TMBRA - Rider Board

[knee jerk]

After a couple of trails last week with more climbing than usual I've had a soreness that won't go away. It's on the backside of the leg, behind the knee. I've pretty much been trying to rest it since Thursday. The bike wasn't shifting into the granny gear well so I kept it in the middle ring on the climbs.

Rode for about 10 minutes Saturday just to check out some trail conditions after the rain and now the pain has gone more into the hamstring and the upper calf it seems.

It feels like an aggravation/inflammation type injury that just needs some rest (no sharp pains, just gets sore even from standing). I guess I'm checking to see if it is something that needs complete rest, or if it would be better to work it out with easier rides...

[The Bike Doc]

knee jerk:

"It feels like an aggravation/inflammation type injury that just needs some rest (no sharp pains, just gets sore even from standing)."

You have diagnosed you self well. It is likely you inflamed the tendons to the hamstrings and the upper calf muscles from the big gear grinding you had to do to climb the hills when you could not shift into granny gear. (Am I presumptuous in saying 9 Speed shifting intolerances strike again? See http://64.177.85.6/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4642&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= )

Rest your legs for 1 to 2 weeks. Do Ice packing for the next couple of days 30 minutes at a time 2-3 times a day to help decrease the inflammation. Then switch to warm soaks and gentle massaging to help improve the circulation and speed the healing. When you start back on the bike, go easy, stick to higher RPM easy spins for a couple of weeks before you start any big climbs and gorilla sprints. As a rule of thumb do not push your miles or your intensity up more than 10% each week to allow you body to adapt. Do get a copy of the excellent book, Stretching by Bob Anderson and apply the stretching techniques daily even when you are not riding or working out. This will help keep you muscles, tendons and ligaments limber and less prone to injury. Have a close look at your bike, cables, housings and end stop screws on the derailleurs to root out the problem of poor shifting. As it may well be time to get some new cables and housing to improve your shifting, ditch the "light weight" SL 4 mm housing (SL = "stupid light") that likely came on your bike and replace it with 5 mm housing which is more robust and tolerant to the realities of mountain bike riding (another hard lesson I learned from my own mountain bikes and rental fleets). Make sure the end stop screws are properly adjusted to allow you to drop into granny gear with out over shifting to the bottom bracket or the spokes.

Thanks,
_________________
Paul K. Nolan, MD
AKA: The Bike Doc

[The Bike Doc]

knee jerk:

One final word of caution, if the pain increases at any time or persists after 1-2 weeks do seek further medical evaluation.

Thanks,
_________________
Paul K. Nolan, MD
AKA: The Bike Doc

[knee jerk]

Thanks for the confirmation Doc!

I wasn't too worried about middle ringing it because I usually ride my SS with a 33/17 (but not with this much climbing). But you are right, I'm running the 4mm cable (going in the trash tonight).