sign, etc. for over a decade. I always stay in the saddle and gear down when the pedaling gets tough. I have no idea what you did, but that is what I do.

Several years ago I took a fully supported week long trip in Europe. Guided, lodging and most of food included, etc. One of the other bicyclists in the group was a nurse practitioner, and she blew out a knee. I have no idea what she did, but she described in great detail all of anatomy that she impaired. She could have ridden in the van for the rest of the week, but instead she wanted to ride. So, rode for the rest of teh week. But, rode at a very high cadence and low torque, meaning the speed of her bike was quite slow even though she was pedaling fast.

My point is, if you want to keep cycling, stay in the saddle and gear down and keep the torque level low.
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Old 06-08-20, 05:25 PM
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were these new pedals clipless and the previous pedals just flat bars? interestingly enough my wife realized that riding clipless keeps both of her feet uniformly straight but naturally all her life one of her feet likes to veer the toe a fraction to the outside. After a long day (50 miles +) she complains of knee pain when on clipless but never when on flat pedals.
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Old 06-08-20, 07:00 PM
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I had some pain just above the knee. I moved my seat back 3/4" and it has subsided. Apparently the seats fore and aft position is at least as important as the correct height.

Some make the mistake of moving the seat to change reach. This is not a good idea. Fore and aft position adjustments should only be used to achieve the correct knee position relative to the peddles.

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Old 06-08-20, 08:07 PM
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Thanks everyone for the answers. No I did not stand up I'm on the c&o canal (flat) then to the gap (one big hill out of cumberland) . In those 25 miles it was only a slight incline and I wasnt even going fast 10-12 mph usually. I think 79pmooney (the first person to answer) is right. It was chilly this morning 51 degrees along the river. I was not prepared for that low of temp. I actually left camp at 5.am to warm up I was only wearing shorts a t shirt and thermal sleeves. Nothing on my legs. Being as I'm already underway and was dropped off I cant put on my old pedals or I would. Old pedals are clipless same as how I rode today. Same shoes even. I did cover 64 miles today with all my gear but the last couple hours were really tough. I mostly just used one leg. I took some asprin now and am hoping for the best. I'm on my week long vacation. I'll be really upset if I cant continue. One more thing about it is walking does not hurt at all but standing up from a crouch does. Thanks again for everybody's help
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Old 06-08-20, 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Thruhiker
I started this morning on a week long ride. 25 miles in my knee started hurting real bad....I switched pedals to Funn mamba dual sided a day before I left. I also adjusted the seat to compensate for the height difference from my old pedals.. I cant hardly think this would be the cause. I very concerned because Its difficult to continue....
Originally Posted by Thruhiker
.... Old pedals are clipless same as how I rode today. Same shoes even. I did cover 64 miles today with all my gear but the last couple hours were really tough. I mostly just used one leg. I took some asprin now and am hoping for the best. I'm on my week long vacation. I'll be really upset if I cant continue....
dude, don't be a fool! you're going to destroy your knees. permanently.

same shoes, same bike, same gear, same body. only change was the pedals.

oh, but it can't be the pedals. anything but the pedals. sure, just ride thru the pain.
what's the worst that can happen, right?


time to learn the first rule of bike touring. have a bailout plan and be prepared to use it.
(second rule is don't make gear changes the day before a tour.)

go home. now.
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Old 06-08-20, 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by 79pmooney
This sounds a lot like chrondomalcia patella (CP), a condition I've lived with the past 40 years, I was diagnosed 3 days after onset when I had to drop out of a race and series I'd nearly podiumed the year before. lucked out. I was diagnosed by a doctor at the race; friend of the race promoter, on the spot in the back of a van.
Thank you for the story. I have never raced, but I have similarly messed up one knee and what you describe with the exercises was pretty much my physical therapy regiment for several months after I messed things up.

