It may be of use…
If for some reason I do have any pains and aches in my ankle or knee I do put magnet wrappers on over the night. 9 out of 10 the next morning there is not symptoms. This is not exactly ‘magic’, although everything is. I assume it slowes blood stream and permits more time for ‘the goodies’ to go into that part of the affected area where they are needed.
It may or may not work- in any age.It may replace, in some cases…antyinflamatory drugs.
I fully intend to, but I have to get some money first, which might be slightly more tricky.
The obvious answer would be to sell my bike, as I haven’t used it for months, but the state its in I think I’d end up paying someone to take it away for me!
If it’s just aches rather than pains, yeah, I get aches and soreness too after long rides. Mostly it’s the muni weekends and the Moab Muni Fest that do me in. That’s two or three days of long muni rides in a row. My leg muscles are always sore after that. More conditioning would help along with hiring a private masseur. That’s what we need for the next muni weekend – a masseur.
I also don’t like the ankle pains caused by landing a drop when the ankles are flexed too much. It’s an initial sharp “ouch” and then a dull ache for a while afterwards. I try to avoid that, and it hasn’t happened to me recently so maybe I’m getting better at preventing it. I’m not big on drops so that is one reason it doesn’t happen to me much. But sometimes it happens while just riding a trail that has small little step drops and you just hit one of them in the wrong pedal position or bad foot posture and Bam! you get the sting. It sucks when that happens on just a little drop. I don’t know how to really avoid that ankle sting. I’m not going to wear a restricting brace because I need to be able to flex my ankles for proper riding. Maybe it happens to the young kids to and it’s only the old guys that complain about it.
I almost don’t want to answer here because my answer may jinx me somehow. I’ve been cycling lots since I was 24 years old (21 years ago). Unicycling in the last 6+ years only. I have never ever had knee or ankle problems other than injuries from crashes. Make sure your knees are warm enough, don’t overdo it, stretching may help. Those sound like good ideas, but I don’t do ANY of them - I just ride. Someday I expect to start having problems somewhere and will then start being more careful I guess. Sorry this is no help at all…
—Nathan
Since you are 15 you might have Osgood-Schlaters disease. This is an overuse injury that results in inflamation/irritation of the shin bone just below your knee. I’d see a doctor.
To explain what might be going on I have to describe how bones grow. When babies are born their bones are mostly cartilage. They aren’t really bones as we know them because there is very little calcium in them. The long bones quickly begin to deposit calcium in the middle and end caps, but the two regions of cartilage between the middle and the end caps stay soft. It’s these zones that grow as the kid gets older. In a 10 year old the cartilage zones are just thin plates that separate the bony shaft from the hard end caps. When you go through adolescence the surge in sex hormones (either testosterone or estrogen) causes the cartilage to grow rapidly, but the calcification process increases even more rapidly. This is the famous “growth spurt.”
It’s over when the calcification process consumes the cartilage growth plate and your long bones become one piece of calcium.
So what is Osgood-Schlater’s disease? There is a major growth plate in your shin bone about an inch below your knee joint. This is also where the patelar tendon attaches. The patelar tendon holds your kneecap over your knee when the quads pull on it. When you bend the knee under load (pedaling, for instance) the growth plate is under tremendous stress. With all the growing and calcification that goes on in adolescence this stress may be too much and it can start growing funny. You don’t want that because then it might misalign your knee joint for life. Like I said, I’d see a doctor and get a professional opinion. I think they need to take an x-ray or something to do a proper diagnosis. My little brother had this when he was 15 and had to spend 6 months in a cast to let his bones rest. (I think the Doc just wanted to make sure he didn’t cheat and play soccer again.)
The other possiblity is that you’ve got the same muscular imbalance that I had when I was racing. The teardrop muscle above your knee on the inside front of your thigh isn’t as strong as the muscles on outer front of your thigh so the patella is pulled to the outside and tracks poorly. This one is simple to fix if you’ve got the discipline: sit in a chair, put a sandbag or other weight on your foot, and straighten your leg. Hold it out as long as you can, then let it down. Rest a little bit and repeat 5 times every morning and evening. Again, don’t just take my word for it. Go see a Doc first. Don’t neglect your knees! They’re really useful.
Good luck,
Tim
the sting, that’s a good thing to call it. I’m not big on drops meaning i don’t seek them out on purpose but with trials riding i find myself regularly dropping three feet+. you probably have gotten good at it having discovered that you don’t like the sting. i’m getting much better at it by pointing the balls of my feet downwards and absorbing to flat. with that i get no sting. i expect that eventualy i won’t even think about it.
i also find that Muni produces less joint ache, just ordinary tired muscles.
lucky you. i generaly have just ridden as well and now find myself having to admit that i need to just think about it a little bit. keep it up though, you’re doing soething right.
john
I sat here reading this and then began doing exactly that while reading this thread. Just a suggestion, combines the enjoyment of reading the board and exercising all at once. I gotta remember to do it more often.
I have been doing drops @ 2’ and I have been landing flat footed on the pedals. I did this thinking I would minimize the ankle sting, that John mentioned. Turned out, I injured the area that is the arch of my foot. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I could barely walk this morning. I stretched it a bit and took some Mobic and that seems to have helped. I can’t take Ibuprofin, it makes me light headed. NOt fun.
I will have to go back and work on the drops at lower heights and work on technique. I also may have to raise the Psi, because I was bottoming out everytime.
I found that lowering the seat for obstacles has reallyhelped, and raising it for on the open trail has helped as well. It might be inconvenient to switch the height, but if it keeps me riding, what the Heck.
I find that the rides on Muni weekends are good for the knees because you end up stopping so much to play on parts of the trail. It allows a break on the knees. Stretch, before moving on and I can ride farther, than if it was just continuous mileage - thats when the knee pain sets in.
I have learned to stop and rest, stretch and play, then move on.
No heavy duty mileage for this “Cat”.
How soft are the soles of your riding shoes? If the shoes are too soft then drops can indeed hurt the bottom of your feet.
I had to add Dr. Scholl’s Advantage Sport insoles to my AXO/661 Dually shoes because the shoe sole was too soft. The Dr. Scholl’s inserts have a plastic piece to support the arch. That plastic piece just happens to be in the right spot to keep the pedals from hurting the bottom of your feet when doing drops. With the new insoles, drops do not hurt the bottom of my feet at all.
Rod-
Shoes make a BIG difference in foot comfort after drops. If I wear the flat soled Airwalks that I commute by Coker with for drops it hurts my feet like crazy. High arched, stiff running shoes make a HUGE difference. Now I use those in combination with ankle support that has a stiff arch plate which does it all.
I have been doing the leglift excercises as well but I use either a piano or a Volkswagen instead of a sandbag. Sandbags are for sissies.
I hope you’re using a concert grand, because my Mom uses a compact, apartment size one.