I really got restarted cycling about six weeks ago - been building up VERY SLOWLY. Saw a sports med doc early on to talk about the crunching sound in my knees (had that since my two pregnancies) and how to protect my knees during riding. She did an xray, said everything looked fine except that my kneecaps track on the outside, common in women, not a major defect but what she described as a "setup for pain". So I've been going along okay, working on keeping a higher cadence, etc. noticing a little knee tweakiness after riding, plus additional achiness going up steps.
And then I decided it was time to start working on hills a little! Well, I would call them hills; you folks would probably call them "slight rises" or "bumps". So I did that two days in a row, both rides less than an hour long, and now the knees feel REALLY hinky. Esp. the left, with stinging, pain, sore to the touch. Been resting for two days, icing, off my bike and in a snit about it. Have an appointment with the sports med doc this Friday. I'm afraid she's going to tell me to lay off riding!
So I thought I'd bring this issue to the people I consider to be the REAL experts! Has anyone else had a similar experience? Any feedback would be appreciated!