Behind the knee pain

[JustAGirl]

... Ok, this is tough over the ‘net (I know ya'll aren't docs) BUT here's my sitch--- I have been MTB'ing for a year, twice a week average, 10-12 miles. Bought a road bike, did 20 miles. Next time out, about 5 miles into it, the back of my knee, not the joint/bone, but the muscle, started aching. By the time I got back, after about 12 miles, I couldn't walk!

That was almost 3 weeks ago and although it doesn't "hurt" anymore, I can still "feel" it, especially going up the stairs, and I'm afraid to ride! I haven't ridden for almost 3 weeks and it's killing me When I bought the bike, the LBS measured me on their fancy shmancy measuring thingy... I took the bike out to ride it and couldn't touch the ground and/or pedals, seat was WAY too high (I had the exact same problem with them when I bought my mountain bike!) so I put the seat down... first time out, I had no problem at all, the ride was awesome but the second time has had me off the bike for 3 weeks!

I have never been an active/sports person and biking is my first consistent sport activity, ever... I love it! But my knee is freaking me out! I don't know anything about sports injuries or anything else for that matter, I just get on my bike and pedal. :/ Any input? Should I see a doc? Could it just be a sprain? How long do these types of things take to heal? I have almost $3,000 worth of bikes in my garage calling my name!

[spazzdog]

Hey J.A.G.! Welcome to TE.

There are innumerable discussions on knee pain in the forums. Do a search on "knee pain" and it will deliver a plethora of info penned by our brilliant membership

spazzdog

[JustAGirl]

hhmmm why didn't I think of that? THANKS!

[RoadRaven]

There are so many threads around knee pain, elbow pain, shoulder pain in this forum and the new riders forum...

I wonder if its worth the admin of TE popping them all in to one sore bits/pain/health and your bike/ouch that hurts type of forum?

Like Spazz suggests, do a search and if you still don't find a solution, come back to this thread and ask again...

All the best with finding a solution

[emily_in_nc]

... Ok, this is tough over the ‘net (I know ya'll aren't docs) BUT here's my sitch--- I have been MTB'ing for a year, twice a week average, 10-12 miles. Bought a road bike, did 20 miles. Next time out, about 5 miles into it, the back of my knee, not the joint/bone, but the muscle, started aching. By the time I got back, after about 12 miles, I couldn't walk!

That was almost 3 weeks ago and although it doesn't "hurt" anymore, I can still "feel" it, especially going up the stairs, and I'm afraid to ride!

JustAGirl ~ I had pain in the very same area last winter (from trainer riding in hard gears, though). I went to a physical therapist who diagnosed it as tendinitis. I was told to stay off the bike for a couple of weeks, then ease back in very slowly, using only very easy gears and avoiding hills (easy to do on the trainer, tougher outdoors if you live in a hilly area!). I was also given stretches to do for that area and told to ice it a couple of times a day. The pain eventually went away, but it took several months until it was completely gone, and during that time I did have to ride very easy gears and avoid hills.

Normally, back of knee pain means your seat is a little too high, so I also lowered my saddle about 1/2" on all my bikes and have left it at that level. It's possible that even though you already lowered the saddle on your road bike once, it is still a bit too high.

You might want to see a doctor or physical therapist about this and consider having a professional fitting as well since you are just starting out with road riding. Good luck!

Emily

[bouncybouncy]

Sounds like you need to get fitted properly. If you had to lower the seats of BOTH your bikes sounds like the person measuring you is not taking your cycling serious at all! I would be upset!

Besides...what is another $70-$100 to enjoy the $1000's you have already spent wasting away in your garage?

[DeniseGoldberg]

... I took the bike out to ride it and couldn't touch the ground and/or pedals, seat was WAY too high (I had the exact same problem with them when I bought my mountain bike!) so I put the seat down...

I'm hoping you really meant that you couldn't reach the pedals, but just in case - when you're sitting on the saddle you should not be able to touch the ground with your feet. Your feet should happily be able to reach the pedals all of the way around, with a little bit of a bend in your knee at the bottom of the pedal cycle.

Here's a link to an article by Peter White on bike fit: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm.

--- Denise