simple question.

[amelia05]

Mashing, pushing bigger gears with a low cadence, will place more stress on your knees, and, as I've discovered, your achilles tendon. Like Torrilin, I will often ride a bigger gear than I should on small inclines to give the illusion of a steeper hill, but whenever I do, I am constantly paying attention to form and ready to drop gears if the stress gets too much.

Thorn, I'm curious about this, because I've started to have problems with one of my achilles tendons. I thought it was brought on by running, since it only started to hurt about a week after I started running intervals again; however, reading your post makes me wonder if it could have been brought on by the bike as well. I've been using the big ring more on the bike in the past 3-4 months...I still wouldn't call myself a masher, but I've been going for 70-80 rpm in the big ring lately v. 80-90 in the middle. I generally drop to the middle ring on any kind of incline. Since I started running around the same time I started using the big ring (and maybe too high of a gear, in retrospect), now I'm wondering if that was just too much stress all at once. Especially since running has never aggravated my achilles before (though I was 20 lbs lighter the last time I tried running )

Anyway, what aspects of form do you pay attention to, to keep stress off your achilles?

[galaxygirl]

I meant that I keep looking down at the chainrings to see where I am. Maybe I will get a computer to show me the gears, because as it is I am going to run into something if I don't stop looking down. I think I need to ride more often so that I get the hang of it, but I hurt my shoulder (rotator cuff) so it hurts to ride too far.

[Kano]

I meant that I keep looking down at the chainrings to see where I am. Maybe I will get a computer to show me the gears, because as it is I am going to run into something if I don't stop looking down. I think I need to ride more often so that I get the hang of it, but I hurt my shoulder (rotator cuff) so it hurts to ride too far.

I'm getting better at just riding by feel -- if my legs are happy, I must be in a good place, y'know?

I understand your shoulder pain -- I did something to mine a few years ago, and for the first while, it bothered me. Eventually, the rest of me got stronger, and the shoulder doesn't bother me anymore!

Karen in Boise

[Thorn]

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.

[dolcerider]

An added note to this thread is that I really appreciate the information about stress to the achilles, especially since I ruptured my right achilles tendon about four years ago. Nine weeks in a full leg cast almost put me in a funny farm. I had noticed some tenderness in my ankle after some strenuous rides but wasn't putting the info about gears and stress together. All the more reason to learn what will work for me and learn the right way so as not to cause further injury. Thank You!

[KSH]

Thank you for the web site and to answer your question Sara, I have a triple but I'm not quite sure by what you mean by chain rub? If going to the large ring can increase speed on the flat then I can see the advantage, but you are pedaling harder- wear and tear on the joints, not to mention it must be exhausting to keep up for long periods of time. So for most of us non racers best used for short bursts only- like when the men are dropping you on a club ride?

Well, you go into the bigger ring when you have played out all the gears on the middle ring... AND your cadence is above 95.

Monitoring your cadence via computer will tell you WHEN you need to shift. If you are running a 90-100 cadence in the gear you are in... you are good.

If your cadence slows down... you shift down so it's easier. I your cadence gets too high, you shift up to make it harder.

Until I got a bike computer with cadence on it, I had no clue when to shift or why. Monitoring my cadence tells me exactly when I need to shift.

[KSH]

Thorn, I'm curious about this, because I've started to have problems with one of my achilles tendons. I thought it was brought on by running, since it only started to hurt about a week after I started running intervals again; however, reading your post makes me wonder if it could have been brought on by the bike as well. I've been using the big ring more on the bike in the past 3-4 months...I still wouldn't call myself a masher, but I've been going for 70-80 rpm in the big ring lately v. 80-90 in the middle. I generally drop to the middle ring on any kind of incline. Since I started running around the same time I started using the big ring (and maybe too high of a gear, in retrospect), now I'm wondering if that was just too much stress all at once. Especially since running has never aggravated my achilles before (though I was 20 lbs lighter the last time I tried running )

Anyway, what aspects of form do you pay attention to, to keep stress off your achilles?

Running too low of a cadence can cause pain in your knees... etc. 70-80 is low cadence in my book.

I had some horrible accute knee pain from riding my bike, until I got my cadence up to 90-100.

Even running didn't hurt my knees like cycling did. I was honestly shocked that something so low impact could cause me such horrible knee pain.

Spinning 90-100 cadence fixed the pain.

[amelia05]

thanks, ladies!

On cadence, the reason I'm at 70-80/80-90 is because that's where my body seems to settle naturally. I've tried pedaling 90-100, but it just doesn't feel right for me. Maybe I just need more practice, or increased conditioning...? Anyway, it sounds like it would probably be better for my knees/ankle to stay with my fastest cadence all the time, though, rather than aiming for different ranges in different situations.

[LoriO]

My shortcut: I sort of think of myself as having 3 gears; corresponding to the 3 chainrings up front. Uphill, flatish, downhill/fast. Then I use the cogs in the rear to fine-tune my "three" speeds.

It's not perfect, and not entirely accurate, but it gets the job done!

That is the same way I keep my gears straight in my head!