Dan333SP

So over the summer/fall months I was doing 10 or more hours per week, and feeling pretty strong/riding pain free other than the usual saddle discomfort. Come late November/December, the weather, a new job, and graduate school conspired to limit me to 2 or 3 hours a week, most of that on the trainer with low intensity. Yesterday, I decided to do an organized local ride with a bunch of racer type hammerheads and Ben King, who is friendly with the local guys here. It was great, 150 riders on lovely roads on a sunny day for 67 miles. However, I think I must have overdone it, because I started cramping badly (first my calves and then my hamstrings) and got dropped by the lead group after 30 miles (they'd been steadily building to a 25+ pace, which, as it turns out, is really hard to hold). By the time I rolled in with a smaller group of guys, the front of my right knee, below the kneecap and seemingly right at the top of my lower leg bone, was aching. A day later and it's still very sore, in a way I haven't experienced after hard rides before. I'm wondering if I have some fit issue (didn't change anything) or if I just went too hard for too far when I have not done enough base miles to adapt my body to the effort.

X-LinkedRider

Time off is always a factor. But with knee pain, it can be a variety of factors. Saddle height and fore/aft position make a huge difference and if you are just getting back into it, then you should be pedaling in a lower gear at a higher cadence. If you have to struggle, change gears until you are comfortable and strong enough to push up climbs in a power gear.

Dan333SP

I figured the cramping was related to time off, and the knee pain probably is related to my saddle positioning, and last season my body probably tolerated it even if it wasn't ideal because I'd done so many miles. Short of getting a new fitting, which I can't afford for the time being, what is the usual series of corrections to try to eliminate front of knee pain? Slide the saddle back, move my cleats back, raise the height by a couple mm?

Beaker

From the first post, I'd say possibly the former, but definitely the latter.

ericm979

Front of the knee pain usually means the seat is too low. But in this case, since you didn't have problems when you were riding more, the cause is doing too much too soon, not an incorrect position.