Now about my feet!

OK - I posted about my hands - now I have a foot question. My feet are always sore the morning after a ride - doesn't matter how much or how little the ride - they WILL be sore... and stiff. They don't hurt immediately following a ride - it's always the next morning - and after I move around for awhile they're ok. Any ideas on what causes this? I sure didn't think I was putting that much pressure on my feet - BUT - I did just recently read that as we age we lose fat in the bottoms of our feet :eek: ( of all the places to naturally lose fat doesn't it figure it would be our feet!!) so maybe I just don't have fat enough feet :D

Do you use bike shoes?
While you are pedalling, focus on pulling for a while instead of pushing.
(you can't do that if you don't have something like pedal clips)
ease the pressure off the soles of your feet.
also, have you tried wool socks?

Regular sneakers have soft soles, and the pedal can put alot of pressure on your feet. Cycling shoes have stiffer soles, even the ones designed to walk in.

What they're saying about shoes -- even without the pedals, bike shoes made a WORLD of difference for my feet, which have more than enough fat on them to share, if I could!

Karen in Boise

I always try and flex my feet inside my shoes when I'm riding:

I'll curl my toes under and then splay them out as far apart as my shoes allow. I have real problems with my feet also, and it seems to be worse this year than last but that seems to help. Sometimes after a really long ride, I'll stretch and flex my feet just like I do my calf and thigh muscles. You might also try massageing your feet after a ride - see if that helps any.

I have round callous buildup right there at the ball of the left foot which would burn after pedalling a long distance. I bought a pair of bike shoes by Specialized which eased the burning sensation. These shoes have a wide toe box, which allows me to flex my toes and the firm sole helps prevent pressure building up. That being said, I noticed on Sunday's ride that after about 34 miles, I was getting that burning sensation again right at the bottom of the ball (left foot). Stopping and removing shoes and socks and massaging the foot a few minutes solved the problem. I also noticed the socks were wet, so another lesson learned: use a sock that doesn't sweat. I also bought a gel pad (Dr. Scholl') to use under that part of the foot, but haven't tried it out yet. I am interested in hearing what adjustments you make and whether they solve the problem, and what "experiences of the sole" others have had.

Ladies... you are wonderful!! I think you've probably hit the nail on the head with the shoes! I don't use bike shoes - in fact, yesterday I switched out shoes to a pair of Columbia shoes I bought about a year ago - what a difference!! I don't think I had the foot pain this morning - but I wasn't paying attention because I didn't think switching shoes would make a difference! So - I'm definitely going to try various shoes and see what happens...

I LOVE foot massages!! Now I have an excuse to get my husband to give me one .... every day!! :D

I have wool socks but I don't wear them for cycling.. should they help?

Thanx so much! I love this place :D

wool socks are good for several reasons. When you sweat, they still feel good; and they cushion your feet.. and i've noticed that the hot spots don't show up as much as they do when i wear acrylic socks.
they make them thick and thin.

Emjae, it sounds like you have a dropped metatarsal head. There are foot exercises to strengthen the muscles that hold the metatarsal arch up. When that arch collapses (cuz the muscles are weak) the nerves that run between the rays get pinched under pressure.

Google "dropped metatarsal head" and "metatarsal arch" and see if you can find a picture of the callous on the bottom of the foot, see if it matches yours. I'm betting yours is under the 2nd or 3rd toe. (the two next to the big toe)

If you do have a dropped met head, you can get met buttons put into your insoles (have a professional do it, they go under the ray, not under the head) that will help you more than a gel insert placed under the dropped head. They will make you more comfortable, and will help to ease the pressure in the met arch.

Then you can do foot exercises to strenthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot to solve the whole issue.

Tho' the mechanical explanations seem to have answered your problem; I just wonder if you are getting enough Vit B-12. Maybe you are vego. Foot pain is a sign of B-12 deficiency. Usually a few days of pills will fix it (unless you are really clinical then there are injections)

Knotted Yet: Thanks for the information; I will follow it up. Also have an email to my doctor (because it isn't urgent) at Kaiser (HMO) for referral to a podiatrist. This is no real problem yet -- so I hope to attack it now so that it doesn't become one.