adamrice 

On Saturday, I went for a ride. Not an unusual distance or intensity. Nothing had changed about my bike, shoes, or position. It was a good ride.

Since then, however, I've had pain in the ball of my left foot (around the first metatarsal head, to be precise). I get hotfoot on some rides, but that clears up pretty quickly once I get off the bike. It's five days later and I've still got this. It's not intense, but it is a little worrying. I haven't been back on the bike since then, and I'm a little concerned about how my next ride will go.

Anyone had this? What did you do about it?

Iride01 

Maybe just a one-off thing that you'll never know why.

But are you certain your cleat positions didn't change slightly? Quite a while ago I was surprised how loose my cleat bolts were when I checked them on my shoes. Years of no issues making me complacent about checking things.

adamrice 

That is a really interesting possibility I had not considered. Looking at the cleats now, I don't think they've moved--I don't see any marks on the sole indicating the cleat has crept, everything feels solid, and the cleat is where it seems like it should be.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, that's a thing, metatarsalgia. Hotfoot is really common among cyclists. It helps a lot if you don't push down with your metatarsals. Instead, relax your ankle and push down with the whole shoe sole, focusing on the heel cup. That won't help you now that you have the inflammation, though. Some cycling shoes have insoles which are built up in the center, causing the metatarsals to form a slight arc. That's supposed to help a lot. Specialized specializes in them. Google "metatarsalgia cycling insoles". It's a common google. Lots of info there. On long rides, I've given foot massages at rest stops. I'm good at it, so my wife says.

blacknbluebikes 

From reading your post, you're not talking about the hotfoot. Is it a "bone pain" or a "muscle pain" or a "nerve pain" ? I'd book the podiatrist appointment now, they probably won't see you for a month, anyway. If this is still bugging you after 5 days, it's *something* real. does it bother you in regular shoes / barefoot? Usually this stuff is either from trauma, or it's some stretch of plantar facia inflammation. Another day or two and I'd definitely go to urgent care and get a script for some imaging.

masi61

Something seemingly insignificant like too snug of socks can trigger this pain. The tight elastic around the mid foot prevents all the metatarsals from laying flat, thus producing “Hot Foot”. If you remove your shoes & socks and the feeling dissipates once barefoot is one way to check if this could be a contributor…

As much as I think Swift Wick make great socks, I find that their L/XL socks seem to always want to exacerbate my morton’s Neuroma pain. I wear 12.5 shoe sizing & find that I often need 2XL socks for best comfort.

fishboat

You're getting old(er). BTDT. Get a set of these and wear them while riding. Your issues should disappear.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-Piece-M...8?athbdg=L1400

adamrice 

I'm already using aftermarket insoles with a metatarsal bump. The site of the sensation is forward and medial from that bump. I'd characterize this as nerve pain, but that's a guess. I'm not feeling it at right this second, but I've been feeling it more or less continuously, regardless of whether I'm wearing anything on my feet, or whether I've got any weight on my feet.

PeteHski

Feet are really complicated, literally! Honestly, this could be dozens of different things and impossible to diagnose on BF. I would go and see a medical expert if it doesn't go away very soon.

masi61

.

How is the toe box on your cycling shoes? Is it roomy enough? Also, are you giving your feet some variety as you are riding? What I mean is - are you mashing big gears for long intervals without getting up out of the saddle, changing up your spin technique a bit throughout your rides to ameliorate excessive "pushing" in exchange for some "pulling"? Also, the metacarpal insoles do help but are not a cure all. The nerves run through the in between spaces of the metacarpal heads and if one of the nerves is already "angry", it is probably going to stay that way for a while unless everything is perfect.

I don't know if you are a yoga person or not but I do some occasional yoga and find that the holistic way that yoga recruits all of the muscles, tendons and ligaments can be super beneficial if for no other reason than to identify bottle necks in your connective tissue. Often times these bottle necks originate upstream of the painful area. You might find that your sore feet are more a result of the feet doing disproportionate work to take up the slack for inflexible calves for example.

Iride01 

How old are your shoes? I was getting what I believe is commonly called hot foot just a little earlier this summer and realized my shoes were also almost ten years old and well worn out. Possibly more flex in the sole than when new. So I got new shoes that are stiffer soled.

But even when my old shoes were new, I'd sometimes get hot foot at around mile 35 to maybe 45. It'd go away by mile 60 or maybe my foot was numb to the pain by then.

Some of the things I attributed to helping rid me for the many years I went without getting hot foot is hydration, moving my cleats further rearward, wearing thin socks and wearing compression socks that compressed my foot, not so much my ankle or leg.

All of those were thought to be solutions at the time I tried each one of them, but I can't say that they really cured it. After all, it came back after thinking I'd been successful with each one of those fixes and I had to move on to trying the next . Currently I still do them all.

So, food for thought, YMMV.

PeteHski

Guys, these all sound like potential solutions to ongoing chronic problems. For example I had chronic hot-foot in a new pair of shoes, which turned out to be a little too narrow in the forefoot But this sounds more like a one-off issue, like some kind of (hopefully minor) injury. I suppose the previous hot-foot he experienced on some rides may have been a clue. But really we are just guessing here.

canklecat

ProFoot Miracle insoles. Best I've found, and I've used custom orthotics to off the shelf products since I was a kid -- long, narrow, bony feet with high arches. Off the shelf shoes rarely fit me properly without custom orthotics or insoles.

The ProFoot Miracles conform easily, weigh almost nothing, last several months to a year, are easy to trim to fit. And cost only $8-$10, a fraction of the price of some orthotics that didn't fix the problem.

I use 'em in my clipless cycling shoes, flat pedal cycling shoes and running shoes. The only running shoes I've found that don't always need the ProFoot Miracles are some Adidas and Under Armour shoes, since those run a bit narrower than most major brand running shoes. And the current Adidas and Under Armour insoles are really good too -- I've borrowed those for other shoes.

My Scott and Fizik came with insoles with detachable metatarsal and arch support pads. Hated 'em. The insoles were too firm and the detachable pads caused hotspots when in place, and left unsupported voids when removed. The ProFoot Miracles fixed all of those problems. I've had my Scott Road Pro shoes since 2017 or '18 and have replaced the ProFoot insoles two or three times. Usually I'll recycle the worn insole to another pair of shoes or boots that needed only a little more arch support, so I'd trim off the toe section where use over a year compressed the cushioning down to paper thin, but the arch and metatarsal support was still good.