Knee Pain

I get this after long rides, normally if I've done a lot of climbing or mashing the gears.

Rest it, but try doing some short rides at slow speed with high cadence to keep your legs in.

Stretch!

[I had the same issue, and this is what my physio said, I'm not an expert!]
Tendon issues are likely to be caused by muscle issues. All your muscles from your lower back, to you glutes, and quads are all connected together. If they are tight and not moving properly, they will pull on the tendon, causing it to move incorrectly and rubbing against the kneecap.

Try standing on one leg, and do a squat, you should be able to get as low as you can comfortably go, with your kneecap moving in a straight line. When I had my problem it wobbled all over the place, because none of the muscles were connecting properly. If this is the case I can show you the stretches I used to sort it out.

Heal up!

Do you pull up on the left leg for skids? That can pull/jolt the patellar tendon pretty bad.

Nope, no skidding at all, always use my front brake

Have a good stretch of your quads & see if that helps.

Noted, will do

I suggested asking the Bike Whisperer

Yep, that's on the list. Gonna get my cleats set up properly soon anyway, so good timing

The worst thing, and this is what I did in Australia, was riding through it

Sounds like no riding for me this weekend. Think you're all right, i'll give it at least over the weekend. Sucks though, really keen to get on my road bike.

While walking in to work today, instead of my regular 6 miles, my knee was absolutely fine, just tiny bit sore but nowhere near what I felt on my bike after 25 miles last night.

Thinking about it, my knee was a touch sore after a long ride last weekend, but dissapeared through the week, just to come back again last night. So, riding don't seem to work, rest it is.

Also, from reading on here it seems like the lower back muscles have a lot to do with it, so time do some plank exercises i think.

Stretch!

[I had the same issue, and this is what my physio said, I'm not an expert!]
Tendon issues are likely to be caused by muscle issues. All your muscles from your lower back, to you glutes, and quads are all connected together. If they are tight and not moving properly, they will pull on the tendon, causing it to move incorrectly and rubbing against the kneecap.

Try standing on one leg, and do a squat, you should be able to get as low as you can comfortably go, with your kneecap moving in a straight line. When I had my problem it wobbled all over the place, because none of the muscles were connecting properly. If this is the case I can show you the stretches I used to sort it out.

Heal up!

Yeah that'd be cool! Usually I'm a bit slack with stretching part from after longer rides

Think i'll wait with that squat thing til my knee settles down a bit though

there are specialist knee physiotherapists

i would be very wary of taking any advice of the internet

sorry, i notice its your left knee, in which case you are fucked. if it was the right one you'd be fine. so wrap a tourniquet round your thigh and take a bread knife to your leg. its best to have a phone handy so if you feel yourself passing out you can dial an ambulance, there is a bonus to this as the nhs can make the scar site look pretty.

or the simple rest ice compression elevation for a couple of days and see how it feels

go and see a good physio. they will pick up any muscle imbalance, knee mistracking or any other issues very quickly. i wouldn't rely on a bike fitter to do this.

i had a similar issue to Branwen. all sorted by a visit to crystal palace sports injury clinic (physios) and a specialized body geometry fit session and footbeds.

i use balance physio in clapham - graham anderson is the physio for wimbledon and queens tennis tournaments, the british judo squad and for cyclefit

fit by cyclefit

my knees are fucked - torn cartilege, osgood schlatters, assymetric sport (fencing) etc

go and see a good physio. they will pick up any muscle imbalance, knee mistracking or any other issues very quickly. i wouldn't rely on a bike fitter to do this.

i had a similar issue to Branwen. all sorted by a visit to crystal palace sports injury clinic (physios) and a specialized body geometry fit session and footbeds.

This was my experience too - go and see a physio then get your shoe and pedal set up checked by someone who knows what they are doing (which includes scherrit).

Rest it and stretch, sounds like tendinitis of some form, classic overtiring injury, which I've been getting if I step up my running mileage too much in any given week.

one of the insertions for the iliotibial band is near where you mentioned,which could be the issue, likely to be something similar so have a bit of a read about that.

You should take a couple of days off cycling and or any exercise, see if it goes away and if it doesn't then go spend money on a physio/ bike fit.

