Sore quads, normal?

unixnerd

Having a bit of a problem of late with sore quads.

I'm 42, 10.5 stone and have been slowly building my cycling up of late, I managed 160 miles last week including a 60 mile trip over Drumochter at average of 17mph on my fairly heavy tourer. On hilly 20-30 mile rides I do near to 20mph average, sometimes better. I try and go out 2 out of every 3 days to get a rest day and I eat a really good diet.

Anyway, on all three of my bikes (road, tourer, mtb) I'm suffering from sore quads after a while. I just run out of steam and end up going a bit slower. I don't think it's bike position unless all three are wrong (not at all impossible!). I don't suffer from much post ride pain but even after three days off this week (weather / work / family) I got it again today half way round a 30 mile fast loop. Normally starts on steep hills or after a long hard slog into a headwind.

I tend to have a cadence of at least 70, normally 75 or a little more. Could be better but it's taken me years to build up to even that. I find spinning up hills is ok to begin with then the same pain sets in.

I'm hoping to do my first century this year and I think this will be the sticking point as everything else is fine.

I'm guessing I just need to train harder and work through it, unless anyone has any bright ideas? Maybe I'm expecting to much.

ut_och_cykla

probabaly an 'effort' issue. Try to use easier gears for a while even if it means your speed drops and see how it feels. Could just be that your cadence is too low when your realy trying hard.
But it could be a bike fit issue too - saddle height is a likely culprit but if its too high or too low - dunno! Hope you get some better answers

AntiShaver

Worth a read of Steve Hoggs article

wheeler585

I had almost the same problem, it could be a number of things! Saddle position could be to far back,cleat position to far back, saddle could be to low. Could be a lack of iron or vitamin b in your diet, as your quads are linked to your small intestine somehow, which points to your nutrition intake. Or it could be that you not stretching enough after rides, stretch your quads and hamstrings for a good minute each time, not 10 seconds like alot of people do, repeat the process twice. Or maybe your just to fooooked, take a few days off and chill out a bit, you will never progress and get stronger if you dont rest.

P.s also try a few protein shakes, or l glutamine, works wonders for me!

wheeler585

pps ha, your position on all your bikes maybe the same, but i bet the geomatry of your frames differ alot, so what im saying is that every bike should be individually set up to the spec of the frame. Might help to go and be proffesionally set up on your bike, as if your over stretching, you can cause some serious damage to your knees and muscles

unixnerd

Your link to Steve Hoggs's article worked wonders. My cleats were in the middle of their range, moved them back 8mm to the limit of their travel and I'm stunned by the difference. Did a 60 mile loop around Aviemore and Dalwhinnie today with no quad pain! Just normal tied legs.

Can't thank you enough :-) I've had them in the wrong position since I started using SPDs 5 or 6 years ago!

In answer to the other poster, yes I'd love a proper bike fitting. But I can't find anyone in Scotland who does them.

AntiShaver

Good to hear it helped. Its worth reading some of his other further reading on his site. There's also a good few articles of his that google brings up.

kfinlay

unixnerd - fitting at the Tri Centre in Edinburgh - £35 and very good. Bit of a journey for you but if your still having problems then well worth it.

Eddy S

unixnerd wrote:

But I can't find anyone in Scotland who does them.

Also from the http://www.bikefitting.com website:

AURACYCLES 27 OSBORNE PLACE AB252BX ABERDEEN 07799568634 WWW.AURACYCLES.COM

TBC ADVENTURE LTD 30 RODNEY STREET EH74EA EDINBURGH 01315572801

CleHitezRida

Hey I have this same problem. I read that Hoggs article but can't quite understand what he was saying. does he recommend that you reposition the cleat so that it is however many mm's PAST the pedal axle? that's what i got out of it. If conventional wisdom says center of ball of foot directly over axle, and fore&aft of seat until knee is in line with ball of foot @ center of pedal axle, what is the reasoning behind adjusting your cleat so that its several mm's past the center? Can anyone clear this up?

I mostly ride XC MTB, and have been having major soreness in my right qaud. after thinkin about it, i realized that when I'm up off the seat( which is a lot of the time), my right leg, which is dominant, is always the one forward, and as such is holding my weight up. does anyone else have this kind of issue? i feel some soreness in my left qaud but not nearly as much as my "leading" leg.

hope someone can help....