Painful knees

Hi there

Had this for a while where I suffer from painful knees especially the left just completed a 35 mile bike ride as training for a 100mile bike ride on Saturday, it was agony when I first started the ride and now I can barley move it without being in pain

It's at the stage that I'm debating whether or not to cancel the ride (the Dorset dash) and try again next year

What should I do, any advice would be appreciated

Do not ride through the pain. Your body is warning you. There are loads of books / internet info about it. I'm currently laid off cycling because of my knees, I'm seeing a physio. Where is the pain, front, back, sides, above the knee cap underneath kc, below kc?

gtRTSdh":1fryz0ua said:

Do not ride through the pain. Your body is warning you. There are loads of books / internet info about it. I'm currently laid off cycling because of my knees, I'm seeing a physio. Where is the pain, front, back, sides, above the knee cap underneath kc, below kc?

Click to expand...

It's located at the front of the knee, but the pain the travels down to the bottom of the leg, it's not the first time this has happened before

a very basic synopsis is seat too high, pain at front, too low, pain to the rear. In just one leg this can be down to leg length differences. Feel free to try things yourself before seeing a pro, just don't ignore it.

gtRTSdh":1zs1mabc said:

a very basic synopsis is seat too high, pain at front, too low, pain to the rear. In just one leg this can be down to leg length differences. Feel free to try things yourself before seeing a pro, just don't ignore it.

Click to expand...

I will follow your advice will pull out of the ride, unroll I get things sorted

Resting and cooling will most likely get you back to the state before the 35 mile ride short term.
If you want to do something long term about it in general first you will have to take some MRI pictures to see what causes the pain. Missing cartiledge or some half torn ACL or some thing of that nature. Without knowing how much you weigh it is safe to say it is always a good idea to think about loosing some pounds. Every pound you loose your joints won't have to carry which reduces pain. So go see a doctor or two if you don't like what the first one has to say to made up your mind what might be the best way for you to go.
Personally i have really bad knees from playing basketball my whole life. Moderate training with a physio therapist and something called Superflex-3 is my way to go. Ingridients of that stuff are glucosamine and chonrdoitine. After 1,5 years of taking that i think it helps me. But that might be a subjective feeling. Physio therapy is essential. My cartiledge is nearly completely missing..i have no clue what's wrong with your knees but everything what could be wrong with knees is a long term thing. That being said my advice is don't think about the 100 mile ride next weekend. Think about doing the right thing and get some professional help. Get your knees back to the best possible state and think about the Dorset Dash 2014 or 2015. You only have this one body so listen when he speaks.

If you've been using spds, etc, you might want to try BMX pedals and riding unconnect when you restart - after the pain has gone, plus a decent margin for safety.

mountainbikerjohnnyb":1ac2exxq said:

I will follow your advice will pull out of the ride, unroll I get things sorted

Click to expand...

good on you - it must be gutting to have to do that but there is not reason to f**k up you knees anymore than they are already. Riding when part of you body is in agony is no fun plus it can only make matters worse.

you need to check you posture on the bike as well as cleat position if you are you using clipless pedals?

Glucosamine chondroitine supplement works for my old lab's hips. Human versions presumably do likewise.

02gf74":3iegdxhy said:

mountainbikerjohnnyb":3iegdxhy said:

I will follow your advice will pull out of the ride, unroll I get things sorted

Click to expand...

good on you - it must be gutting to have to do that but there is not reason to f**k up you knees anymore than they are already. Riding when part of you body is in agony is no fun plus it can only make matters worse.

you need to check you posture on the bike as well as cleat position if you are you using clipless pedals?

Click to expand...

I am slightly gutted, I was looking forward to it, bought a road bike and thought this would be a good test for me, going to get the bike fitted properley and get the spds sorted