It was my 1st year of heavier mileage riding. Year 1 I did 1000 miles and year 2 I did 1500 (I know, not much compared to a lot of riders but it was a good amount for me). I rode on the stock platform pedals on my bike with tennis shoes - no added clips. I had done my first century ride late in the Fall - 116 miles plus a day hike in the middle of a couple miles or so. I was really sore and worn out from that ride for quite a while. I didn't have any knee trouble, per se, just a lot of soreness in my rear end and muscles.

Once I recovered, supposedly, from the big ride I kept working towards my annual goal. I didn't have many rides/miles left. The first time I jumped on the bike after the big ride I made it a few miles and then had excruciating pain in my left knee. I had never felt pain like that before and when it happened I just about fell off the bike.

Not knowing what it was and what was going on, of course I stopped, I took a couple minutes to asses myself. The pain wasn't constant and I had mobility in my leg, nothing was binding... so I walked it off and rode home, nursing the knee a bit of course.

I knew right when that first incident happened that I had to get it checked out, but I didn't want to stop my mileage count until I hit my goal. So, foolishly, I pressed on for a few more lower mileage rides. I don't have my data anymore from those earlier years, but I want to say after my century ride I was under 100 miles left for my goal. So the lower mileage rides were to finish out that last (under) 100 miles. That brought us in to the holiday season. At the time I was living out-of-state and was going to be back home for a while so I still put off getting my knee checked out.

Well, I made it all the way to that next January and finally went to get my knee checked out after things were getting worse. I started at an urgent care where they took x-rays, which didn't show soft tissue. However, what the x-rays did show was the alignment of my kneecaps in the range of motion of my legs bending (they had me crouch down also - I distinctly recall that because I was in excruciating pain in the position they wanted me to be in for the x-ray).

What that led to was a long, rough time with physical therapy - with pretty much a model of the above exercises and stretches - plus the addition of the therapists trying to supposedly "break up" scar tissue under my kneecap. To do so they used a proverbial "giant spoon" to get under my kneecap. That was as much, or more, excruciating than my intense pain when cycling and literally brought me to tears every time they did it. But I wanted to get better so I hammered through what ever course they had outlined. And it helped.

Originally Posted by saddlesores
dude, don't be a fool! you're going to destroy your knees. permanently.

go home. now.
Knowing what I know now, and what I went through - I had the luxury of doing my rides and retiring at home that night, without carrying on the next day. If I could have gone back and do things over again - for one, in my case, I would have had clipless pedals from the start. Second - at the first sign of major pain I would have had things checked out. I presume I would have been doing physical therapy right then and there in much the same path, however I wouldn't have caused as much damage carrying on for another 3 months.

With that having been said - as hard of a pill as it is to swallow (the trip you had planned and your pride) - I agree. You need to bail out.

If you are on the forum with a physical challenge that has hit, trying to get advice from us, and wondering if you can find a way through and continue - if you didn't think it was a huge issue you would likely not be on here asking for advice. So my advice is to swallow the "pill" and call for a ride.

That all having been said -

As I sit here and write this post I feel my left knee. Every time I walk up and down steps I feel my left knee. And I still would get on the bike and ride 50+ miles and perhaps the next day after I'd ride again. It is something I am aware of and have been able to manage fairly well. Its been 4 years for me.

What helps me is to "roll" my IT bands. I use a foam roller and lay on my side rolling across the foam roller between my knee and hip, both sides, 10 reps before and 10 reps after each ride - each leg.

The prior 2 years I did no rolling at all, however I also was not riding much at all. Last year I rode about 600 miles and this year I am already there. Along with the miles is needing to manage my knee.

So far I am OK. However, I am learning as I go. I have plans to do some longer tours like what you are doing - several days to a week or more. In order for me to be able to reason being able to ride that much I need to train and and condition myself. Just as the end of last year and the first part of this year have been - in that period of conditioning I need to find where my limits are and when I find them learn how to work with them. Case-in-point - the foam rolling of my IT bands. That is the #1 thing that has assisted me when the going got a bit tough. I knew I was at a limit that needed some help and tried the rolling again. That is what got me able to function.

