Achilles Tendonitis

[Savra]

I went on my very first multi-day supported tour last week and had a great time!! The downside - I apparently developed tendonitis in my Achilles Tendons. Has anyone ever had this issue here? Suggestions? How soon before you got back on the bike? I expected many things to hurt - but tendonitis through me for a loop. Of course, it wasn't like I was going to stop biking so I finished the tour.

[HillSlugger]

Hi,

I dealt with Achilles tendinitis from mid 2009 through most of last season. It kept me from running, but I was still able to bike without much discomfort. Large doses of ibuprofen (600mg x3/day), ice water bath nightly, physical therapy was what it took to fix me up. Good luck!

[Catrin]

I went on my very first multi-day supported tour last week and had a great time!! The downside - I apparently developed tendonitis in my Achilles Tendons. Has anyone ever had this issue here? Suggestions? How soon before you got back on the bike? I expected many things to hurt - but tendonitis through me for a loop. Of course, it wasn't like I was going to stop biking so I finished the tour.

Listen to your doctor on this one. Take it from someone who knows, not listening leads to much longer off the bike than it might have otherwise been. Tendonitis can take some time to heal, and generally they do advise to stop the activity that caused it until it heals. There is the potential to develop chronic tendonitis...

Good luck, and congratulations on your first supported long tour

[OakLeaf]

Have you had a fit recently? My achilles give me trouble if I'm plantar flexing my feet while pedaling, which I do if my saddle is too high. A couple of millimeters can make all the difference in the world.

[bellissima]

Also too much to soon can cause it.

[Savra]

Hey, thanks for the support and thoughts. I have had a crazy week and just got back to this. It does seem like I should get a fit soon. I had new cleats put on my shoes and they really felt wrong that first day. I definitely trained for the ride though. I joined a club and was getting in 50 to 100 miles a week before the ride. The PT guy said it may have been the change in what I was riding on - ie. I usually ride roads and this was on the Erie Canal - compressed dirt. He may be right since it wasn't till we hit the compressed dirt that it started hurting. I haven't ridden for a week now. Seems strange. I see the PT tomorrow again and I will ask him what he thinks of me riding. Personally, as long as I wasn't going up hills - riding was hurting less than walking.

[NbyNW]

+1 on getting your fit checked.

Also, check out this Sheldon Brown article on the achilles tendon and ankling.

[OakLeaf]

I might add that the way I got started ankling to begin with is from having crankarms that were too long. As a result my saddle was simultaneously too high (at the bottom of the pedal stroke, where I had to plantar flex to reach the pedal) and too low (at the top of the pedal stroke, where excessive knee flexion gave me kneecap tracking problems).

Now, I don't ride anything longer than 165 on a road bike if I can help it. And it took time and gradual retraining to learn not to ankle, so I could drop my seat height without giving myself knee trouble.

[Savra]

Oh yes, I was totally ankling. I figured that out pretty fast (just had no idea there was a word for it). But I could reach with no problem, it just seemed I kept doing it regardless unless I purposely thought about not doing it. In reading the article - it could be because my cleats are too far forward. They definitely feel wrong. BUT - I will have a bike fit. The PT did say I could ride for short rides now.

[skywalkerbeth]

In reading this, I wonder how much of my problem is the stirrups/jamming my toes deep into them which means my foot is perhaps more forward than it should be?