An amazing ride - and some questions ;)

[ShanDog]

So I finally increased my personal best distance from 57km to 75km the other day. Was an incredible ride. As my car transmission is up the sh!tter we rode from home where the first half is just a mess of hills. There was one section, if anyone knows new line rd just before hastings road after passing hungry jacks, the makeshift bike path veered away from the main road and ended up in these suburban streets. So I thought we could bluff our way to the other side of the steep hill on new line rd via these back streets. At the bottom of this steep rd was a dead end coldesac and a sign and wooden steps leading into the bush for a track called the 'convicts trail'. So both of us being on our dualies thought screw it lets give it a go. After the cuts and bruises of using a trail that looks like it has almost no use we ended up at this large sewer tunnel that went under new line road which is definately not where we wanted to go so we picked up our bikes and walked up this very steep incline and found ourselves at the bottom of the valley of the section we were trying to avoid. My leg was itching like crazy because I think so plant had stingers or something, I ignored it so I could keep riding so we had to ride up the hill on the other side but that little off road stint was a lot of fun.

So we continued on through thompsons corner and down the m2 and I must say, wow, what a ride. After doing a lot of rides down victoria rd, the m2 is just a comfortable, cruisy dream. Many sections are just long slight declines so I just put my feet up on the forks and glided along with a nice grin on my face. That new bike path they've just built between delhi rd and mowbray rd is really nice too. We stopped for a nutritional and filling McDonalds value meal at the space station, haha and road on to centenial dr. Decided to turn around and after 5 minutes I ended up with a pinch flat...ARRGGHHH!!! Anyway, after my last problem with flats, I managed to change this one in 5 minutes and afterwards rode to back to the space station and pumped my tyre up properly.

So on the ride back we were stopped at some lights waiting to cross and this guy on a roadie stopped next to me and my bro and we had a nice old chat. I felt wierd talking to him because I still don't think any guy should wear shorts THAT tight, so I kept trying not to look down hahah. After telling him we were doing roughly a 80km round trip just for fun he summed the experience up exactly how I would put it. he said 'that sounds like a lot of fun. Most people would think you're absolutely crazy, but to me that sounds like fun'. And it was. The road back was tough because I'm still getting used to the long rides and doing them on a dualie averaging 18km/h (I have to slow down all the time so my brother can catch up ) is pretty tough.

I must say I had what I would class as one of my top 5 cycling experiences (or feelings) as I rode down back down the m2 (feet still on my forks) during peak hour traffic. We must've passed a few hundred cars who were practically at a standstill with this huge grin on our faces. It is a strange feeling overtaking all those cars on a bike but a good one nonetheless. Later, the bracket for my brothers new bike lights (99 cents off ebay, the postage was more than the lights) snapped and that got him angry. he has a short temper when he's exhausted, so the last 10km I said I'd see him at home and powered on, averaging about 28-35km/hr. It was strange because the last 10km I felt a new wave of power and strength but the 10km before that I felt like my legs were replaced with jelly. Got home, had a shower, cleaned my bike and fell asleep for 15hrs till the next day. WHAT A DAY!!!

So after all that I have a couple of questions. The next day, I had a little bit of pain in my left knee. It's hard to describe because it wasn't pain that hurt as such it was just something I noticed when I walked. Even though it didn't 'hurt' I would still clasify that as a pain. Would that be due to my still adapting to this large amount of cycling, or bad cleat placement or something else? My cleats are in roughly the same position on my shoes and my right leg was fine. Also the next day after this 'pain' my left knee was fine again. Is it something I should worry about?
My next question is in regards to recovery. The day after my ride my all the muscles used were sore but the day after it stopped. What i found was the following three days my muscles were all really sore again and tired and just really wore me out as I felt sleepy every day until I fully recovered. Are there any tricks that I can use to speed up recovery or to not feel absolutely exhausted for those few days as well??

I had another question prior to writing the thread but after writing all that I have forgotten hahaha. I had a bunch of questions after the ride but my internet has been on the blink until today. Oh well. Anyway, merry xmas all and may all your rides be great!

[tuco]

Are you after Richard's title of longest poster?

Where was the pain?
Lateral ligament, medial ligament, at the back, above or below the knee cap or inside the joint?

I've had both knees reconstructed so I've had plenty of knee pain to compare too.

If you don't have a history of knee problems then I'd say you just over did it a little.

Worst case, knee replacement.

[ShanDog]

I kinda didn't realise how long it was until I did a quick proof read. haha

the pain was on the inside of the knee ummm ok here's a pic I found:



My pain was left knee but this pic looks like the right knee, anyway the pain would be on the right hand side of this pic.