That isn't to say that foam rolling will help everyone. Leg anatomy is complex and everyone is built a bit differently. For example, I am the least flexible person on the planet - and perhaps a contributing factor to my knee pain, and other issues (hips when I backpack). So what helps me may not be the best cure for you. However, it is worth a shot.

If you research rolling IT bands you are likely to find a lot (most, if not all) of articles saying how bad it is in that it weakens the lateral stability of your knees. Though this is somewhat true, it is pertaining to runners, not cyclists. When your legs are working the motion of the crank lateral stability should be a non-issue.

Your mileage (no pun intended) may vary.

Moral of my post - until you have your pain checked out and understand it (checked out by someone qualified - start with your general doc then see what his recommendation is - whether they want to do any imaging or just send you to PT to try that before ordering images - your doc will guide) - don't ruin yourself trying to hang on to your trip.

You could try the stretches already mentioned. Also throw in there rolling your IT bands. Since you likely don't have access to a foam roller on your trip - stop at a store and get a large metal can of soup and substitute the soup can (full, don't empty it first) as the roller.

Best of luck to you and do your best to take care of yourself. I'm not the only one on the forums that is making do with "issues", there are a lot of us. Hands, hips, knees, back... I got it all goin' on here - but I manage it. I'll reiterate what has already been said - by others and from myself - don't hurt yourself and cause more damage. Your short-term gain of the pride in continuing on won't pay off if you cause permanent damage.
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Old 06-09-20, 08:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Thruhiker
Hi all
I started this morning on a week long ride. 25 miles in my knee started hurting real bad. It's the upper part on the left side. I've moved my seat up and down and moved my cleats back and forth. I ride often and never had any trouble. I switched pedals to Funn mamba dual sided a day before I left. I also adjusted the seat to compensate for the height difference from my old pedals.. I cant hardly think this would be the cause. I very concerned because Its difficult to continue. Any and all advice is appreciated
ok lets face it, you are on your trip now, so it is what it is--but seriously, this is why you NEVER change out stuff right before a tour. Its just asking for trouble, same with all self propelled activity, you're the old hiker guy right? It would be like taking new boots and diff socks right before a long multi day hike...

here's the deal, with saddle height changes, fore aft changes, spd cleat changes, its often just a small change that can make a difference, and cleated pedals vary in how they hold the shoe--some have more "float" than others, free play side to side, and others dont, which cna be a real factor just that.

I wish us internet dudes could help you, but frankly without seeing in person what you had before to help in person set up your new stuff, its kinda out of our hands.
If at all possible, if you dont have that much experience setting up pedals, seat and all that jazz, try to visit a bike store and hopefully a knowledgeable employee (not the 22 year old kid) can at elast set you up in the ball park.

the other kicker here , is that touring on a heavy bike for hours on end WILL show up any misfit, and yes, you can bugger up your knees, dont screw around with this. We gotta take care of these old knee parts of ours....
good luck and listen to your body, adjust stuff logically and in small amounts each time. Try to get the feeling your bike was giving you before. Downshift and keep torque low on the knees, seriously.
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Old 06-09-20, 08:38 AM
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Originally Posted by PedalingWalrus
were these new pedals clipless and the previous pedals just flat bars? interestingly enough my wife realized that riding clipless keeps both of her feet uniformly straight but naturally all her life one of her feet likes to veer the toe a fraction to the outside. After a long day (50 miles +) she complains of knee pain when on clipless but never when on flat pedals.
hey there large seal type feller--ever since I got my first spd set of pedals (maybe 92) I paid to get a bike fit and they also measured my "natural foot position" using at the time, a fancy doo dad that showed how my feet position was during the pedal stroke. It clearly showed my right leg naturally goes to "toe out" or "heel in" to a certain degree. They set up my right cleat with this in mind, and to this day, I always recreat this right cleat "offset" and my knee feels fine.

