patentcad

110 miles today. It was fine, and I have to confess I spent part of the ride thinking WWMD (What Would Machka Do).

But this part always gets me on these 6+ hour rides:

• I wasn't tired

• My legs, back, etc. felt fine

• I was climbing well on the tougher climbs on the last 20 miles of this ride

BUT: my FEET always bother me the last hour or so on days like this. Today it wasn't so bad, but I can tell you that if they hurt that much @ mile 105, I can't imagine riding 200 miles in a day or doing something as insane as Paris-Brest. Not a chance. They feel OK when I take breaks, even short ones, but the longer I ride the faster they start hurting again once I get back on the bike.

I think I could ride 150 miles on a VERY good day, but I wouldn't want to try. I'm perfectly content riding max-ing out @ about 100 miles or so. I do these 105-110 mile rides about 4-5x annually, and routinely do 75-80 mile rides on the weekends, so I'm pretty accustomed to that distance. But 6-7 hours is a long time to spend in the saddle, particularly with all the clmbing that generally goes with a ride like that around here.

At any rate, that would be a deal breaker - I can't imagine figuring out a way to cope with my sore feet. They only hurt me for the last hour or so, but they always do. And it has generally always been this way when I try to ride 100 miles or so. Is this typical?

aham23

typical? not for me. around miles 80 to 100 it's the neck and shoulder pain that gets me. years of bad posture sneek up on me and i find myself strecthing a lot on the bike around this time. my longest ride was 160 miles last summer. it was darn hot i dont even remember what was hurting, but i know it was lots. later.

deskjockey

Machka,
Have you ever considered custom cycling insoles? Although it seems that you don't care to go that much past the 100 mile point per day, perhaps a good foot doc would even make miles 80-100 perfect.

ac29593

Maybe its poor circulation. Maybe some kind of vitamin or an asprin in the morning would help.

cyclezealot

Some may not , but I consider 110 miles plus to be pretty dedicated long distance riding.
As I am not of the orientation speed is a big deal, the same case applies to distance.
One should do what is comfortable. You ride 110 miles a day, day in day out for a couple weeks, you will be in great shape. After about 100 miles , I Know what you mean about feet aching. Mine do. You repeatedly get the hot foot without recovery, doubt you will ultimately make your long distance goals. Some can just take on more pain that others.
Someone not feel foot pain after 110 miles, please speak up. Like to know what you are doing.

dekalbSTEEL

60 miles, tops

TheKillerPenguin

Your cleats probably are very slightly out of alignment. The same thing starts happening to me around hour 5, and I know my cleat position isn't optimal.

JayC

Ive had foot pain since I started cycling until recently. Switching to the new Ultegra 6620 pedals with the wider platform completely got rid of my foot pain.

cyclezealot

My feet feel better when clicked in Looks over SPD's. I attribute it to a wider base.
Never considered an allignments with Looks because I only buy those with float.

cgallagh

When my feet start to hurt I start pulling more, taking the load off my feet. This works well for me.

JayC

I think that's what my progession has been as well. I went from Speedplay (HATED THEM) to Look KEOs (Like them but kept breaking cleats) and finally to the new Shimano Ultegra 6620s which have a REALLy wide platform.

blonduathlongrl

good for you! that's a lot of milage and you feel great! maybe you're not as old as you think you are

mollusk

How wide are your feet? A lot of cycling shoes are on the narrow side as far as the toe box is concerned. That will be felt after a while.

What is your platform width and/or sole stiffness? If your shoe's soles are super stiff it can help spread the load out before your feet feel it. This is more of an issue with smaller platform pedals as compared to wider platform pedals.

cyclezealot

I find pulling up helps too. But , after about 125 miles; my feet have become pretty fatigued. Does not matter. Next day they start out fresh. In fact, after about 30 minutes they feel ok and I'm walking about the camp site as if nothing happened.

patentcad

I have made two observations about this:

• It's not an issue in temps below 50º

• But when it's that cold I'm wearing my winter Sidis which are slightly larger/more room in the toe box.

I've always had these issues with my feet on very long rides, and it's always worse when its warmer. I'm thinking that if get a pair of shoes one size larger many of these issues would be mitigated. That makes sense: the warmer it is the more your feet would tend to swell a bit on longer rides. More room in the shoes might help with what appears to be a circulation issue after 4-5 hours of riding.

On the other hand the longest ride I tend to do when it's below 50º is 5 hours. I was on the bike for 7 hours today + a couple of short breaks.