Hope that helps, I never did anatomy at uni haha

[europa]

Sounds like it was a lot of fun ... particularly the bit about going through the pain of the old convict track to get to the wrong place

Regarding the cleat positions - they are determined by what your foot and ankle does, whether it pronates or 'whatever the other word is'. You can't assume that both feet will be the same and so, your cleat position could be wrong. The pain could also be seat height or it could just be that you've ridden 75 km over some rough ground.

I did just over 70 km myself yesterday, trouble was, I didn't get to finish with a nice run along a freeway - about 5km from home I had to climb up Flagstaff Hill which kindly starts with a very nasty climb and then flattens out to horrendous. To cap it off, I had a strong head wind for the final 5km so I was mighty glad to see my driveway appear. The rest of the trip was good though, starting with a mad dash down said hill - hit a top speed of 70.1 km/hr, holding the middle of the lane, a car hard up me clacker and too scared to pedal much (my heart rate topped 160 on the descent and was back at 120 odd a km later ). Then a gentle run along the Sturt Ck to Glenelg, across to the Torrens and up the Linear Park to my parents house before turning home. Worst part of the trip? Having to fix Dad's computer ... again.

Richard

[ShanDog]

if only the freeway was my finish... the first quarter of my trip is hill, then the next was freeway. then it was the reverse on the way back so I finish with quite a few hills as well...

You just reminded me that my seat post was slipping on the trip and I wasn't able to tighten it. Maybe that was the cause of my troubles. I've fixed it now and readjusted it. I don't have any history of knee problems so hopefull it was a once off.

[europa]

Ahh, the old slipping seat post. My Trek was doing that, until the shop got their tame gorilla to tighten the bolt - dead set, things were creaking like crazy. And yeah, I'd put that on top of the list of things to blame.

Richard

[tuco]

I could guess that the opposite of pronated is unpronated but I'd also be guessing I'm wrong.
Just checked and I wasn't far off underpronated is correct or supination

Probably just pushing harder on one side of the foot that the other.

I had a similar problem (right knee, inside on the right) and discovered I that because my pedal strap was loose I was pushing down harder on the outside of the pedal thus twisting my knee.

A tighter strap and a bit of concentration to keep my left vertical, problem solved.

[LuckyPierre]

The inside of my knee used to look like this

and now it looks like this

so (like Tuco) I'm used to some after ride pain.
If you did a big ride (especially offroad) and experienced some pain on one side, but it went away, I wouldn't worry too much. If it comes back with each longer ride, then you should start checking your bike fit. When you've done as much as you can there and are still experiencing it, then you might consider gettin some medical advice.
The beauty of riding is that its (largely) non-impact, so damage to joints can really only come from 'bad' mechanical alignment.
The pattern of muscular soreness you described isn't uncommon. Warm down well after your big rides, and think about stretching after you've cooled down and each day to help loosen up.
It's usually recommended to make sure that you provide readily digestible protein in a post-ride meal within 30 minutes of finishing as an approach to prevent muscle soreness. There's a fair bit of information here http://www.ais.org.au/nutrition/FactSheet.asp - check out the 'fueling your sport' link.
ps. no it's not my knee, just some images that I found of knees that have had the same things done to them

[beauyboy]

Pain after is very common after long rides. As for he energy boast in the last strech. You may find that was when the energy from the Mac's was finally hitting your system. I am very lean so now find when I go for long rides i try to keep eatting as much as possible I ride.
Eatting while you ride is also so that your body does not start to digest your muscle for energy.

Donald

[matagi]

Given that you noticed your seat had slipped, I'd venture the suggestion that was the cause of your knee pain. Hubby experienced something similar on a recent ride, except it was his right knee. He was checking something else on the bike when he noticed the seat had dropped. Readjusted it and the knee problem went away.

[ShanDog]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Seems now that my bike seat is the likely culprit so thats fixed and we'll see on my next ride how that goes. I wanted to ride today but the rain is pouring down. oh well.

I am pretty lean too so I also eat during most of my rides. I usually pack a few sandwiches but I had forgotten on that last ride. The maccas that we ate was actually about 2-3 hrs prior to that last 10km. My other thought is that I knew I was back in my local neighbourhood and that I was mentally stronger because of it and had my second wings.

If the pain continues after a couple more rides then I'll take the bike to get my cleats fitted properly. maybe my left leg is a little funny. The only difference I have over other people with my knees is that I can crack them the same way people can crack their fingers.

[sogood]

I agree, never just accept joint pains to the distance rode. First you really need to review the fit of your bike and then technique.

I had this hip pain some weeks back from a long ride, it was only after a lot of trial and error changes to the saddle height/fore-aft position/cleats changes did I finally eliminate it. And each of those changes were under 5mm. Of course, strengthening of your body would help protect you from some of these injuries once have the ideal position.