Update on biking (knee pain issue?)

[rubytue]

So I posted awhile ago about signing up for a ride.  I’ve been doing great about using that as motivation to generally increase my exercise level! Woo! Not up to 10 miles yet, but getting there. And doing some other things, too. Mostly doing peloton app spin workouts. Buuuuttt…..

My knee is bothering me. On the back side of the knee. No swelling. This has been building for about 6 weeks, and last week we were on vacation and did like 10 times more hiking that usual. And then Saturday I sealed it with a Phish show, standing up the whole time and dancing. Then we walked 2 miles home, which was apparently too much. I could nearly walk yesterday (compounded by a groin pull from climbing over the railing to get to out seats - which was far easier that squeezing down the row given where they were). I told my H that next time, we are ubering home 😂

This (knee issue) seemed to coincide with my trying to ride more. Ugh! Given my non-experience in sport injuries, I start googling, and apparently this could be related to my bike setup. I thought I read and watched lots of videos and was pretty sure I had it setup right. I can’t figure out what might be the smoking gun setting (seat height? But which way do I adjust) to help. 

any tips as to what I could do to figure out if it adjusted right? I’ve even contemplated looking for a trainer or spin bike instructor that could come over and look at my setup. 

edit - hmmm.  I moved the seat forward one notch and did a 20 minute ride, and no knee pain right now. Maybe it was adjustment 😁 I can’t go lower, it’s as low as it goes. 

[sadlebred]

Your saddle (seat) is most likely too LOW. You should have a 10-15 degree bend in your knee if you are riding a regular bike and not a "townie" style that has you sitting like you are in a chair. I'd try to raise it 1 cm and see if that helps. You can have your H look at your knee bend.

You could have your local bike shop look at your set up. I'd avoid the spin instructor.

[rubytue]

Aug 1, 2022 18:40:07 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Your saddle (seat) is most likely too LOW. You should have a 10-15 degree bend in your knee if you are riding a regular bike and not a "townie" style that has you sitting like you are in a chair. I'd try to raise it 1 cm and see if that helps. You can have your H look at your knee bend.

You could have your local bike shop look at your set up. I'd avoid the spin instructor.

To low? Hmmm. The spin bike is not a high quality bike and only has a few heights. I can do 1cm on my bike bike (it’s a hybrid style). But the spin bike is about an inch. 🥴 But I will try that next ride 😁

[sadlebred]

Aug 1, 2022 18:59:18 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Aug 1, 2022 18:40:07 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Your saddle (seat) is most likely too LOW. You should have a 10-15 degree bend in your knee if you are riding a regular bike and not a "townie" style that has you sitting like you are in a chair. I'd try to raise it 1 cm and see if that helps. You can have your H look at your knee bend.

You could have your local bike shop look at your set up. I'd avoid the spin instructor.

To low? Hmmm. The spin bike is not a high quality bike and only has a few heights. I can do 1cm on my bike bike (it’s a hybrid style). But the spin bike is about an inch. 🥴 But I will try that next ride 😁

Try it on your regular bike.

Maybe moving the saddle will help. If it doesn't hurt now, don't change it on the spin bike.

[wawa]

I used to have a local amazing bike fitter (he was at Princeton, and then the EC Race Pace) but that store is now a Trek company store AND he lives in Ashville.  Womp womp. (I'm mad about this.  sadlebred, weep for me, i know you get it)

I think 90+ up off Red Branch does a really basic "saddle only" fit service for like $30, and I've heard good things about their staff.  If you take your bike bike to them and ask for help figuring out the saddle adjustments, you can then mimic those measurements on your spin bike (pedal to saddle distance, fore and aft adjustment)

And yes, 100% knee pain like that can be caused by poor bike fit.  I did the exact same thing to myself when I first started biking, and so did MH.  Professional bike fitting seems so silly at first, but relatively small adjustments can actually make a huge difference when you start upping the amount of itme you spend on a bike.  MH's PT actually did his first bike fit when he was going in for help with the issues he'd caused himself when we were training for our second bike trip.

[sadlebred]

wawa You have my sympathies! When you find someone good, they are priceless.

Also, good advice! $30 is worth comfort and no knee pain.

[rubytue]

Thanks, wawa! I will check them out. Can you tell me how accessible they are? Or maybe that’s not the the right word. But, it’s the intimidation factor of walking my overweight, out of shape body into what looks to be a higher end road bike place, with a mid-range hybrid. I was just chatting with H at dinner, and he thinks they would be likely to want to win a customer and be cool. But… I don’t know. Last time I was in our REI, I left just before I started crying because there was nothing over a size 12 in the store.

And this… this is why I started doing peloton spin biking in my basement. Maybe things really are no judgement, but I can’t get around that voice in my head that says “you don’t belong here.”

[wawa]

Aug 3, 2022 18:41:32 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Thanks, wawa ! I will check them out. Can you tell me how accessible they are? Or maybe that’s not the the right word. But, it’s the intimidation factor of walking my overweight, out of shape body into what looks to be a higher end road bike place, with a mid-range hybrid. I was just chatting with H at dinner, and he thinks they would be likely to want to win a customer and be cool. But… I don’t know. Last time I was in our REI, I left just before I started crying because there was nothing over a size 12 in the store.

And this… this is why I started doing peloton spin biking in my basement. Maybe things really are no judgement, but I can’t get around that voice in my head that says “you don’t belong here.”

I absolutely 100% feel you on this issue. I left so so mad from the first bike shop I ever walked into because they just wouldnt' LISTEN to me and kept trying to sell me a hybrid when i actually wanted a road bike, but I didn't fit the profile of a biker so they just assumed I didn't understand what I was asking for.  I eventually came to love the mechanic shop in that store, but never liked the sales people much and never bought a bike from them.

