Went for fitting, now my knee hurts

[OakLeaf]

The good news is that my shoulders feel a lot better with a longer stem (which I would never have guessed), and my weight feels a lot more balanced on the saddle. I'm truly on my sitbones and it's a good feeling.

The bad news is the fitter dropped my saddle 3 cm (!) even though I warned him I have patellofemoral issues. I understand his point about how I was using my ankles a lot, and that's not fashionable now, the way it was when I first learned to ride. But at the top of the pedal stroke - which I explained to him is where I have the problem if my knees flex excessively - I'm pretty sure my ankles have always been neutral at the top of the stroke, so there wasn't a lot to work with. And because of my tetchy knees I've never moved a saddle more than a couple of mm at a time before.

Bottom line, I felt okay on the trainer in the shop, I felt okay on the 16 mile ride home, but as soon as I got home my left knee started to swell - not a lot, but enough, and in a sickeningly familiar way.

So I raised my saddle, not all the way back, but 2 cm to give him some of the benefit of the doubt - and also because I had been getting some cramping in my lower legs and feet, which he said was related to using my ankles too much. I may ride tomorrow and maybe not until Friday. But I'm feeling like I need to stay off the commuter bike, too, especially because it's got really long crankarms and it isn't the best for my knees at the best of times. I did get a rental car to get me back from the airport the other night, so I'm not stuck at home, but I was really planning on taking it back today after I picked up my dry cleaning. And I just plain hate running errands of 3-5 miles in a car, any time, for any reason.

Not that there's ever a good time to be injured, but this is a really bad time. Keep your fingers crossed that my knee feels better tomorrow and the compromise seat height works out for me.

[redrhodie]

(((oakleaf)))

3cms sounds pretty drastic! When I last raised my saddle, it went up 3mms, and I felt a difference. You did the right thing by lowering it.

Heal fast!

[GLC1968]

You know, now that you mention it, I remember that my saddle was raised about 3 cm at my fitting. That IS a lot. In my case, it felt better for my legs (better power) but it hurt my girly bits something awful! I ended up marking where it was and then I lowered it to about half way back to the original position. I rode it like that for about 2 weeks and then raised it back up to the 3 cm mark. It helped my body to get a week or two at the interim height to adjust to the change. Perhaps that's all you need as well...time to adjust to the new position (and maybe a less drastic change in the meantime?)?

[KnottedYet]

Oakleaf - did he also move your saddle *back* about 3 cm?

If he didn't, I'd worry your knee was waaaay beyond the pedal spindle at the most forward postition. That kind of sheer stress through the joint could cause some big grumpiness at the knee.

(it would be like repeatedly squatting by pushing your knees out forward beyond your toes, rather than by pushing your hips back and keeping your knees over your feet... ouch!)

[Mr. Bloom]

I think that if it generally feels right, it is right.

I know that there can be cumulative problems over time...but if you have big time discomfort after a short period, that's pretty telling.

Just my humble opinion...

[OakLeaf]

Yes, he did move it back, but not by quite as much.

Actually KOPS moved back a bit from where it was. Not sure why, really, other than the longer stem seems to help me sit farther back on the saddle - like I said, I'd never have guessed that, but I suppose it's the way it angles my pelvis.

I'd had the seat way forward because of the issues I was having on the old saddle, so I knew that was going to have to come back. But I wasn't having any knee issues with the seat at that height (before or after I moved it way forward), just the cramps all through my lower legs (tibialis anterior, and some deep calf muscle - flexor hallucis longus? - and the sole of the foot/big toe). Which now that I think about it, the cramps really started when I moved the saddle forward because someone pointed out I was sitting too much on the nose of the old saddle, and suggested I move it forward. Which I now realize was because it was pear-shaped and not because of the position... I literally could not get my butt onto the wide part of that saddle.

[KnottedYet]

I don't often see that kind of cramping coming from ankling on a bike.

(aka "never")

There are a gazillion things that can cause cramping like that. Have you talked about this with your doc? Have you been having cramps your whole life every time you ride the bike? Do you get cramps when you stand on your toes?

[OakLeaf]

No, really the cramps just started recently. About the same time I pushed my saddle forward. I don't get them standing on my toes (but maybe I would if I stood on my toes for an hour and a half, since they really don't start until mile 25 or so).

Hadn't talked to the doctor, mostly because it was only really happening on the bike. Over the winter I'd been getting an occasional charley horse, but I'm pretty sure that's because DH put my SmartWool socks in the dryer and shrunk them At any rate once I started wearing looser socks to sleep, those cramps stopped.

[redrhodie]

Are you getting enough potassium? I'm sure you already know this, but just a reminder, it helps with charley horses.

[OakLeaf]

I'm getting plenty of veggies and more bananas than I really ought to, so I don't think potassium is a problem. I'm doing a calcium/magnesium supplement right now, which I only do intermittently - sometimes those can get out of balance for me.

Knot, do you think I should be concerned about the cramps? On the bike is really the only time I've been getting them, and only after 25+ miles on the road bike - not after an hour run, not after 12-15 miles on the commuter bike, not after a 2-3 hour hike. I've got no risk factors for claudication that I know of. I really think it's just a positioning/conditioning thing.

Anyway the knees are better today with Traumeel internally and externally (great stuff), and a session with my beloved zapper (electro-stim) last night. Good enough to go for a half-decent run and planning on doing the club ride tomorrow. I put my seat back up 2 cm even though the fitter advised raising it by 5 mm at a time "until the pain goes away." I don't think so! From where it is now, I might drop it 3 mm at a time unless the pain comes back before I get back to where he set it.