Injured knee from cycling?

[swimmifish]

Hi all,

I know this is not a substitute for medical advice, and I will seek some if my knee continues to be sore. I just wanted to see if anyone has ever had such an experience as I have...

Last Saturday (October 27) I did a 105 mile bike ride. I did not train enough in terms of cycling for it (I did a lot more swimming this past summer) but would consider myself very fit. A friend convinced me to do it with "we'll go slow" and "all flat ride" (both true). However, on mile 45 or so, I lost the ability to clip in with my left foot (Speedplay pedals). (Since the ride, I've gotten them checked out and loosened, but still don't know if they'll clip in.) The rest of my body took about 3-4 days to fully recover, but the front bottom right part of that left knee and the upper left hand part of it continue to be in pain a week later (but the knee had been feeling better each day, could bend it farther without pain, etc). The day after the ride I could barely walk on that knee, but now I can walk up and down stairs with minimal pain. I tried riding on the trainer yesterday and that was BAD news - it hurt too much to do that. On Friday a nurse said it looked swollen (but I can't tell that it's swollen). I wasn't as proactive as I should have been in caring for it, but now I'm doing RICE consistently and avoiding walking stairs, putting a lot of weight on it, running, cycling, etc.

My question is: was it all the extra force I was applying with the left leg to spin the pedals around the culprit of this, or could this just be just general overuse? And, is it possible I did a lot of damage, or do I just need to take a month off from leg-impacting and weight bearing exercises? It is feeling less and less sore every day and after icing. Has this ever happened to anyone? Yes, I will go to the doctor's - I'm just off for a work trip for a week and can't get there until I get back into town! Thanks in advance for your advice.

[MITriGuy]

Tuesday I had my 3rd knee surgery on my right knee. I used to race motocross before I got into doing tri's and damaged it badly 2 years ago racing. I'm not an expert but I dont think you damaged your knee riding. I would suspect you either injured along time ago and you may be bringing to the surface an old injury or you have tendonitis.

I'm now five days post op from having the screws in my new ACL (that I got 2 years ago in the last surgery) cleaned up and having my meniscus repaired again. I rode 20 miles on my trainer with no pain. I also ran a half marathon the week before my surgery. I did feel pain but nothing like your describing.

Take about 600mg of Motrin a few times a day and see if that helps. If there is any fluid in the joint that will get rid of it very fast and you should notice an improvement but I would see an ortho and get an MRI done just to be safe.

[jacmun]

If your knee was not a problem before your ride;
If you had no acute or sudden injury during the ride;

Then this is not likely to be anything more than over doing it.

105 miles on the flattest course with a tail wing is one hell of a long way if you haven't done much riding in the build up even if you are fit. I ride over 250 km per week but played squash for the first time in ages on Monday, man did that hurt! The loss of your pedal and some repeated force through a bad setup because of this are likely to contribute. A severe cartilage or ligament injury, (just ask those who have suffered one) is not something which sneaks up on you, the vast majority are sudden high energy catastrophic incidents.

Rest, ease up on the intensity, get the knee moving as it is comfortable and get a check up but I wouldn't hit the panic switch that you have torched your knee just yet

[TriOnLife]

It could be your bike fit. Someone looked at me on my bike, told me the seat was too high and asked me if I had any problems with my knees or hip. My knees did get sore sometimes after a long ride. Just make sure you have a proper bike fit.

I'm sure the pedal issue didn't help.

Wait until your knee feels better to check things out, though.

Good luck!

[Gary3]

...another possibility is that your seat is too low. This would cause undo pressure on the knee area on each pedal stroke.

[swimmifish]

Thanks, y'all...I really appreciate everyone's good advice! I recently (September) had a bike fit but my "homework" was to ride it for a month or so and then come back to make final adjustments. Along the way during the 105, I rode with a very experienced (pro level) cyclist, one who observed my riding and position. (Kindly, he didn't mind riding slowly with me! ) At a rest stop we raised my seat slightly, and he said that I looked like I was reaching forward too much -- the seat needed to be a little closer to the handlebars, otherwise I looked natural on the bike. Anyway, so yes, there is some more tweaking to my fit that must be done.

My knee wasn't a problem before the big ride, and while I suppose I could have hurt or stressed it before, I don't specifically remember doing so, and I hadn't been running or cycling enough over the last year to do so. Like I said...swimmer. I've been taking the motrin, resting, elevating at night, ice when I'm able to, and wrapping the knee (not today because I'm about to get on a 5 hour plane ride, and the seats are a bit close together for me to extend my leg....lol). It's feeling a LOT better now, and not swollen. I will continue to monitor it, and if it hurts the next time I cycle or run (which will probably be around Thanksgiving) or gets worse, I will call my doc. Thanks again all! You guys are great.

[swimmifish]

So...an update. Knee started hurting again, so am seeing a doctor tomorrow. I think it could be some form of tendinitis, but I don't want to guess. Thanks again guys for your help/advice....

[sourbubblegum1]

good luck with the knee. does it hurt to walk too ? If it doesnt hurt to swim then i would continue swimming. But definetly see whats wrong with it.

[swimmifish]

It was hurting to walk. At one point it hurt so badly that I could barely walk, which prompted me to go to the doctor. I went last Monday, and he said that I bruised the cartilage. He said I needed to abstain from cycling/running for a week, and take NSAIDs for two. It was getting better, but I went up/down stairs yesterday and now I hurt today. Maybe I did that too soon? The detrimental bike ride was exactly one month ago today...it's just frustrating that I haven't been able to bike/run since. If the pain persists it'll be time for docs. round 2.

[Gary3]

keep us posted

[Cholopolitan]

Just jumpin on this...
Same problem for me. I am getting an x-ray and Thursday. I think doing too many hills brought it on. The doc thought is was tendonitis.