Touring - Sore knees

Was riding fully loaded up the other day through some quite hilly country when i started to get pain in my right knee it felt like some one had stuck a knife in from the right hand side got so bad i had to pedal the last 5km with my left leg, never had this problem before and the next day it was ok. only thing i can think of is i travelled with a guy i meet on the road and he was a very good hill climber and i might have tried to hard to keep up and damaged something any ideas

research ITB syndrome. i think im dealing with something similar, although on the left leg (seems more common on left).

I don`t know what you have or what you did, Soulfull, but I can sympathize. Knees are weird. I overdid it last year on a long ride, couldn`t ride at all for several months and now my knees still aren`t right. After many visits to my regular doc and then an ortho specialist, X-rays, and MRI images, all I know for sure is that I`m another year older, my knees aren`t as good as they were last year, and I`m thankfull that at least I can USUALLy ride without any trouble. I hope the pain stays away for you.

About 30 years ago I had both knees operated on. The left was a big deal 6 in. scar. Probably 15 years ago, they were both very stiff and painful. A young ortho Dr. told me to ride a bike, with the saddle as high as I could, and way forward. Worked wonders, great relief and fun. I hurd that if the knee pain is in the ft. of the knee the saddle is to low, when the pain is in the back of the knee the saddle is to high. I have come to know myself as a gear masher ( slow peddler) at this point when I have knee pain I'm doing one of these things wrong. I don't think that any two knees are alike but monitering these rools have goten me threw many miles.

It's also worth noting that it happened to just one leg. Could be that the right is
longer and doing more work.

I have that problem. I use a thinn innersole in my left shoe under the regular innersole, although I may be replacing it with a cleat shim soon.
http://www.bikefit.com/

Do your shoes wear out more on one side or the other?

I had a computerized bike fitting done recently, it's really reduced my knee pain down to almost nothing.

research ITB syndrome. i think im dealing with something similar, although on the left leg (seems more common on left).

Indeed - this could be the issue here. I have suffered from knee pain, usually early in the season when I am building my strength back from the winter. I found wearing a neoprene knee brace (really just a sleeve) tends to provide just that little bit of support that helps - it also tends to promote blood flow to the area and keeps it warm. This helped me to do the long rides w/o knee pain, later in the season I don't need it.

late I thought you loved the Specialized shims???
Change your mind?Or did you really never use them?
Just said you did.
What's up?
Ohno

late I thought you loved the Specialized shims???


Yup,
I have them in several pairs of shoes at the moment. They are intended to compensate for pronation or suppination, IOW they are thick on one side and thin
on the other.

They don't do much to compensate for leg length differences.

However, Bike Fit Systems is also sending me a pair of their pronation shims. According to them they made them first, and theirs is better.

Will post an update about them later, gonna try them in my Dominators.

Last summer on tour I ended up with pain in my right knee. Never had it before and it was really starting to bother me. I like to spin and not mash so I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on. In the end what had happened is that my seat post had slipped from all the beating of the expansion joints. Raised seat back up and before I knew it the pain was gone.

Don't know if this is your problem or not. Mentioned above as a possible explaination. Just thought I'd add my experience to that thought.

Being in one knee would not surprise me either. We tend to be either right or left dominant so it made sense that it was my right knee.

Good luck and hope you get to the bottom of it.

You could have just stretched a muscle or ligament as well... rest, warmth, massage, liniment, knee protector, meditation (warms the limbs when muscles relax allowing blood to flow freely)... uh a glass of red wine ;) all helps...

Clipless pedals.
I've toured for 25 years.
In the old days I rarely heard about this - -
But it has become an epidemic since the advent of clipless.

Maybe it only applies to 10% of the folks who tour with clipless -
Maybe those people aren't using them right -
(Which is a classic case of blaming the victim)
But that's a lot of people and a lot of injuries.
If you are among that 10%, it might be wise to consider toe clips.

My only bout with troubling knee pain came on a tour over a steep, long mountain pass in the Cascades with a Bob trailer and a not-low-enough granny gear. I kept reaching for the shifter to go to a lower gear and there wasn't one.

Perhaps your desire to keep up with your friend caused you to push too hard on your knees, including selecting a higher gear than you normally would have used.

My 2 cents.

My only bout with troubling knee pain came on a tour over a steep, long mountain pass in the Cascades with a Bob trailer and a not-low-enough granny gear. I kept reaching for the shifter to go to a lower gear and there wasn't one.

Perhaps your desire to keep up with your friend caused you to push too hard on your knees, including selecting a higher gear than you normally would have used.

My 2 cents.

Gotta love riding in my neck of the woods................