Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN

If you try to keep riding, gear down and use very little torque. I say this because several years ago I was on a fully supported tour in Europe. One gal in the group was a nurse practitioner and she blew out her knee. (She described what she did in all the appropriate medical terminology, which I of course did not understand any of.) But she did not want to ride in the van each day, kept riding but at slower speed and with high cadence. That way she put very little stress on her damaged knee because of the lower gears. I am not saying you should continue to ride, but I am saying that if you try to continue try the lower gears. I gave her a roll of vetwrap but she never used it. (The elastic wrap that vets use is cheaper than the stuff humans use, but works the same.)

I do not know enough about your situation to know if you were doing something to try to lessen the pressure on your knee which cause the achillies tendon or if there is something else going on. But I would not be surprised if you were trying to use different muscle groups that caused your second problem.

Last spring on a short five day tour near home, at the end of the first day in the campsite I added a knee brace that I always take on tours in case I need it. My friend I was traveling with asked about it. I said, I managed to keep up with you today, but my knee does not feel very good, so starting tomarrow I am going to ride at a pace I am more comfortable with. So, won't be riding with you. Rest of trip my knee was just fine, I quit trying to over-exert myself by trying to keep up with a stronger rider.

I have not stood on the pedals to accelerate from a stop or to power up a hill for over a decade. Instead I gear down and spin up the hills, or get off and walk. Since then my knees have been a lot better.