Numb toes. Any sports medicine experts here?

[staceysue]

Yesterday was the longest ride I've ever done, and about 40 miles or so in I started getting a little numbness in my left great toe. By the end of the trip (64 miles) both of my feet were numb from the balls forward. Numb numb - like, I thought I might fall when I got off the bike. As soon as I got off the bike, the numbness went away.

My saddle feels comfortable to me. I just have a little soreness at the very top of my inner thighs, in the crease where the thighs and privates meet. It feels like something a little bit of chamois cream would have prevented. That does seem to be the area where a lot of my weight sits when I ride, though. The rest of my weight's on my sit bones.

I don't know how I'd even go about finding a better saddle - this one is so comfortable that I never would have thought it would cause a problem. It's not like I can try a saddle out for 60 miles before buying.

Where's your weight supposed to sit when you ride? I must be compressing a nerve.

[Kalidurga]

Sounds like hot foot, which is discussed here fairly frequently. From what I've read, your weight should ideally be evenly distributed between all three points of contact: bars, pedals and saddle. But hot foot's got more to do with your shoes &/or pedals/cleat position than with your saddle.

There are a few threads in this Search result that might be helpful for you: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/searc...archid=2611548

[tulip]

+1. Also make sure your shoes are not too small or too tight. Were you wearing thicker socks because of the cool weather?

[staceysue]

Thanks for the help!

The link didn't work for some reason, so I did a google search for 'hot foot'. The articles I'm reading describe it as very painful and often caused by tight shoes or small pedals. I have loose shoes and platform pedals, but still got me thinking . . . I had it happen once before, only mildly, and I was wearing the same shoes that time.

I'm going to try different shoes! Thanks for your help, Kalidurga and Tulip!

[KnottedYet]

You can get hotfoot on platform pedals, too.

The big issue is compression on the nerves that run through the ball of your foot (kind of between the "knuckles" of your foot)

Anything that will squish that neighborhood too much can cause hotfoot. Tight shoes/socks, concentrated pressure, swelling feet, dropped metatarsal heads, no metatarsal arch support, Morton's Neuroma, constant pressure, high heel shoes.

You can even get hotfoot on a stairclimber or eliptical trainer or barefoot on your kitchen floor while doing calf raises.

As long as you know what it is (someone is getting squished in your forefoot) you can play around with the conditions your forefoot experiences until you find the cause.

Sometimes feet just get juicy after you ride a while, and you need to loosen the laces partway through a ride.

[staceysue]

There isn't any pain, though - just numbness.

[Kalidurga]

It can be either pain, numbness, or both combined. I've only ever had numbness and changing to shoes that had more room in the toe box made a huge difference. I still get it every once in a while, but now I've got space to wiggle my toes around inside my shoe and that takes care of it. And thanks to Knott, I will now forever think of my feet being juicy while I'm doing so

To search here at TE, just click on Search in the nav menu across the top of the forum and type in "hot foot".

[Lakerider]

I was getting some numbness in my little toe a few months ago. After I changed my shoes I haven't had that problem since.

[staceysue]

I need to make the move to clipless pedals anyway, so new shoes are coming up! Not this fall, though . . . in the Spring. Budget constraints - ugh. In the meantime I'll just have to switch my tennies! I really appreciate all the commends, th ough. I don't kn ow why I never would have thought to blame my shoes. I was blaming my poor innocent saddle.

[carinapir]

I personally suspect that, for me at least, some of the hot foot that I get has to do with how tired my legs are. I had noticed that over the same distance my toes were more likely to get numb on a certain route in which I ride against the wind for the last have of the ride directly towards the beach. I experimented on this route recently after my toes started to numb. When I focused on using my muscles and having light feet rather than being lazy pressing against the pedals with my bones and feet, the numbness subsided.

[GLC1968]

Originally Posted by staceysue

I need to make the move to clipless pedals anyway, so new shoes are coming up! Not this fall, though . . . in the Spring. Budget constraints - ugh. In the meantime I'll just have to switch my tennies! I really appreciate all the commends, th ough. I don't kn ow why I never would have thought to blame my shoes. I was blaming my poor innocent saddle.

Wait, you rode 65 mile in tennis shoes? That might be your problem right there! Tennis shoes have soft flexible soles (for playing tennis) and for cycling efficiency, stiffer soles are better. I know that I can't ride more than about 30 miles with non-carbon soled shoes without getting hotfoot. I would bet a stiffer shoe (or your pending switch to clipless) will make a huge difference.

[channlluv]

I get this a lot, too, and I ride in trainers. I was in running shoes one day and I realized that the sole of the shoe was bending around the pedal - no support at all! Another day, I'd changed into my shorts and shirt only to realize I'd forgotten my shoes. All I had to wear on my feet were the Birkenstock sandals I'd been wearing all day, so I rode in them. They have a much stiffer sole and are wider than my trainers, and I had absolutely no foot pain at all on that ride.

DH just ordered me some Sidi shoes so I can go clipless. They'll be here in a few days. I'm looking forward to trying them, and riding more effiiciently, and, hopefully, pain-free in the tootsies.

Roxy

[staceysue]

People wear special shoes when they use regular pedals, then? "Carbon-soled"? This is all Greek to me!

[GLC1968]

Originally Posted by staceysue

People wear special shoes when they use regular pedals, then? "Carbon-soled"? This is all Greek to me!

Actually, not usually, no. I wear carbon soled shoes because they are the stiffest and I have bad feet. For me, even with clipless and cycling shoes, I was having trouble. If I'm riding distance, then I need super stiff shoes.

In your case (and for most normal people), carbon isn't necessary for comfort. A normal bike shoe with a stiff sole will work wonders, so when you go to clipless and get the shoes that work with them, you'll be fine.

In the meantime, you could try finding some shoes that are stiffer to use with your flat pedals. I know that some people actually ride in hiking boots in the winter (with flat pedals) for the warmth and the stiffer sole. You could also get a pair of mountain biking shoes and wear them without cleats on your flat pedals too. Then when you go clipless, you'll already be used to the shoes (and you can just add cleats to the mountain bike shoe). Or - find the newest, stiffest pair of athletic shoes you own and use those for now.