jayhuse

ok, i been biking on a program since early may. I have a road bike and started to bike to work. My round trip is anywhere from 27 miles to 38 miles in a day.

My goal is to bike at least 3.5 times a week an would love to bike everyday but, I seem to get aches and pains that are close to a somewhat serious injury. I know what serious injuries are since I use to do 5k and 10ks running. You get your knee hurt and you are out for a month or so. So in being cautios I lay off when I feel like an injury is comming on. The problem is I can not seem to get up over 70 miles a week in biking MOSTLY FLAT roads.

I use to run and at 38 years old I have picked up biking the last few years. I really started to seriously bike to work the begining of may.

The PROBLEM, is that I get all kinds of pains. Pains in my hamstring, pains in the front of my knees and basiclaly all over if I bike more than 2 times a week.

As of now I am putting in about 70 miles a week. It seems when I jump up to 3 times a week I hurt alot more and my legs are telling me hey you are close to knocking me out alot longer than just a few day s if you keep pushing it.

Additionally I am taking all kinds of suppliments to help my recovery.
1. Protien poweder.
2. B-6, B12 Glocusomien Condroytan or what ever it is.

I would like to put in over 100 miles a week which equates to 3 to 4 times a week for commuting. Is this realistic for 4 months of biking experience ??

Is there something that I am not looking at ??

Am I being too impatient ???

inja

yo-
I'm in the same age range and have had knee problems in the past.
Chondroitin works BEST in conjunction with Glucosamine!!!
Also - check out your riding technique. Your pains will become less if you SPIN as you pedal with clipless at higher RPMs...Don't beat down on those hard gears.
I recommend Crank Bros. Eggbeaters, as they allow for more lateral float than road or spd-type pedals.
Remember...Spin - circles - cadence...

CTAC

I'd go to a good LBS before all to fit the bike.

jayhuse

I already have done that

truman

Honestly, you might want to get fitted again at a different shop. It's just not supposed to hurt like that.

See if you can find a place that'll put you on a trainer for several minutes to watch your form and get you warmed up, then fit you once you're settled in on the saddle.

BillyBob

Unless you have a medical condition, you should not experience so much pain for so little riding unless you are not fitted correctly to the bike.

Describe the pain.

mhifoe

Is your seat too low?

If there is a significant bend in your leg at the bottom of your stroke, your seat is too low. This can cause knee pain.

chephy

What's your cadence (# of pedal revolutions per minute)? Does it feel like you are pushing hard when you are riding? What's your "default" gear for flats? It's an extremely common beginner mistake to set the gears way to high and to move pedals at 50-60 rpm (sometimes even 30!). If that's the case, gear down and aim for a cadence of 80-90 rpm: at first it'll feel like the pedals have no resistance at all and you aren't even moving - but in fact you'll go faster that way and will save both your knees and your drivetrain.

And yeah, get a second opinion on how that bike fits. Bike shops can get it wrong too. You may be too cramped or stretched out too far, the seat may be too low...

(And here is a stupid question, and I apologize for insulting your intelligence, but it has to be asked: you keep the tires pumped up to a good pressure, don't you? )

foehn

Are you stretching? Getting enough water before and after riding? Enough calcium, potassium?

As someone said before, are you mashing too much (trying to spin big gears)?

You are 38. I gotta tell you that the body works differently at 38 than when you were 23. Buildiing to 70 miles a week in four months? Maybe your bod is trying to tell you to slow down, to build up more gradually. Try riding more times a week, different ways, but shorter rides. If you must commute, try building to it by driving one day, riding home that same day and then riding to work the second day and driving home the second day and so on.

If you knees are telling you something, you need to listen. Back off a little, stop mashing, relax and enjoy your ride. Your strength and endurance will come, but you need to take care of yourself while you are building it up.

You do realize that you can work harder at cycling, but not hurt so much? Spin and try to spin faster. And then try to maintain the spin at higher speeds, but do this gradually.

I get the impression you are being impatient and are mashing big gears to get the mileage in. Try more days, easier with longer rides once or twice a week to get the miles in. It all adds up.

pHunbalanced

Patience is a virtue. First & foremost, I concur with those who suggest a 2nd opinion on fit and those who want to make sure you are spinning, not mashing. Too high a gear for the pace will kill your knees. After only four months, though? Give it time. In 2004, I was averaging maybe ~25-30 miles a week and only now am I up to ~80-100 miles per week during the 8 fair weather months. Last weekend I went on a 170 mile mini-tour after 20 miles of commuting and feel great. I woulda died 2 years ago.

SaabFan

I've got two words: fit and technique.

Get fit somewhere else. A mm or two in cleat position can cause all sorts of havoc for your knees. Similarly, an inch or so in seat position can do the same.

Get an experience biker (I don't care who - a friend, LBS employee, PT, anyone) to ride with you and comment on technique. Just like with fit, the way you hold your knees, or the cadence you spin at, can be critical - a tiny change in leg position while you spin can make all the difference, and spinning easier gears at a higher cadence can be huge. One of the most common beginner mistakes is probably to try to push a tough gear way too hard at a low cadence, mashing away instead of spinning quickly and effortlessly in an easier gear.