I really suggest looking into this for Mrs W, even if you use common sense and look at her foot position on flat pedal rides, really watch and observe, hell, take many photos of her flat pedal foot position during a long ride, and then use common sense and GRADUALLY make some slight cleat angle changes.

I borrowed some spd shoes once a few years ago for a few days when I didnt have my shoes, and both cleats were straight. Right away I felt it putting a strain on my right knee, so stopped and made an informed angle change (luckily I had an iimage clear in my mind of how Id set up that shoe over the years) and bang, felt right again.

good luck, let me know if you'd like to see a photo of my shoe bottoms to show you, give you an idea....obviously make small changes, change again, and have her tell you how it feels as you ride, taking all the time she needs to feel how changes are. Its easy to change at side of trail. Make sure she knows to take all the time she needs to stop and make adjustments. I would even say, gradually adjust until it is a bit too far, hopefully she would pick up on this, and then back track to hopefully a sweet spot that feels "natural" to her....

dont forget, fore aft position also can feel different. I found putting my cleats so that it brought my shoes forward a bit on the pedal felt better than what it was before....but we are talking a small amount there---again, go by what feels better...and dedicate a ride solely to being able to stop and make small adjustements.

oh, dont forget, once you find the right position, after a ride or two, check tightness of bolts, they tend to need a small tightening again after a while.
and check again later just to be sure...
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Old 06-09-20, 09:43 AM
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I am not sure if this would help but about a quarter of my cycling miles are with a patella band on one of my knees. And I have had a patella band on my left knee for every mile I have ridden since I did a two week long backpacking trip last summer on the Superior Hiking Trail.

Do a google search for patella band if you are curious. You might be able to use a small Ace bandage as one if you see a store along the way.
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Old 06-09-20, 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by djb
the other kicker here , is that touring on a heavy bike for hours on end WILL show up any misfit, and yes, you can bugger up your knees, dont screw around with this. We gotta take care of these old knee parts of ours....
If he's already hurt and doesn't stop to allow things to heal the only result will be more serious damage. Unfortunately, I state that from experience in this very department.

If the pain is minor and can be maintained, or worked around with tweaking positions etc, that is one thing. What stands out to me is the vibe in the posts from the OP in that hes already hurt himself. If he's already hurt himself he can't rest enough even in a couple 0 days to adequately recover. I suspect he doesn't have a time budget for a week or two off the bike on his trip.

Tough call for sure. If I was geared up for a trip I had been planning for months and had that kind of wrench thrown in it I'd be pretty down about it also. The closest I've come was bailing out on day 2 of what was supposed to be a 3 day backpacking trip. It was the one and only time I've hitch-hiked, and my hiking partner hid in the woods not wanting to be seen on the side of the road thumbing for a ride. LOL. Lessons and at least I can laugh about it now. (GSMNP- started at Clingmans Dome, first mistake - highest point on the AT, and made it about 10-12mi and a drop of 3000ft in the first day - my legs said "no more" and I dragged myself the last mile to camp, and cursed myself up one side and down the other for being out of shape before the trip - funny how that works - now I cycle to stay in shape).
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Old 06-10-20, 07:14 AM
  #14  
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No way around it, a knee issue during a trip is a real drag and concern. Been there done that unfortunately also.
this fellow it seems to me is a pretty experienced hiker, so hopefully is able to assess and listen to his knee.
All the best with it thruhiker.
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Old 06-10-20, 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Thruhiker
Thanks everyone for the answers. No I did not stand up I'm on the c&o canal (flat) then to the gap (one big hill out of cumberland) . In those 25 miles it was only a slight incline and I wasnt even going fast 10-12 mph usually. I think 79pmooney (the first person to answer) is right. It was chilly this morning 51 degrees along the river. I was not prepared for that low of temp. I actually left camp at 5.am to warm up I was only wearing shorts a t shirt and thermal sleeves. Nothing on my legs. Being as I'm already underway and was dropped off I cant put on my old pedals or I would. Old pedals are clipless same as how I rode today. Same shoes even. I did cover 64 miles today with all my gear but the last couple hours were really tough. I mostly just used one leg. I took some asprin now and am hoping for the best. I'm on my week long vacation. I'll be really upset if I cant continue. One more thing about it is walking does not hurt at all but standing up from a crouch does. Thanks again for everybody's help
you know thruhiker, I had to go and translate F into C, so now I see that 51f is about 10c.
I once did a two day trip, it was cold, even though I had tights, they werent warm enough, so my legs and knee muscles were cold. On top of it, second day it rained a ton and got colder, plus the gearing on my bike was too high and I had to reroute to hilly roads.
As Ive gotten older, Ive found that Im way more sensitive to cold muscles, and on that trip my right knee started acting up. A combination of overworking a bit, too cold , and wet a bit too.
I learned from that experience and bought some wool leg warmers, and its really rather clear how keeping my knee and leg muscles warm avoids sore knee issues--of course, maybe your experience was a combination of other factors too, but in rereading your comment, and finally figuring out that it was 10c, this certainly could be a factor. It would be for me.
the wool leg and knee warmers are great, cuz even if wet or damp, it keeps me warm.
hope the knee started to improve.
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Old 06-11-20, 08:52 AM
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^^^^ I’m a big believer in wool too, but usually just socks & sweaters. Both make a huge difference, especially in the mountains. 😉

