I am starting to think I am not supposed to be cycling. it started bcd in november with what i thought was a stress fracture. turned out to be tendonitis in my left leg (near the knee). After that, I was just cleared by a doc to cycle after undergoing a barrage of testing for chest pain. So, excited, I left work early today to go cycling, and my knee begins to hurt a few miles in. I tried to adjust my cleats a bit, and that seemed to prolong the onset of the pain again, but it came primarily during climbing in the saddle. Here is my a description of my pain: left knee only, directly under the center of my knee, in the front, and goes away if I stop. I adjusted my cleat to make sure it was right behind the ball of my foot, but what other remedies can I try? Should I raise my seat a bit if it is only one knee? Any help is appreciated, as I am tired of being off of my bike.

Your saddle could possibly be too low or could be a matter of too low a cadence while climbing. I got caught out last year on a long steep climb that I just didn't have enough gear for. I was able to do it, but spent a lot of time at low cadence and by the end, my knee hurt exactly like you describe.

Got any pics of you on the bike?

Bob

I don't. I will try and get some. How much should I try to adjust my seat up? Also, the cadence sounds about right. I have been off the bike for some time and noticed my cadence dropping. I will see if it persists.

Few things for you to think about:

1. After knee surgery, the stationary bike is like the first thing you do in therapy.

2. Mashing high gears is not good for your knees at all, but spinning faster IS good. Since you said this happens when climbing, try to switch to an easier gear and spin faster while climbing instead of staying in the same gear and pushing really hard.

3. Do you get this same pain when walking up or down stairs?

4. Next time you ride, put regular pedals and regular shoes on. That way, you can experiment with your foot position to see exactly where the problem is coming from. (If you have to change cleat position just to experiment with another foot position, you won't experiment very much).

No, I do not experience it when climbing stairs, only cycling. It seems to go away if I stop as well.

After jumping out of perfectly good aircraft numerous times for more than 25 years, my knees are shot...nothing so bad that requires surgery (yet). Low effort (is that the right term) high cadence with granny gears are your friend in them thar hills.

Tendinitis takes a long time to really resolve - that's the experience i'm having right now.

And if your tendons are tight AND you've been off the bike for a long time...it's going to hurt. Changing your cadence/etc won't help - you need to loosen the tendons and strengthen the muscles.

After a lot of physical therapy, i'm doing a series of regular stretches for hamstrings, quads, and IT bands. that might help you.

Intertianinja, thanks for the input. I went by my LBS today and they checked out my fit. They said nothing seemed weird and I looked as if I fit well. Then, I went to another LBS that is unbiased, said the same thing. I think you may be on to something, as it is the same leg, and I have been off the bike for almost a month now with a sporadic ride here and there.

get a pro fit.

/thread.

I don't think there's any value in having a LBS employee 'look' at your fit.

If you suspect there's an issue, and it seems you do, get a full fit done by someone who understands some things about bio mechanics. And begin seeing a sports physiotherapist regularly.

That's what I did anyways.

By no means an expert, but you may want to check the fore/aft/centering position of your saddle. You could be dominant in one leg, thus the joints in your "power leg" take most of the stress. This was my problem. I skateboarded for 20 years and my back just can't take the trauma anymore and I gravitated to the bike. I am left leg dominant just from pushing for so many years. My discovery was made by a running expert on the treadmill, of all places, and we've made small adjustments until and focus exercises until it was rectified. Hope this helps...

This, I had the same type of pain as you, the fitter moved my saddle up a full 2cm from where it was, so far so good since then.

Yes...the value of stretching properly is not emphasized enough. I've always thought that pedaling slowly for about 10-15 minutes was enough to warm up and stretch the muscle groups that you are using while cycling, right? Got a lecture from the PT about this, I tell you, some of these officers are just plain mean

I sympathize with your situation. the thing about cycling is that little problems really do get amplified over time. a less than optimal fit + overtraining landed me with tendinitis all over my legs, six months off the bike, physical therapy, and an overall loss of fitness. I finally got cleared to get back on the bike, and learned that my shoes were too narrow, causing pain and numbness. that was another expense.

the pro fit is important. everyone recommends it, and you don't realize the benefit until you get one.

+1 on KOPS for both legs. If my saddle moves forward, I get stabbing knee pain within a few minutes. Check it with both legs, as they may be different