Knee pain - possibly due to cold weather

thedevilchild

***Apologies if this is in wrong thread. I couldn't find the right thread so I thought I would post it here for starters. I know it can be moved to the right place if Mods see fit ***

I have returned to cycling after many years of inactivity and have been making steady progress week after week, gradually getting myself back to fitness.

Yesterday I went out for a ride and my knee gave up on me and I was forced to soft pedal the remaining 10 miles or so to the end of my ride. Everytime I forgot or just tried to ignore it, a sharp pain reminded me and I had to back off.It was extremely cold and I think that may have been the main factor, although I was pushing it a bit as I am in a hurry to regain some fitness so I don't keep getting dropped on climbs.

I am looking for a practical solution to this, bearing in mind I am pretty certain the cold weather played a huge part in this. I was wearing bibbed tights at the time.

Would knee warmers, either under or over the tights be a realistic and practical solution bearing in mind I will be riding 60 odd miles on club runs and 40+ miles on my midweek ride. Or are their any other suggestions. I am hoping to make my mind up on what to buy from LBS before going on club run tomorrow.

sungod

the road->training forum might be a better place, but doesn't matter

while cold might be a factor, it could also be you were pushing too hard too soon, or maybe the bike set-up isn't quite right - saddle height/position, cleat position/angle for instance - as if there is a problem then cold muscles will be more prone to injury

imho back off and rest it until you are sure what the cause was

if you can give more detail of exactly where the pain is, you might get more useful/specific advice

siamon

Frostbite. :shock:

Or the other explanation is that you have overworked your quads and they have contracted and pulled the knee cap out of place. If this is the case you should try a sports massage (administered by a pert young woman).

thedevilchild

The pain is just down from the knee on the outside of the leg where it is bony. If that makes sense to you reading that. I will get it looked at if the problem persists, but will not be cancelling my ride tomorrow.

I appreciate what you say about riding position having an impact with things like this. As I get to know people local to me I am sure I will get advice regarding position. I don't really want to mess with it until then for fear of doing more harm than good.

The main thing I was asking for advice on here though was concerning clothing. What would be the best thing to buy to help prevent further problems caused by the cold weather, from the point of view of a serious road rider. (All bike shops round here cater for commuters).

sungod

you say you were wearing bib tights, if they're winter-grade ones then they ought to be keeping you warm enough once you've been going a while, so it sounds like they might be a bit light for the winter

if you've got bib shorts, you can wear them with leg/knee warmers, once it's down below 3-4 celcius i usually switch to winter bib tights

you can use warmers with tights, but the extra layer of material will restrict movement more and might cause rubbing/bunching at the back of the knee

one option is to get padless bibtights, then you can wear normal bib shorts underneath - the shorts are easier to wash/dry after a ride, so you can usually get a few rides out of the tights before they need a wash

price varies a lot, the more pricey varieties tend to use multiple materials to best suit each area, have a better cut, maybe have special coatings to repel water, and better pads (if they're padded)

i've got some castelli sorpasso with pad, and fluido without, both are very good

look for terms like windproof and superroubaix, they'll often be the warmest

wiggle's website has plenty of choice and reviews, and is easy to navigate, why not have a browse and see what you like the look of...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mens/cycle/road/cycling-tights/

...but check pricing before you buy, other places can often be cheaper