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I expected it to get stronger
Endurance events are catabolic. You break down. For sure you will adapt to the demands you're putting on your body in a bunch of cool ways but without adequate rest you will be slowly breaking down. It's a bit of a balancing act to prevent too much damage, too quickly so you can achieve a (somewhat painful) homeostasis at your new load levels.
Right now, you need to be finding coping mechanisms - lighter efforts, more rest, etc, in order to minimise damage/pain and maximise mileage. If that means going back to turbo where you can control everything a bit more closely then you'll have to consider that until you're good to go pain-free with your mates.
hippy-
I'm feeling that now being almost 100 days into this challenge, it's all about the coping mechanisms. I actually enjoy the work days as I know I have a solid 9 hours without being on the bike so i can relax and do random leg exercises to strengthen the knees.
I'm going to get a power meter for my Isen in the coming weeks so I can see L/R balance as well as power. This is also a treat and will allow me to sit at the recovery pace on the roads without getting too excited. You're right with that, going back to turbo miles so I can keep up the distance without putting the extra toll on my body. I'm getting the GF to come round tonight and have a look at it, as we don't live together atm (Covid - I live alone so can bubble, if anyone cares)
Norfolkbound
That's true, I've had a few mates come out with me and stick to the pace but I guess I need to be realistic, as I do enjoy the faster rides but with this being an endurance challenge, they might have to wait a year.
It's in the side of my knees, lateral position. It feels the same as what was happening to my right which was the IT band rubbing over the femur but it's hard to gauge as it only happened last night while on the turbo. It was fine on the road, I can almost say I was feeling pretty strong on the ride back from work yesterday. I've rested it this morning and will try swapping riding positions slightly, bring back the CAAD with some clip on aero bars... It's when the LS is at 9'o clock, if that makes sense.
I'm very anti pain relief as I knowing what i'm like, I'll push through if the pain has been numbed and will make the injury worse in the long term.
@frank9755 I've been playing with saddle height and tilt, I found lowering it made the issue worse. Also cadence does help, high cadence seems to have less of a strain on my knees but when OTR it's hard to sustain into a head wind with a rucksack on. That's some great advice, I expected my body will change but naively I expected it to get stronger and become this super cyclist.... But in reality it's just about being able to pedal forward comfortably.
I'm going to try position adjustment this evening, hopefully that improves things, I've been on my Isen for a good few solid weeks now = 3000km so a change might be what my body needs.