3speedslow

How can a rider continue when your knee explodes? I would really like to climb my miles up and attempt the steps but am having left knee pain which keeps me from going forward.

everyone’s stories are just awesome!

ROT_01

Try to consult with a bike fit specialist. I had knee trouble on my first attempt to ride 550km in two days years ago when I first began randonneuring. My saddle was too far back. A fit specialist helped make changes to my positioning and i havent had knee problems since. Also I got Specialized insoles with arch support and that helped me too. Core strengthening exercise like yoga helps too.
I would start with a good look at saddle positioning and cleat positioning on yoir shoes and go from there.
QUOTE=3speedslow;21131036]How can a rider continue when your knee explodes? I would really like to climb my miles up and attempt the steps but am having left knee pain which keeps me from going forward.

everyone’s stories are just awesome![/QUOTE]

unterhausen

On PBP, they had massage therapists about every 60 miles. Whatever was wrong with my knee could almost make it that far before it really swelled up again. Then I would get another massage which reduced the swelling. If I had more tape for it, I probably could have made it to the finish. Combination of topical ibuprophen and taping kept me going pretty well, but i ran out of tape. I had to take the tape off to apply the ibuprophen in a way that it was effective. And they could massage it with the tape on either

3speedslow

[/QUOTE]

Thanks ROT1

i have been through all that and did help. What is left is knee pain from the previous damage and becomes tender when miles pile up sometimes.

I liked the details the the last poster went through when did PBP.

unterhausen

the only thing that helps my knees long term is swimming. Need to get back to that. The taping I do to my knees helps with patella tracking. Cycling muscles tend to pull the patella off track. If you are interested, I think searching for videos of ITB and KT tape will show what I do.

ROT_01

Thanks ROT1

i have been through all that and did help. What is left is knee pain from the previous damage and becomes tender when miles pile up sometimes.

I liked the details the the last poster went through when did PBP.[/QUOTE]

Ok. For me it took a long time for pain from the injury to subside. I twisted my knee badly while mtn biking in about 2005 and had trouble riding long distances for years. I use turmeric and black pepper capsules as an effective natural anti-inflammatory when my knee starts to bother me and ibuprofen if it gets bad. When it really flared up on my first attempt at a 550km I had to bail around 490km.

3speedslow

I happen to have access to a great pool courtesy of my Sister. Swimming is good therapy, yes. Thanks for the suggestion of KT taping. I will look into that. My pain right now involves the inflammation of the bursis sac above the knee. @ROT01 Suggestion of turmeric use is something I have sampled too

Thanks all..... I have an 88 Voyageur that would like to see more riding time!

antimonysarah

A couple of suggestions: if scar tissue from a previous injury is involved, I had great luck with Active Release Therapy (on my ankle and calf, not knee) -- it's this deep tissue massage where they have you flex the muscle back and forth while they're working on it -- it's quite painful but it helped a lot. A friend has had good luck with Graston technique, which is similar but not identical.

For knees, specifically, it's really easy to get into trouble cycling because we get so quad-dominant; lifting weights and specifically doing exercises aimed at strengthening my hamstrings and glutes helps me avoid giving myself runner's knee if I overdo it climbing.

rideorfly

Ok. For me it took a long time for pain from the injury to subside. I twisted my knee badly while mtn biking in about 2005 and had trouble riding long distances for years. I use turmeric and black pepper capsules as an effective natural anti-inflammatory when my knee starts to bother me and ibuprofen if it gets bad. When it really flared up on my first attempt at a 550km I had to bail around 490km.[/QUOTE]

One more thing to note is that black pepper does improve the absorption of turmeric, however, forms that are hydro-soluble absorb even better.