leg pain

Hi,

I've always ridden a bike for transport and fun but am new to riding seriously and training. Anyway, I entered a big ride next year, bought a road bike and have been attempting to train a bit - riding 2/3 mornings a week before work and longer rides at weekends, normally up to 60km.

The problem is pain in my legs on long rides. I can feel my quads working on hills etc. which is fine but I seem to develop pain in the backs of my legs which just stays for the whole ride and becomes very uncomfortable. I've read that tight hamstrings mean you should lower you saddle but mine is already about half a centimetre below the recommended height. Also the pain feels like it's in a muscle to the outside of my legs and not the hamstring. My legs are slightly stiff a day after a long ride but thats ok and nothing like the constant pain when i'm riding which sets in after 40km or so.

Is there anything I can do to get over the leg pain or is it just a case of more riding and getting fitter? I've been training for about 2 months now. Do I just need to strengthen the muscles and if so how and are there exercises I can do at home on the days I can't ride? I was wondering if strengthening my quads would stop the other pain. Or do I just need to put up with it and keep cycling - it just makes me miserable after a while and yesterday i could barely get off the bike at the end of the ride.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm meant to be riding 118km next weekend and now i'm scared!

Hi lex -

The pain in the back of your legs - is it in the thigh area, the knee or the calf?

Also, what kind of pedals do you use - are they regular platforms pedals, or are you clipped in?

Quote:

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I've read that tight hamstrings mean you should lower you saddle but mine is already about half a centimetre below the recommended height.

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Recommended by whom, and for whom? :) Seriously, charts are good starting points, but everyone is different. Was the recommended saddle height taken off a chart, or was it obtained from a professional fitter working on you with your bike?

My guess is either your saddle height is actually not correct (more on that below), or your cleat angles need adjusting (if you ride clipped-in)

If you ride clipped-in, if the angle of your feet on the pedals is not optimal for you, that can cause some leg pain. Some of us naturally ride with our toes pointing slightly inward or slightly outward, and the angle of the cleat on the bottom of the sole of your biking shoe should be adjusted to account for that. Some of us even turn out more with one foot than another. It can be a very subtle adjustment, but as your rides get longer you might notice some leg pain. That happened to me, and it went away very quickly when I made some very small changes to the angle of the cleats on my shoes.


Here are a couple of articles that might help (seems like I'm always spouting the gospel according to Sheldon, but he seems to be right more often than not !)

http://sheldonbrown.com/pain.html

In this article he doesn't talk about leg pain per se, but check out the section on knees.

http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html#height

Although, from what I've read, generally, pain in the front of the legs means your saddle might be too low, and pain in the back of your legs means the saddle might be too high. Since you say the pain is in the back of your legs (or was it the side?) then possibly your saddle might still be too high. Do you rock side-to-side when you're pedalling quickly? That's an indication that the saddle is still too high. Check Sheldon's article.

Hope this helps! - Jo.

I got this in spring of 2003 after I ramped up my mileage very quickly and did my third century in a month. Mine was only in one leg. Lowering my saddle helped me(even though it was also lower than recommended already, as you say yours is - now it's even lower, but I don't have ITBpain!), as did specific stretches that a physical therapist showed me after my diagnosis. Also cutting back on the riding, using easier gears, avoiding hills, and doing less mileage for awhile. It took about a month to heal completely, and I have kept up the stretching and have never had a recurrence.

ITB syndrome is an outer knee pain involving not a muscle, but your ileo-tibial band. I knew nothing about this until I had it.

Check here for more info:
http://www.time-to-run.com/injuries/thebig5/itb.htm

There are many more sites with info; just do a google search on "ITB Syndrome". Most of the sites primarily focus on this being a runner's problem, but it can happen to cyclists as well.

Good luck!
Emily

Hi,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I ride with flat pedals - though have been wondering about clipless for a while but as they're expensive I may have to wait a while. Not sure if they'd help the leg problem or make it worse?

The pain I get is in the back of my thighs on the outside of the thigh - it seems to develop after 30/40km and then stays there until I get off the bike - so it's not just when i'm pushing hard.

My saddle was set up for me by the bike shop where I bought the bike and they seemed pretty clued up. Maybe I should try adjusting it some more - the difficutly with saddle adjustments is it then takes another long ride to see if it's better or worse!

I'll read the articles and try some saddle adjustment. Perhaps I just need to cycle some more! All suggestions are very much appreciated though - thanks.

lex,
I am three years into riding, and occassionally I have knee pain. Here's some suggestions I have heeded to cure the problem.

1.Adjusting the seat, not only up or down, but forward to back. I've had to scoot mine back to eliminate that sort of pain.
2.Hamstring strengthing workouts. Some home works outs could be.....get a couple of heavy cans of food, or free weights, one for each hand. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and back straight. Keeping legs and back straight. Bend forward at the waist, arms with weights extended toward the floor and reach as far as you can. Return to upright position and repeat. Do this at a moderate pace and repeat at least 20 times. Maybe even more than one set. Be careful not to fully lock out knees, this could be painful or cause injury.
3. Clipless pedals are the bomb girl, and they may help rather than hinder your problem. Right now you have a limited range of motion to pedal in. With clipless pedals you can pull across the bottom of the pedal stroke and up the back of it. This way you're using more muscle groups. You could just be over using that muscle group.
4. Relax into the pedals strokes. Don't mash them if you do not have to. Set a speed that's comfy and use the gears to keep it that way. If you are continually straining your legs through the entire ride, strain may show up as pain.

I hope some of this helps. I am no expert, but I've been around the block. Keep on riding girl.

When you can afford them go for the clipless. They allow you to take repetitive stress off of your legs as you can point your toes, and instead of always pushing down with each leg you can help the 'pushing' leg by pulling up with the other. My Eggbeater clipless have a bit of a 'float' to them so that you aren't stuck in a position but can turn your ankle in or out a bit to whatever feels comfortable, it isn't as if you are stuck in one forward position.