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A question for bicyclers on TL:
I do not bike regularly, but I'm pretty in shape. Today, I went on a 15 mile bike ride (on paved roads). Towards the end of my ride, I noticed that my right knee was feeling weird; after getting off it was feeling really tight, and I had very sharp pain in the ligaments (or tendons, I'm not sure which) behind my kneecap if I bent my knee more than 90 degrees. I had no problem bearing weight...just bending it was a problem.
Just wondering, is this a common problem for bikers? I've never really had problems with this bike, I've had it for about 6 years now, but this is also one of the longer rides I've been on with this bike. Is there some sort of incorrect form while biking that could lead me to injure my knee?
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15 miles is pretty extreme if you do not bike regularly.
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Were you biking mostly "standing up" or "sitting down?" If you were upright, then you probably just biked too long. If you were sitting, then your seat may be too low.
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when u dont use a certain muscle for a long time, the muscles tend to get stiff. thats the reasoning behind stretching before exercise. try biking a few more times and if the pain continues, go to a doctor
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On May 31 2010 10:36 ramen247 wrote:
15 miles is pretty extreme if you do not bike regularly.
it didn't feel too strenuous haha...I run pretty frequently and I went for a 20 mile bike ride last summer with no incident (though on a different bike)
On May 31 2010 10:36 synapse wrote:
Were you biking mostly "standing up" or "sitting down?" If you were upright, then you probably just biked too long. If you were sitting, then your seat may be too low.
I was mostly sitting down...I did feel like the seat was a bit too low though. I adjusted it halfway through my trip. Guess that probably did it. Hope this goes away soon haha
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You should not feel any pain on a well adjusted bicycle.
Hows the height of your seat?
As a rule of thumb, your seat should be high enough so your legs are straight when you have pedaled all the way down.
From there, raise it a centimeter and once that feels uncomfortable after a ride, lower it half a centimeter at a time until it feels comfortable and you should have the seat dialed in. Not too high, not too low.
Then you can play with the handlebar height, your legs, butt, and hands should share the weight of your body about equally. The handlebar height is personal preference, mess around with it until you find a good height.
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On May 31 2010 11:00 Razii wrote:
You should not feel any pain on a well adjusted bicycle.
Hows the height of your seat?
As a rule of thumb, your seat should be high enough so your legs are straight when you have pedaled all the way down.
From there, raise it a centimeter and once that feels uncomfortable after a ride, lower it half a centimeter at a time until it feels comfortable and you should have the seat dialed in. Not too high, not too low.
Then you can play with the handlebar height, your legs, butt, and hands should share the weight of your body about equally. The handlebar height is personal preference, mess around with it until you find a good height.
What I was about to say. If you're seat is really far down (like most people's seats are), then you put a lot of excess strain on your knees. You might also want to consider seat's forward and backward position.
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United States24809 Posts
I was fine tuning my upright exercise bike last year and I noticed even if I adjusted the seat height right I could easily overdo it without working myself that hard and my leg would start to hurt somewhat similarly to you (not the same though).... I guess you really do have to work up to bike exercises or the muscles can't handle it.
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Philadelphia, PA10406 Posts
Yeah, it always seems like 90% of all biking issues are because the seat needs to be adjusted up or down. As Razii says, you should be able to stand on your bottom pedal and then not lose much, if any height when you sit down.
Keep biking! Biking is the best!
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15 miles is pretty extreme if you do not bike regularly.
Maybe if you don't excersise at all regularly, but at a comfortable pace I don't think 15 miles is that extreme for someone who stays in decent shape. Its a good ride, but not extreme for the in shape non biker. I run about 70 miles a week and don't find rides of 30-40 miles to be particulary strenuous as long as I keep the ride at a comfortable pace; going at an agressive or race pace would be a whole different story however.
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I am in the runner group putting in about 50-60mi/week. 15mi should be no problem on a bike, but coincidentally, the problem you are describing sounds like "runner's knee." It is when the tendon in your patella becomes inflamed/irritated. I had it when I ran in high school and we put in 70mi/week. From what the sports doctors told me, it is generally caused by an over development of the quad pulling the patella off to one side and biking may irritate it since the quad is used to much when pedaling. You might want to look into the symptoms of runner's knee and see if it sounds accurate. It isn't too difficult to deal with if you just ice and do some exercises to strengthen the back of the quad.
Good luck!
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not gonna lie i RUN 14 miles in 1:40 every weekend so 15 miles seems pretty breezy to me on a bike if im being honest.
so if that kind of a workout is affecting your knee so badly its a bit strange. definitely follow the advice here. ice it down as much as you can and try and stay off of it COMPLETELY until you are totally healed, dont rush things.
glhf
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EPT
