Recently restarted riding my bikes for better health and fitness. I'm 64 years old, ride between 30-60 minutes at a reasonable speed, on relatively level terrain, 2-4 times a week. Have recently noticed at end of rides that both of my knees are completely numb. No feeling in them, no tingling, soreness, nothing. While riding knees feel fine. Stop at end of ride, hop off saddle, and straddle the bike. No feeling in knees. If I try to totally dismount kind of loose my balance because of no feeling and almost fall down. Stay straddling the bike for about 30-40 seconds and everything returns to normal. No pain or other odd feelings....anywhere. I ride on 2 different bikes, with 2 different saddles, and wear either cycle shorts or casual shorts. Happens both ways. Is this a bike fitting issue, stamina issue, blood circulation issue, or might there be another underlying health issue I should be cautious of. In my younger years I played all kinds of sports and have never had anything like this occur. Kind of spooked on this issue. Thanks for input.

I didn't go to medical school, and I stayed at a KOA last night, but if I had to guess, I'd say you are riding somewhat rigidly in one position, and the combination of the new effort and some femoral nerve pressure are causing your symptoms. The fact that it's both knees and it clears up in seconds leads me to think it's not serious, but I had a rustic site with no electricity far from the head so check with your docs if it persists...

If you ride 2 bikes, are they 'set up' the same for the touch points? - hands, butt, feet?
Problem with both bikes or one?
How fast/slow do you pedal? Cadence.
Flat pedals? Or clipless?
First experience with knee issues?
Pain with numbness? Above patella, below patella?
Does saddle height allow appropriate leg extension?

if both knees go numb, but both return to normal within a matter of seconds (not minutes) that's worth sharing with an MD. Numbness mostly comes from a lack of circulation, which seems unusual in the knees, riding a bike.. Could understand if it was butt or hands or maybe feet.

If it persists, definitely consult a doc.

and join us in 65+ sticky thread in the Fifty+ Forum. You are close enough.

Is it abnormal to have knee numbness? Yes. The medical term is neuropathy, kind of a catch-all for conditions related to diminished sensation. You should have sensation in your knees, but for whatever reason, it isn't getting through.

You say you notice the numbness at the end of your ride. I'm guessing you never dismount until you finish the ride. I'm wondering if your numbness sets in long before you finish the ride and become aware of it. What if you tried dismounting much earlier, say before halfway? You might be able to figure out exactly how long (and/or how much effort) it takes for symptoms to appear.

As to what's going on, anyone's guess. You can try typical conservative management - anti-inflammatories (creams like Voltaren applied directly to the skin of the knees, or Tylenol / Advil / Aleve etc taken orally), rest, ice, elevation, compression, etc., and see if they have any impact.

If not, best to have this checked out by a physician, if for no other reason to rule out other conditions.

See your physician and get a referral to a neurologist.

or at least a physical therapist with some sports medicine expertise.

I know quite a lot about knees but we can't diagnose this problem here.

if you can get a workup with the "DOVE" motion analysis software while you are on your bike (on a trainer) that might be revealing

Let us know what you find out

/markp

The whole of what you describe is a new one for me. I wonder if you are just so badly positioned on the bike that you are putting up with little annoyances that maybe you shouldn't be putting up with.

However you should find out. While you are waiting to get to your doctor or physical therapist, which are good suggestions, you might just want to go with your bike to a bike shop and see what they say about your position and fit on the bike.

If you just started riding a bike there might be some of this that is just getting use to it. But it seems there must be something else amiss too.

A bit more clarification. Both bike setups are pretty vanilla. No fancy bells and whistles in regards to shoes and clips or other equipment. I usually wear a pair of track or low cut hiking shoes and go. I use a Garmin smartwatch and bike computer to track my activity on both bikes. Historically my pace is usually very close to 13 mph on flat to very gently rolling terrain. My road bike is obviously on pavement and my mountain bike is on hard packed old railway lines. I've never had any leg related issues in the past. Some time ago, pre COVID I used to ride regularly and never had an issue with shorter rides of 5-6 miles. The only time it occurred back then was when I extended out to 12 miles on a charity ride. It occurred at the end of that ride and I wrote it off to fatigue on longer distances. I just restarted cycling a month or so ago (just retired) and the first few times I was fine. But as I have continued on, tried to keep a standard pace, and have gently increased distance it has showed up again. I semi shrugged it off to a stamina issue and shortened distances to build myself back up again. But the knee issue is only thing that occurs. After riding yesterday, with numbness occurring, my legs muscles just below my knees are comfortably sore today from the ride as expected, but fine everywhere else. Lower/upper legs, butt, back, hands, and arms are fine. I'm thinking blood circulation is not happening as it should to my knees and maybe raising my seat a wee bit to insure legs are stretching out. Going to contact my bike shop to see what they say and maybe schedule a refitting. I might also contact my Dr. and/or visit a sports medicine clinic to see what they say. Thanks to all for advise.....appreciate it.

ok this is a comment worth digging into.

I'm a firm believer that the foot / shoe / pedal interface is critical for cycling comfort and efficiency

is there any difference in your symptoms across different shoes ? that's where I'd start.

/markp

As well this strikes me as odd. I almost never have any soreness in my calf muscles. It's only my quads and hamstrings that ever feel much use from riding.

If you aren't clipped in, then you might be pedaling with your toes too much and working that calf muscle too much.

How long have you been riding the 2-4 times a week and which is typical, 2 or 4 days? At 3 days a week I only feel like I'm maintaining my level. 2 days a week and I'm going backwards in my abilities on the bike. 4 days a week and I'm ready to try out the TdF!

I am a neurologist and this is the kind of story neurologists find interesting. That is not the kind of story you want to have. Get it checked out.

Calf muscles are fine. Stiffness is on upper portion of lower leg bones on front/sides up at the knee. I contacted my bike dealer for possible bike fit problem and he said he had seen this before. Several were related to type of saddle used and pressure on certain nerves. He stated he had personally experienced a similar issue, but his was his feet going numb. Also stated it could be medically related. Suggested coming in for a bike refit due to my older age and extra weight. Personally know a sports medicine doctor so may give him a buzz and see if we can have a chat about it. Thanks everyone again, great advise.

At 65 I'm starting to have knee issues. Feels like some form of arthritis. The problem is in the joint, but it Fs up all the muscles and tendons in the area trying to compensate for the joint. Ignore it too long and the surrounding stuff atrophies.

The reason I bring this up is I had a hip replaced about 3 years ago now. Took me a good 9 months of muscle/tendon and chiropractor visits before an X ray showed the hip was gone. Learned words like iliotibial and piriformis, took up yoga, adjusted everything on the bike, was even considering shorter crank arms. The hip replacement fixed everything.

Just think, if I hadn't fallen drunk out of bed and tweaked my back, I never would have had my hip x rayed.

Can't hurt to see and orthopedic and get some imaging done.