Knees!

Carolstone1959

Picked up biking again recently and am LOVING it. Started out with 15 miles a week, then over the course of a few weeks worked up to 30 then 40 and then jumped to directly up to 60 miles/week. I'm a heavy rider with a heavy, hybrid bike. The last 4 miles of my last ride I noticed a twinge in my right (leading) knee. The next day I wasn't in pain but it definitely ached.

I'm looking for advice. Do I back off the miles till I can achieve my mileage goals without twinges? Push thru the ache till it subsides? Take aspirin? NOT take aspirin?

I'm familiar with Rule #5 but at my age (53) and weight I don't want to run the risk of sidelining myself if I push too hard.

Strangelyinsane

Saddle height and position relative to your bottom bracket and headset can affect your knees. I would recommend going to a good bike shop and getting fitted. It is normal for your muscles to ache as they are exercised but if you feel it inside your knee you might check out your fit.

haley255

Initial thought is that you need to raise your seat, but it could be more than that.

Cyclink

^^^^ both of these.

Usually knee pain is a result of a bike fit issue. The best solution would be to find a bike shop that does bike fits (real ones, not the 5-minute stand-over ones) and have them work it out. Bike fit is an area where millimeters matter and it can take months (or years) or experimentation to find the right position on your own.

The other possibility could be your cadence. If you like to push below 75 RPM all day long, you could be damaging your knees that way. It puts a lot more force on the joint instead of off-loading it to your cardiovascular system (which picks up around 85 to 95 RPM).

Strangelyinsane

Excellent point about cadence. Good luck!!

Carolstone1959

Thanks for the advice, All! Just printed out "Fitting Your Bike" from the REI site and am headed out to the garage for some tweaking and then a ride. Also getting back to yoga for knee strengthening.

I've found a good LBS here and will get in soon for a real fitting. In the '90's I paid close attention to my cadence and since starting up again I THOUGHT I was in the 85-90 range but without a computer don't know for sure. So guess that's on my wish list now.

Have been staying out of my LBS since trying NOT to buy a Specialized Ariel. My bike is almost 20 years old and the temptation is fierce... Of course that would come with a free fitting... hmmm