I rode 75 miles on Saturday at a challenging (for me) pace with some strong riders in our group. I had no trouble keeping their pace and felt good when I arrived home. At home, I put ice on my knees as usual (just precautionary -- they are prone to a little patellar tendonitis). Other than feeling like I'd done a LOT of something, I felt good enough to go out to dinner, then have our grandsons overnight and fix them a big breakfast the next morning. No knee pain. On Sunday, did laundry, ran errands, went to the nursery, and the usual get-ready-for-work-on-Monday stuff. Still no knee pain.

Anyway, I was lying awake in the very early wee hours of Monday morning (while still dark), and felt shooting pains from my knee to my ankle. When I got up for work, I felt a new pain in the medial aspect of the knee that sometimes shoots down to the ankle. I can't avoid walking at work and there are slopes, hills, and stairs that lead to my building.

The pain is bothersome but not severe, and feels better after last night's ice pack. I am also taking Advil (for rotator cuff tendonitis in my right arm ) which should also help. I will see a doc if it isn't better in about a week.

I'm wondering if these symptoms (esp. the shooting pain from the knee to ankle) sound familiar to anyone. I'm training for an upcoming organized metric in 3 weeks and already paid the registration fee. I need to ride! Why NOW?!?

You are a more advanced cyclist than me and I can't say anything about your specific knee pain,
but these are the easy changes I made to take care of my knee pain.

Adjusted shoe cleat to have ankle, knee and hip all aligned.
Raised seat to straighten legs but not so far that the knee locked at the bottom of the stroke.
Moved seat forward.
Pedalled more easily in a lower gear.

The solution for me was to play with bike fit to ease knee pain.

Good Luck on your metric in 3 weeks. I hope you are able to do it, even if you don't go out to set a personal best time.

If you rode 75 hard miles, then what is there to train for a metric century?
Take time off, then resume your rides at an easier pace.
If you haven't had a problem in the past, don't change your set-up.

If pain continues see a good sports PT or doc.

I had a new knee pain while riding last Thursday. In fact, I felt and heard it, then could look down and see the skin dimple on the outside front of my left knee. I thought, 'uh-oh' but kept going. After a few miles, it went away and other than a little tenderness for the next couple days, there was nothing more to it.

I know that every one of us is getting another day older every passing day. And that means that our bodies are dynamic and constantly changing. When you're 50+ parts start wearing out and going to hell. It's bound to happen.

I figure I'll just keep on cranking along until I can't crank any longer.

I doubt the knee pain is related to your cycling since it didn't start until a few days after your ride. You might have squatted down while doing the laundry or lifted something in an awkward way to cause the pain. Keep doing what you're doing with the ice and advil but keep an eye on it. A shooting pain in the lower leg can be from a lower back issue. See a doctor if it doesn't get better soon.

Thanks everyone.

The current focus of my training is to make the metric as easy (and, therefore, enjoyable) as possible --- but also to ride the hills. There will be a bit of climbing that I have not done on a long ride. I am very comfortable with a metric distance, but am still working on each hill --- doing ALL the hills on the same ride will be my challenge.

BikeWNC: I did some reading about various types of knee injuries related to sports, and learned that in some types the symptoms appear immediately, and in other types the symptoms appear after many hours. There was about 36 hours between the end of the ride and when I first noticed the symptoms. But, you could be right.

In NJ, health insurance covers direct PT visits. I suggest a sports PT evaluation, because with your upcoming metric you need to know if you should be resting or not. Maybe you shouldn't be resting it too much-- you may need a safe exercise program. My daughter and her gymnast teammates would suffer excruciating sprains, but they had them exercising at PT the very next day!

Best of luck to you with your recovery! And I hope your metric works out just great!!

see if you can walk it off and lay off the bike for a week. you're in good shape a metric century is cake