TrojanHorse

I've never had any trouble with that particular part of my foot & ankle but recently, my left Achilles has been troubling me. Not usually while I'm ON the bike, but afterwards it can be sore. I was at my foot doctor yesterday for unrelated post-surgery checkups and he suggested icing it and wearing a night splint and that I had early signs of tendinitis at worst.

Anybody else have this issue? Is there something I'm doing while ON the bike that's exacerbating it?

baron von trail 

So far nothing like that. But, I have, on occasion, felt a sharp pain in my shin after a ride. It comes and goes. I haven't felt it in about a year though.

prathmann

A long time ago I was having my Achilles area get sore on longer bike rides. I traced it to the use of some slightly shorter toe clips (this was pre-clipless era). Ever since I've made sure to get large toe clips and, after switching to clipless, to position my cleats toward the rear of the slots.

Rowan

TH, have you changed the seat height on your bike at all recently? Also what is your cadence when, say, riding up hills? Have you been riding steeper hills recently?

I went through a period when I had tremendous trouble with Achilles tendon soreness, to the point I had swelling or nodes on the tendons. I narrowed down the issues to the three above... a saddle too high (pain in the front too low, pain at the back too high), low cadence mashing up steep hills over muddy paddock tracks to get home on the property where I lived and worked at the time.

I think you will find quite a while ago (like, six or seven years ago) a thread in the 50+ forums where DnvrFox discussed some of these Achilles issues, and you might glean something out of that, as well. If you can get the Search function to work for you, that is.

Mine healed up slowly with icing and massage. The major issue is that tendons tend to not get the same amount of blood to them as muscle, so the healing processes are much slow. I pay much more attention to what I am doing now, and at any sign of soreness, I back off and check fit and gearing.

Rowan

There certainly does seem to be something to this. I wore work boots on flat pedals on the MTB I rode to and from work, and I suspect that the ball of my foot was further back from the spindle than I normally ride (cleats as far back as they will go on my road and MTB shoes).

TrojanHorse

I haven't adjusted my seating position in a long time, seat post hasn't slipped (I'll double check that but I mount my tail light just above the bike frame so I can eyeball it.

My cleats are already mounted back as far as they'll go on the shoe.

It started bugging me yesterday at about mile 75 on an 85 mile ride. :/

I'll search for that thread - thanks guys.

Pamestique 

Trojan... I was recently DX (ie went the orthopedist, got xrays etc) with Achilles tendonitis. There is a sharp shooting pain in the back of my left heel that is painful most of the time. The doctor say it just has to resolve on it's own and takes a long time (6 - 8 mos). Best prescription is to not do anything to aggravate or cause further damage.

I however, can ride. I can't walk from my house to the car without limping but I can ride. I have noticed that my Sidi's do aggravate my heel (puts pressure on it) so I have been wearing touring shoes which are looser.

PS once there is full on tendonitis it's miserable so if you aren't there yet... I would back off the riding and let your heel issue resolve. I'm miserable and the pain is substantial. It is somewhat relieved with wearing a slight heel so the pressure on the Achilles is lessened.

I personally wish I can immediately cure this issue... had to give up a "once in a lifetime" backpacking trip this summer because of it. It was the long hikes that caused my injury.