Don't despair - if you're in good health your goal isn't outrageous. When I started commuting, I went from total overwieght, inactive, couch potato to 150 - 200 miles a week in a few months.

Duggle

I think that you may have a problem with the bike fit too. I've heard that your knees will hurt in front if the seat is too low and in back if the seat is too high but don't know how that would explain the hamstrings. Also, you don't say how fast you're riding. If you're trying to race as fast as possible then I would say to slow down and take it easy, spin the pedals easily like some of the others are saying instead of trying to go as fast as possible. It shouldn't be age, I'm 47 and finally got the motivation to commute again after being real bad (and only riding a few times) for the last 6 months so I got myself in pretty bad shape. I rode twice one week, three times the next and all five days for the last couple of weeks for a total of 160 miles per week. I've been feeling great and I think my bike fit is perfect (ok, well I'm going to monkey with it and put on a slightly longer stem).

feethanddooth

not to sound blunt...

1. get measured for your bike by a LBS.
2. stretch.
3. ride more.

SaabFan

It's not really a matter of how fast you're trying to go (as in speed), but how fast you're spinning your legs for a given speed (cadence).

The trick, to avoid injuries, is to pick a lower, easier gear than you normally would for a given road speed. This will force you to spin at a really high cadence, instead of lugging away slowly in a tougher gear. In both cases, you're going the same speed. But in the former case, you're less likely to cause knee pain.

Of course, if you have really bad form and/or a poorly fit bike and/or cleats in totally the wrong spot, spinning at a high cadence isn't going to help at all.

CrosseyedCrickt

100 miles a week should be well within your range. Even the most unfit and out of shape person can do that.... well, let's not go that far. I was doing 80+ when I was 350lbs, on an ATB that was too small for me with bad knees. Once I got PROPERLY fitted things got better. I also started taking Ostio-BiFlex since I had cartilage loss in my knees.
Even though you were fitted once, it might be worth it to get another, the first place could have missed something, been to eager to make a sell, or just been ignorant all together. Biking should not cause serious pain.

SingingSabre 

I want you to scale back on the protein powder and replace it with 3 fruits and/or veggies per day. That's a good start to getting your system some nutrients it looks like it's lacking.

Also, increase your intake of water. It sounds like your body is low on water.

Go get a massage. It'll help your muscles absorb that water and nutrients from the fruit. It'll also help with your hamstrings and quads (likely what the pain in your knees is coming from). Click here to find an AMTA certified therapist in your area.

If you do that, I guarantee you'll feel tons better next week. Hell, next day.

jayhuse

jay

joesmohello

After scanning the previous posts it looks to me like people are saying 100 miles/wk is 100 miles/wk, no matter what. IMO, 30 miles x 3 does not equal 15 miles x 6. I'm 30 and I've been commuting for about 10 months now. My commute is short but it still took me about 3 months to get used to just 30 or 40 miles/wk, biking 6-7 days/wk. Granted, I have to deal with hills and altitude. The biggest thing that helped me get comfortable was a couple of medium length, easy rides per week. I remember biking about 28 miles in one trip last summer shortly after I had picked up my bike for the first time in about 8 years. It practically killed me! I think if you keep your rides under 15 miles/day with a longer, easy ride once or twice a week for a few months you'll be up to your goals in no time.

froze

This statement is the single BEST statement on this post! if you do these things you shouldn't have as much, if any pain. The of course with no pain comes more miles. But don't push yourself; you may want to cut back your miles a bit then allow about a 10% increase in mileage per week till you reach your goal.

Use your gears to keep the cadence high even on hills; your cadence should be no lower then 80 and work at trying to get an average of 90-100 with it sometimes getting upwards to 110-115 to maybe 120. If you find yourself bouncing in your seat lower your seat 2-3 mm to lessen that, then when you get use to the higher cadence slowly move the seat back up to your current height. Also to smooth out your pedaling, concentrate on making a circular motion (instead of a square) that will smooth out the transitions on the top and bottom which in turn will help reduce the bouncing in your seat.

Just don't go out though and start pedaling the higher cadence's, you have to work up to it by gradually increasing your cadience at which you can ride comfortably for 5 minutes at a time, then increase your cadience slowly and your time your doing it by 10% increments once a week. Make sure when your doing this your heart rate doesn't exceed 80% of max. By doing this cadence stuff your putting more of the burden on your cardio and not on the legs.

Initially your bike's speed (MPH) will drop off when you start this cadence stuff, but over time the speed will pick up as your cardo system improves, so don't get frustrated by that. Give it time; in the end your speed will be greater then it is now!

If you don't have one now, get a cyclecomputer with the cadence feature, this will help you to get into the habit of higher pedaling speeds, once it becomes a habit the cadence feature will become virtually useless.