Training & Nutrition - Knee pain continues!! HELP!!

I am a 54 year old rider who just switched from a commuter bike (modified with a drop bar etc.) to a true road bike (Lemond Buenos Aries). When I was fit for the new bike my riding position was raised because I had apparently been miss fitted to the old bike and was riding too low to get optimal performance out of my legs.

Of course there were other subtle changes due to the new geometry, but that was essentially the main change.

My problem is that I have developed pain in my left knee which does not bother me on the bike, but becomes an issue when climbing steps in particular. The pain is on the inner aspect of my knee. I was seen a month or so ago by an orthopedist who said I may have torn my meniscus (shoveling snow on a steep grade). I have been using a knee brace (I have tried both the open petella and regular type) but I have not gotten much relief. My left knee has been a problem for many years and I take Vioxx 25 mg for it (and other age related aches and pains). Cycling actually improved my knee problem (probably due to improved muscle strength) until recently. I have been putting in a lot of hours training for my first season of racing (usually about an hour a day during the week and if I can fit it in up to two + on at least one weekend day).
I have toyed with getting speedplay pedals, but my other bike has SPD (as does the Lemond) and I never had this problem before (except when I went on long rides without proper conditioning).

ANY help would be greatly appreciated since I really don't want to stop riding!!!

wlevely - you will probably get lots of diagnoses here, but the only one who can properly answer your question is a doctor. I am a veteran of knee problems. After logging 20,000+ road miles in a couple or so years (this was several years ago), my friend talked me into going on my first mountain bike ride. After the very first ride I had severe knee pain that sounded similar to yours, and eventually ended up causing me to go under the knife.

I layed off serious road riding for a couple years after that, and now that I am 41 years old have picked up the pace once again with very little pain. I still have a couple nagging injuries that hold me back a bit, but so far so good. So my advice to your is see a doc, and lay off a little until the pain is gone.

By the way, for me the answer is to lay off the long repetitive miles of road riding except for strictly training purposes.

You can do a lot of damage to a knee in 54 years, could be a lot of scar tissue, could be cartalige wearing away, see a doc, go to a PT nip it in the bud.

Wlevey, the doctors diagnosis sounds consistent with the description of the pain. I just had my knee scoped for a torn 'anterior meniscus' back in January. Prior to the surgery I tried the knee brace without any success. The pain was intolerable, even while just sitting. After this scope job, my knee is pain free except during high impact functions, the worst being walking down stairs! I don't have much cartilage remaining on the inside of my left knee, thankfully I can still cycle without any discomfort. My recommendation would be to have it scoped, since a torn meniscus pad will not heal on it own, it can only get worse. In the mean time, if it hurts don't do it you will only be making the problem worse!