I've gotten used to it. But it might be nice to have zero hot spots on my feet for the last hour or so of a long ride. But I only do 4-5 of those each year.

mollusk

I seem to have the exact opposite experience. When it is cold so that I wear thicker socks and/or shoe covers I have more problems with feet swelling than when it is warm and I can wear thinner socks. I guess this is like what to eat on a long ride: every one is different and needs to find out for themselves what works for them.

I hope you can figure out what works for you.

Machka 

What exactly hurts?

I've had several foot issues during my long rides:

-- hotfoot - where the ball of your foot feels like it is on fire
-- achilles tendon pain which I feel in my achilles tendon, but also wraps under the foot
-- top of the foot pain right from the toes up my shin
-- toe pain, for various reasons
-- foot cramps in the toes and in the "body" of the foot

I can tell you what I've done for each of those if you'd like.


BTW - your post made me smile today!

patentcad

Unfortunately when I asked myself 'What Would Machka Do' the answer invariably came back 'ride another 100 miles' - which didn't help.

blonduathlongrl

haha! yep, she's a toughie

patentcad

I have two areas that hurt - the ball of my left foot and my middle toe on the right side. I really think both are poor circulation issues related to 5+ hour foot swelling in warmer weather. Very sharp pains, but very fleeting. I stop for a few minutes and it abates - but it will come back over 5+ miles.

Not a big issue, but a decent enough excuse for another 'Patentcad rode a ton of miles' chest thumping thread.

Machka 

For hot foot pain, like in the ball of your left foot, I've tried a variety of things which worked with varying degrees of success, and then hit upon something that has worked so well that I have not experienced hot foot at all for the past 5 years ... and there have been a lot of long rides in that time!

I tried looser shoes and thicker socks, which helped somewhat. I tried little 'toe nylons' with pads at the ball of the foot (they are like knee highs, but only come to the middle of the foot) -- women wear these when they wear high heeled shoes, because when a woman wears high heeled shoes, she experiences hot foot just like a cyclist does. It's exactly the same thing. They worked fairly well, and weren't bulky so I could wear them over my socks. I started wearing neoprene ankle braces on most of my rides because of my Achilles tendon problems and they also helped.

But the thing that "cured" it for me was this ... I moved my cleats back. Not very much ... maybe 1-2 mm. Having them just a little tiny bit further back put my foot into a better position so that the nerves inside my foot weren't as strained ... and there have been no problems since.


The toe might be a shoe size issue ... that's what my toe problems have been. I get shoes that fit me just fine when I'm walking around the house, but our feet swell on long rides. I've done irreversible damage to the toes on my right foot (the bigger foot) because of wearing shoes that have ended up being too small. If you can, next time you buy a pair of shoes, get them half a size or maybe even a full size bigger.

The toe might also be a sock issue, if your socks bunch or if there is a seam right along there. Sock manufacturers don't seem to have a clue what is comfortable. I've got to have socks with little or no seams in them, but most socks I look at have these big thick seams that would practically saw my toes off by the end of the day. With your feet swelling and all that, thick seams can be really painful.

A couple other things that seem to help me ... keep the toenails trimmed, and keep hydrated. The hydration issue is why my feet go into horribly painful cramps. I can always tell when I haven't been drinking enough during the day because whether I'm cycling or not, my feet will cramp if I haven't.


I hope something here helps! Foot problems can really put a damper on a ride!!

GuitarWizard

Sounds like you need to make an appointment with the folks at eSoles....

reef58

She is the queen. All of us that think we are kicking butt on the bike, myself included, would be ground to dust trying to match her methodical pace. It reminds me of the Clint Eastwood movie where he was in the army trying to whip some guys into shape. He told them they were going for a run. They all took of hooting and hollering, and he just kept jogging along. Pretty soon he passed them, and they were worn out.

Richard

unbelievably

Shimano SH-R151

2manybikes

I agree it could be your feet swelling on a long ride. It used to happen to me until I loosened my shoes for long rides.

On a long ride or a long walk your feet do swell up and make you shoes tighter. Try stopping and loosening your shoes when your feet hurt on a long ride. It does cause circulation problems as the feet swell, you are exactly right. And of course the shoes do fit differently. It has worked for a few of my friends. Try and adjust the shoe to what seems a little loose when you start to get pain.

As you say, always try Machka's sugestions for long rides. And when wearing high heels.