One sweater is cashmere, which is great because it’s thin enough to breathe well, even when it’s warm out.

We seem to be going through a wool socks shortage, here in the U.S., it’s getting hard to find them in stores. 🤔😉
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Old 06-18-20, 10:00 PM
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Thanks again everybody. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. By the afternoon of my 2nd day the pain had mostly subsided. I kept my knee warm for the remainder of the trip and moved my seat about 50 times till I found a perfect spot. I'm pretty experienced and should of knew better then to change my bike fit before a trip but lol it was just pedals. Big mistake. Any way I was able to complete my ride. 407 miles on the c&o and G.A.P and then back.I really appreciate all the advice.
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Old 06-18-20, 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Thruhiker
Thanks again everybody. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. By the afternoon of my 2nd day the pain had mostly subsided. I kept my knee warm for the remainder of the trip and moved my seat about 50 times till I found a perfect spot. I'm pretty experienced and should of knew better then to change my bike fit before a trip but lol it was just pedals. Big mistake. Any way I was able to complete my ride. 407 miles on the c&o and G.A.P and then back.I really appreciate all the advice.
My only tours so far are trips on the C&O/Gap. I never change anything at least two rides prior. I broke my own rule last year and I swapped my stem the night before and I did it with my bag mount thing already attached to my bars. I didn't trust that stem and the new one didn't arrive until the day before when the bike was already on the back of the car ready to roll. I did the entire trip with my stem alignment pretty far off center to the front wheel. I guess with the bag and mount on the bars I didn't notice. Not a big deal but I should have known or spent the time and did it right. I guess if you tour a lot, you have no choice but to swap and replace.

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Old 06-19-20, 05:43 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Thruhiker
Thanks again everybody. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. By the afternoon of my 2nd day the pain had mostly subsided. I kept my knee warm for the remainder of the trip and moved my seat about 50 times till I found a perfect spot. I'm pretty experienced and should of knew better then to change my bike fit before a trip but lol it was just pedals. Big mistake. Any way I was able to complete my ride. 407 miles on the c&o and G.A.P and then back.I really appreciate all the advice.
i wasn't going to chime in again or ask more until you got back here, so I'm glad that it at least ended properly, that you got it sorted with adjustment and also that you checked back in.

I think its realistic to say that most of us have probably had a similar experience, of having to adjust something that isn't quite right and shows up riding heavy and all day.
it certainly is a drag and disconcerting to have knee or whatever physical issues, glad it got sorted and knee pain subsided.
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