Quote Originally Posted by amelia05 View Post
I've been going for 70-80 rpm in the big ring lately v. 80-90 in the middle.

Anyway, what aspects of form do you pay attention to, to keep stress off your achilles?
I'm no expert, but after I stressed out the achilles (I couldn't walk without stabbing pain), I started doing some research. One of the causes of achilles problems on the bike was listed as increasing mileage or tension (hills or big gears) too quickly. Another cause was listed as exaggerated ankling if it isn't your natural style.

Those two got me to paying attention to the pedal stroke--the bulk of the work that you do should be from the big muscles--the quads and hamstrings. I know that when I'm going up hill I tend to scoot back on the saddle. When I pedal that hard, I often exaggerate the ankling. I now know that that can be dangerous for me (it might work well for others)--it places too much stress on the achilles.

As I was recovering from the achilles problem, I did a lot of easy spins. When the road got an incline, I worked hard to keep the pedal stroke even, natural, and to not stress the achilles. Now that the achilles has recovered, when I push a hill I try to keep that same even, balanced stroke. Very hard to explain, though.

But, it does sound like you might have just done too much at once (but I'd prefer the 80-90 over the 70-80 range). Oh, and look at your arch support--if you have high arches and don't have enough support (in both your running *and* cycling shoes), you'll also stress that achilles.