howaboutme

I just got back into riding and fitness in general. I've done just a handful of rides in the last few weeks and have felt great. My last ride, I realized that I may have come away from it with a rather large contusion on one of my calves. The bruise itself covers a lot of my main calve muscle but it doesn't hurt when walking (or otherwise) unless I press on it. Because I am just starting and not in shape, I am exerting myself pretty hard because where I ride, it's all rolling hills. I do not have any flat land to get my base fitness together. Is this exertion?

I have also read that some of this may be bike fit like saddle height and/or cleat position (too far forward). I am getting a full fit (retul) in about a month but am wondering if this is anything to be worried about and if I can safely ride with it? Of course, once I get on the bike and if I feel something, I will stop. But if I don't feel like, I'd like to think that I can continue w/ no ill effects

Thoughts?

Iride01 

Exertion is the perceived effort or perceived energy is to you do when do something. So sure, if you felt like it took some effort to ride those hills on your bike then that was exertion. Exertion is neither bad or good. You can do too little and you can do too much. Likely the bruise was from something you forgot about quickly and maybe not even during the rides. Or maybe from a limb tossed up by your wheels during a ride.

Bruises seldom show up on me. But I've had very sore areas on various body parts that probably otherwise would show up as a bruise on others. It's never stopped me from riding or other activity. I don't think it'll hurt it. Might even speed up the recovery.

Moving your cleats further back on your shoes will take some of the strain off of your calf and let you put more power directly into the crank. It feels funny for the first few rides. You quickly get use to it.

I incrementally over the years since I started using cleats have moved them further back. I tend to keep my foot in the same plane all through the stroke. Maybe not the best pedaling style, but it requires less calf muscle. If you toe down as you approach the bottom of your stroke, then that will affect what your saddle height should be compared to mine if we were have the same leg and femur length. Particularly if you have long feet and your cleats are further forward still.

Carbonfiberboy 

I'm not the one to always say "see a doctor" rather than talk to us. But in this case, I'd say, "Has a doctor seen this?" That doesn't sound good, and it just might not have anything to do with your riding, doubleplus notgood. In fact I don't see how it could have been a result of riding, but as above, "What do I know?"

howaboutme

Appreciate the response. I would agree with your advice. These kinds of posts are a double edged sword for sure. However, I did feel confident that my issue is not a "go to the doctor" but more a "what would you do?" scenario.

Thanks for your thoughts. I just came back from an exhaustive ride and the calf felt fine, didn't even notice it. Bruise is still there though! I must have hit myself in my sleep! Haha.

oldbobcat

After seeing a doctor I and getting the OK, I would continue to ride the bike but concentrate on low-impact efforts. That means low-gear spinning and no big-gear sprints until the condition clears. The bruise indicates tissue damage and one way to speed its repair is to increase blood circulation to its vicinity.

PeteHski

I can’t say I’ve ever had a bruise from simply riding, however hard. Are you sure your calf didn’t get whacked by a pedal or something?

howaboutme

Not sure at all. After doing a pretty intense ride, I would say that the bruise was caused by something other than simply exerting myself while riding. All good now. Thanks!