Serious toe pain!!

[Channie]

I am a new cyclist. I have about 400 miles on my bike and I am currently training for a century ride in November. As my mileage has increased I have developed some serious toe pain. Both feet start going numb from the pinkie toe in to the big toe around the 20 mile mark by the 35ish mile mark (depending on the amount of climbing) my toes have gone from numb to a severe burning/lack of circulation feeling. It is painful enough that I have to stop every couple of miles. The pain subsides almost instantly upon standing.

I have had a professional fitting. I currently have shimano SPD pedals and Northwave shoes with blue superfeet insoles. The shoes have a very wide toe box and I have a narrow toes.

Help! I am trying to get a dr appt - but I would love to hear some theories. I am at a loss, as well as my coach and the guy who does my fitting.

[Bike Chick]

Have you tried changing your cleat position?

[KnottedYet]

This is a very common problem and there are a ton of solutions, you'll find one that works for you! Don't worry, it is solvable!

Try using the search function (up at the top in the blue bar) for "hot foot" "numb toes" "dropped metatarsal head" and "morton's neuroma"

You'll find suggestions about foot exercises, cleats, shoes, shoe inserts, shoe lacing patterns, metatarsal arch supports, and more!

[nscrbug]

Not an expert here, but I had pretty much the same exact issue when I was using SPD pedals/cleats. The contact area for SPD pedals is very small, thus putting lots of pressure on a small area of the foot. A pedal with a larger contact area (such as a 3-bolt pattern pedal like Look, Shimano, Time, etc.), distributes the pressure over a larger area on the foot, which tends to eliminate, or at the very least diminish, the chances of numbness and hot spots. I switched over to Time pedals at the beginning of this season...and while I won't say that my toe numbness has disappeared completely...it happens much less frequently than it did when I was using the SPD's. It tends to only surface when I ride 70+ miles.

Somebody else already mentioned cleat placement...which could also contribute to numbness and hot spots.

You may also want to look into the type of socks you're wearing. Through experimentation, I discovered that I require a certain "thickness" of sock for optimal foot comfort. My feet are extremely finicky when it comes to socks. So...something else to consider.