Ok first off, I have no idea whose knees these are, but thanks for letting me borrow them for the picture

Moving on.... I had a long ride over the weekend. Two 85mi days. Both days, right as I approached the 65-70mi mark, my knees began to bother me. The pain is on the lower, front to inner sides of both knees. Anyone think they may know the fitting problem? Or is that just when I began to tire, and have some kind of breakdown in form? (like a L/R foot angle) Can it really be a fit problem if I can ride 1x 10mi, 3x 20-26mi, and 1x 40-50mi sessions each week w/o a problem, but once I surpass 60+ in a single session, it starts? I even had a long break before this past weekends ride thanks to the rainy weather...so it wasnt a result of too much riding.
Any help/thoughts narrowing down a specific place to look or adjust is appreciated

Get a professional fitting.

It's only going to be guesses from this crowd.

Here's my guess: your cleats are be too far forward.

Good luck.

ill agree it is really hard to fit someone without seeing them on the bike. you can always play with different things. guess would be saddle fore and aft or cleat position. i might even have something to do with form when you are tired. some people will move thier knees further away from the top tube when tired.

Search for medial knee pain. I had pain in that area in one knee but in totally different situations.

Were you doing a lot of climbing? If so, two long days with lots of climbing will cause knee soreness in just about everybody.

And it may be due to fore-foot rotation, in which case, a proper fitter will help wedge your shoe, and correct your knee alignment.

Your quads are not as strong as your hamstrings. Climb more hills or do wall sits.

It may be doing too much too soon. Your tendons may not be ready if you have not done long rides this season and are starting to do long rides. As previously mentioned bike fit may be an issue, but I would first gradually build up milage. You may also want to ice your knees after your rides and keep the rides at low intensity until you are sure your knees are fully recovered from last weekend. You definitely do not want this problem to linger for the rest of the Summer.

There's a lot to be said for (1) fit, including cleat wedges and orthodics, if necessary, (2) warming up and cooling down, (3) ramping up your endurance to longer rides and (4) not over stressing your body, whether that means proper rest between rides or spinning in a higher cadence up hills. It's difficult to say what the issue is without knowing more about your current fit, the pain you are experiencing (not just the location) and any prior symptoms.

I endured knee pain that sounds similar, but may or may not have been what you are going through, and after going to the dr, it was cleared up through a regimen of NSAIDs and a professional fitting.

Funny, I was going to do the exact same thing you did tonight (find a picture of someone's knees and circle my problem) for the outside of my right knee, but decided there could be too many causes.

I have medial knee pain as well (have had it for 5 months), but it's due to running and doesn't hurt while cycling. Do your knees hurt going up and down stairs, and does it hurt only at a specific angle as you do a one-legged squat or throughout the whole bend?

Acquire a foam roller if you haven't already and start rollering your IT bands(runs from the hip to the knee on the outside of the leg). I suspect they are overly tight and are pulling on your kneecaps.

This is one thing I havent tried. I've moved my seat, experimented with cleat wedges, tried shorter cranks and done all kinds of stretches and still get knee pain just as the OP described (after about 75mi, but on the outer side of the knee)

Now to find a roller...

Thanks guys. Some good suggestions. I think I will actually play w/ cleat position first. I am in some new shoes, so this may be a good starting point. I may not have the cleats set as closely to the previous ones as I had originally thought.

deep_sky; thanks for the suggestion. I was foam rolling while doing crossfit and forgot how beneficial it really is. I'll definitely have to pick one up, b/c my flexibility has dropped off sharply.

Runner 1; It doesnt hurt to go up down stairs. After the ride, it would hurt if I tried to stand up after sitting on the ground or a low chair. Basically, to feel the pain, my knee would have to be bent more than just the degrees required for stairs.

I had knee problems a couple of years ago and discovered that I need a lot of float in my pedals. I went from the SPDs that came with my bike to SpeedPlay Frogs (I prefer mountain bike shoes for the off-the-bike comfort). Frogs have a whole lotsa float and my knee problem went bye-bye. Haven't had a peep of trouble since (knock on carbon). I assume that SpeedPlay road pedals have a similar amount of float.

Good luck! Boo hiss to knee pain.