Alternatively if you have insurance/spare money go straight away and they may be able to correctly diagnose and sort you out quicker.

Rest. Sounds like the increase in mileage has outstripped your body's preparation for it.

Think it's worth seeing a physio this early on? Never had any issues before so i thought it could be just cycling too much? I know ligaments etc take longer to get strong than muscles etc

Re physios, anyone been to the one on Old Street? Or can recommend any other? Found http://www.lso.ac.uk/ in another knee related thread, I know they're students but could be good enough?

Rest. Sounds like the increase in mileage has outstripped your body's preparation for it.

Cool, rest it is. I'll give it a week and then we'll see

bo-ring

When I get a case of tendonitis I will give it a couple of days and then try a very gentle commute to test it out. If there's still pain, more rest.

i went to balance in balham but
it was expensive.
i felt they were pushing me towards £250 on a bike fit
they didn't actually tell me what was causing the problem.
they gave me one simple exercise that didn't really do anything.
i left feeling they wanted to string out the treatment over several visits racking up the bill.
im not saying they were a bad physio, they obviously aren't but i personally recommend CP over them.

the sports clinic was a totally different experience in that i left knowing exactly what had caused the problem and how to go about changing it. a series of exercises/stretches to do.
they do bike fitting there but after talking about bike position and a quick look at me on the bike they said you seem sorted with your position but we offer a service if you feel you need it.
the physio session cost about £45 compared to £75 at Balance.

Nick at Sigma did my shoe/cleat/footbed fit. i wish i had gone to see the specialists sooner and not missed out on a summer of riding.

Haven't read anyone elses advice here yet as I'm at work but Cod liver oil and Glucosamine work wonders for some knee problems. I couldn't walk at one point because of stupid shooting pains in my knee and it all went away with a few pills a day

Think it's worth seeing a physio this early on?

yes.

yes.

hm. That would go well in hand with doing a bike fit just as I get more serious with my riding, rather than a few years in, to avoid wrong posture etc right away.

If it's no more than £50 i reckon it can be money well spent. My old man has knee issues and I really really don't want them if I can avoid it

the sports clinic was a totally different experience

this one? http://www.thesportsclinic.co.uk/

Do not listen to any advice from people who aren't pros.
If you value your knees go straight to an Osteopath and get them to diagnose it correctly and work out a way to fix it.

this one? http://www.thesportsclinic.co.uk/

no crystal palace sports injury clinic

http://www.cpsic.co.uk/

its funny you say that about balance

graham was clear to me that he did not want me to be spending too much money or time with him, and seemed concerned that i still had a minor niggle (from serious discomfort) after 2 visits

Last week I've started to get a slight pain / ache in my left knee. It's just under the knee cap and on the left front side of the knee.

I've started to do more and longer rides before DD to prepare myself, so I have a feeling it can be just over trained? The pain isn't too bad, it's fine to ride and walk, but it aches and I don't want to get it worse and ruin my DD.

I will say, providing your saddle height and position is correct, it's most probably related to cleat position and/or an orthotics issue. As previous advice a physio and bike fit would be best move.

Bear in mind, a switch to clipless from learner pedals and straps can induce a bit of discomfort until you adapt, this could be as simple as pain caused by the twisting clipping out motion that you have to use quite a lot of with Atacs, are you a left foot clipper outerer?

Also the DD is more about saddle time than miles, basing your training on time rather than distance is a good idea, if you can manage 4-5hour rides no problem then the DD will be a cinch, especially on gears. Riding that far fixed you need a comfy saddle or pain numbing drugs or preferably both.

its funny you say that about balance

graham was clear to me that he did not want me to be spending too much money or time with him, and seemed concerned that i still had a minor niggle (from serious discomfort) after 2 visits

2 other cyclists i know had recommended him to me, he's obviously good (and expensive) but i felt i had better service elsewhere.
i'm not about to start a Foffa style hate thread about them though.

i think its a matter of finding someone you work well with and where there is a sense of trust

a physio is much like a sports coach so the trust is quite important

I ride 48/17 on the flat streets of Cambridge and I'm fairly sure that skidding has completely destroyed my left knee. It's hard to tell because that's also the knee that I start on when I'll pulling away. Either way, it's fucked.