71 miles today - and a minor issue

[Mushroomgodmat]

I managed 71 miles today. Beating my longest distance by 21miles

I didn't really prep for the ride. Porrage in the morning, a few energy bars thoughout thr ride and some home made cordial/table salt drink

On the whole it was reasonably easy. I suffered no muscle pain, only light fatigue. The only real issue I had was my right knee giving out. Towards the end, maybe the last 10miles I stopped pushing down with my right leg due to pain (I did use my right leg to pull up on though). I think the last 10miles where 85% left leg, 15%right leg.

If not for my knee I think I could have managed another 30miles

I suppose my question is....what can I do to improve my knees?

 

[MacB]

Lots of possible answers but the obvious two that spring to mind are:-

1. you've overdone it and just need to take it easier
2. the bike isn't setup quite right for you....I thought I had my saddle right and was riding 40 miles a day no problem. I then did a longer ride and began to get knee pain after 50 miles, by 75 miles it was excruciating...mainly right leg and I'm right handed/footed. I was with some folks from here and we stopped, got me some painkillers and they sorted out my saddle position(it was too far back and bringing it forward also reduced the overall reach). I went on to complete my first ever 100 mile ride and my knees were fine by the time I got home.

 

[Banjo]

+1 to what MacB says It could also be a cleat issue(presuming you are riding clipped in? )You really need to get someone experienced to have a look at your bike/cleat set up. Lots of good info on here. http://bikedynamics.co.uk/kneepain.htm

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

cheers for the advice guys. I don't personally think I over did it from a stamina/strength point of view. Other than my knee (and a few minor aches from being in one position for a length of time) I was in fine working order

But I think the bike setup issue is something I need to look into. Iv never really paid any attention to correct setup other than seat hight. I am using clipless but Iv only used them for a few days. So I suspect that should be my first avanue to look into.

I do use the bike everyday, and I was totally fine up to about 50miles. So its a problem that only shows itself on rides over 50. On my daily commute Im not on the bike long enough to cause a problem.

 

[Banjo]

I was told that if you dangle your foot just above the pedal totally relaxed and let it lie at the angle it naturally wants to then that is the angle your foot should be when clipped in.

 

[Tynan]

get saddle height/tilt/and position right, cleats right, you should be able to get it close to right following simple routines all over the web, until I did the 'hang a plumbline from knee to pedal I was well out on a eyeball assessment regarding my saddle being far enough forward

 

[ayceejay]

It is impossible to say with any certainty what the problem is but your clipless set up should be the first thing to explore. You don't say which system you have but most have adjustment in the cleats for fore and aft and side to side/diagonal adjustment, the pedals will have a float adjustment and poor micro positioning can cause the problem you mention as good positioning may alleviate it. It was a mistake to take such a long ride before sorting this out: ie. go for a short ride and take the adjustment tools with you. I doubt that left and right will be the same so take that into account.

 

[Thomk]

I was told that if you dangle your foot just above the pedal totally relaxed and let it lie at the angle it naturally wants to then that is the angle your foot should be when clipped in.

Yep. If you walk like a duck you should ride like a duck, if you walk like a pigeon you should ride like a pigeon.

 

[ColinJ]

I switched cleats to a new pair of SPD shoes and got the angle of the right cleat wrong by just a few degrees but it was enough to make my right knee hurt within 5 miles of riding.

Instead of having 'float' either side of my foot position, all the float was to one side and my foot was being pulled slightly out of alignment during the pedal stroke.

That one short ride caused my knee to ache for a month.

 

[Mapster5]

Did you have knee problems before? I get aches and pains in my knees after so long but I do after 60/70 mins playing football I'm an electrician so spend a lot of time on my knees also due to bmxing and skateboarding in my teens

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

I went for a 10 mile ride today. I noticed I pedal with left leg parallel with the bike, but my right leg has a habit of angling into the bike.

Not sure why that's the case though

 

[Svendo]

I went for a 10 mile ride today. I noticed I pedal with left leg parallel with the bike, but my right leg has a habit of angling into the bike.

Not sure why that's the case though

Right leg is slightly longer?
On The Cycle Show on ITV4 the other week in a piece about bike fitting they said a lot of people have some degree of leg length imbalance, which isn't a suprise when you think about it. They said in doing the fit they set the bike up to the shorter leg, regarding saddle height and straight tracking, and as long as the length difference isn't too much the longer leg will 'do it's own thing'.

 

[doonhaemer]

Most obvious thing is, your pushing too high a gear, increase your cadence. If 50 miles was your maximum up to now,this could well be the issue. Learning to use a higher cadence does take practice and there is little incentive to make the effort unless you want to do longer rides as there are few downsides to low cadence over a shorter distances.
Next could be seat height, too low maybe, or too high. And then foot position. One option not mentioned is a slightly bent crank arm or , more commonly, pedal spindle, this can really upset your knee.

 

[albion]

First off you have a weakness that will surely never go away.
You can try to tweak body position and seat height to hopefully alleviate things to a different level.

Having exactly the correct seat height I have found important but spinning and/ or easing off the power even more so.
It's a constant battle but this works for me. One bonus is that I can happily pace myself so that the final big hill at the end of a 100 mile ride feels quite easy.
For steep hills I have a 24 chainwheel and 34 cassette. There is an extra long 20% hill where I do need a knee saving 22 chainwheel and 34 cassette. (heavily equipped hybrid bike)

For some reason I still find it easier to get into a spinning rhythm uphill whilst on the flat I have a tendency to default to a knee grinding low gear.

 

[Mushroomgodmat]

Lenth of leg could be a very good point. I was born with a club foot that was reset and fixed as a child. It was done so well that it's not noticeable (lucky me!), but my club foot is a size 7.5 where my "normal" foot is 9.5. The surgery I had travels half way up my leg, so It's very possible that I have a larger than normal difference in legs lengths than your avarage person.

Cycling in an incorrect gear is also a possibility I had not considered.

Think I'll have to think about getting a good bike fitting and maybe using an insole on one of my feet to help adjust for lenth (if that's an issue)

Saying all that though...maybe I just pushed too hard. I suspect I could cycle any distance if I settled at 10mph all the way....but where's the fun in that