I haven't been to 90+ (race pace was like 4 minutes from my house) but based on what I hear from friends I think they'll take good care of you.  They used to run classes pre-pandemic that were really accessible for people newer to biking and were totally non-judgemental.  The two friends I ran with last night were both talking about the owner, John, as just like, "oh john said this and john said that" and I mentioned that i suggested you go there and they were both hands down like, "John will take care of her!" 

Some bike people are a little shitty. But everything I know about this shop in particular says that it's a good one. Doesn't mean that voice isn't still in your head though, so I get it. I'd start with just calling them, explaining that you're looking for just a basic check on saddle setup/height/etc because you're getting some knee pain and get a feel for the vibe. 

[rubytue]

I meant to check out 90+ on Friday, but got distracted. However, I moved the seat forward and up, and wow. One ride and the knee pain was gone. GONE. Not just I gave it a rest and it was better. But actually fixed.

[wawa]

Hey rubytue ! Biking in the rain tips for you:
brake gently on the wet, take it easy around turns and leave some extra space between you and others. don't trust depth on puddles. get one of those dorky little cycling caps to go under your helmet. consider plastic bags in your shoes if you hate the feeling of soggy toes as much as I do. (like old school breadbags in your snowboots. same idea). Wear layers so you can adjust as needed - your self generated wind while wet can get pretty chilly, but you don't want to steam yourself from the inside either. Full finger gloves might be good if you have them.

And if it's raining sheets or coming down sideways, I'd nope right the heck out of there because low visibility is no good for biking.

[rubytue]

Sept 28, 2022 5:26:29 GMT -5 wawa said:

Hey rubytue ! Biking in the rain tips for you:
brake gently on the wet, take it easy around turns and leave some extra space between you and others. don't trust depth on puddles. get one of those dorky little cycling caps to go under your helmet. consider plastic bags in your shoes if you hate the feeling of soggy toes as much as I do. (like old school breadbags in your snowboots. same idea). Wear layers so you can adjust as needed - your self generated wind while wet can get pretty chilly, but you don't want to steam yourself from the inside either. Full finger gloves might be good if you have them.

And if it's raining sheets or coming down sideways, I'd nope right the heck out of there because low visibility is no good for biking.

Thanks! I had a long discussion with a couple of my coworkers who are heavy bikers. They both told me noping out is OK. We decided when it came down to it, goals were met the org got their money. I achieved my mission of setting a goal to motivated myself to actually *exercise*. 

They sent an email today that included both a reference to rain or shine and that they were monitoring the weather and to check for updates. I think it be on for a bit of rain, and off it’s stormy. 

I’m not sure. I told my coworker I was not bailing today. But I am concerned. The temp plus the possibility of being wet have me 😬. I run cold always. Like pants and jackets in July cold. And I actually got mild hypothermia snorkeling at the dry tortugas (72* water, 80 degree day). Your post has me thinking about it more. Because I was thinking cold. And I was thinking of rain. But I actually hadn’t put tighter wet and cold. 

I wish it was last weekend. I was so proud of myself because I went out on what I would actually call a true training ride (like, the only purpose was to do it, not go somewhere or even enjoy nature). But, I just did loops up toward centennial and back down the hill, around to the house, and back up the hill. 4 loops!

yeah, compared to most here, this is like baby stuff. But, considering where I was in June…. It’s huge. Oh, and I’m still overweight and have heart racing issue and elevated blood pressure. So take THAT cardiologist. Maybe, just maybe you should have looked closer and not just blamed it on my weight. 

[rubytue]

wawa, today, they changed the language from “monitoring Ian” to “ closely monitoring the weather and Hurricane Ian and are in touch with local authorities.” Which to me, sounds like there is a higher possibility of calling it for weather. But maybe that is normal? I don’t know.

[wawa]

Sept 29, 2022 17:13:30 GMT -5 rubytue said:

wawa, today, they changed the language from “monitoring Ian” to “ closely monitoring the weather and Hurricane Ian and are in touch with local authorities.” Which to me, sounds like there is a higher possibility of calling it for weather. But maybe that is normal? I don’t know.

That's normal, and but yes does feel like they're inching closer to cancelling and setting the table for saying the decision was "local partners" not theirs.

Pretty sure my race is on. Forecast has shifted less wet over here on the eastern shore.

[rubytue]

I got a pair of fleece lined running leggings and I tested them out on a hike this morning. They are awesome. As is the beanies for under my helmet.

I’m stumped on tops. I wore a thick fleece pullover this morning, because I couldn’t find the think one I could swear we had. I suspect it went in a donate pile because neither of us wore it. Until today, when I want it. Figures.

So I’m debating if I want to go out and find something like I have in mind (thin, layerable) today. Do I buy something new when there is a great per chance that I’m not doing this. Aside from the misery that is biking in rain, I know my body reacts weirder to wet and cold. And just nope. And the hourly forecast is not reassuring. But, things are not stormy enough for me to hold out hope this decisions will be made for me. 😝

[rubytue]

Well, never mind. I looked an hour ago and there was nothing. But, I just clicked again and it says: The safety of our riders is of utmost importance and at this time, with the encouragement of local authorities, we have decided to CANCEL the ride portion of Sunday’s Lymphoma Research Ride.

[sadlebred]

rubytue I am so sorry!! I know you trained hard for it!

[rubytue]

sadlebred, thank you. All in all, I’m totally ok with it. I really didn’t want to ride in tomorrows weather. And I was a bit nervous as I think it was harder than what I have been doing (my friend lives along the route). The hardest thing is that now I have no real “reason” to keep going. I was doing a 60 minutes peloton ride the other day, and I kept thinking “I don’t get the point of exercise for exercise’s sake.” But *sign*. I know I need to do something for my health. I will never be a gym rat 😂