I have arthritis in my left ankle from a shattered heel many years ago. In fact this is why I took up riding as an adult, it hurt too much to walk or run.
Any way what I have found is that I get a comfort zone for lack of a better term. Right now that zone is about 35-40 miles of hills and 50-60 on the flat. To extend that comfort zone I have to stress my ankle a bit. So I will start riding 40-50 miles of hills until that gets into my comfort zone. Then lather, rinse, repeat.
One thing you might want to check is how high your saddle is. I see a lot of recreational riders with their seat way too low. You want your knee to be almost straight when your foot is at the bottom of the pedal stroke.
Pat or BFF (or others, too), what are you thoughts on weight lifting and how it affects both biking and running? I’m definitely more of a runner, but a stress fracture in my foot along with an injured tendon in my ankle/foot this summer has killed my running, and severely limited my biking. I’m getting close to the day of getting to get rid of my walking boot, but I’ve picked up a 1-month gym membership because I’m just feeling Blah all the time and I’ve been restless. I lifted a lot when I as in high school, so I have a good idea of what I’m doing, but are there any lifts that are must-do or must-not-do for runners and cyclists? Would you suggest keeping the membership once I’m running again?
And Pat, the tendon injury is a partial longitudinal tear. My doctor said we’d discuss that more once the bone has healed, but are there any supplements/vitamins that you’d recommend to help that heal (glucosamine, since it’s mentioned above, perhaps)?
Thanks in advance!
How can I be absolutely sure that my bike is properly fitted for me? I bought a 27" bike, and I’m 5’10" tall. I had the saddle adjusted yesterday, so that’s a lot more comfortable, but I want to be sure. I also want to be certain that I am cycling as efficiently as possible… how do I know if I am?
Good to know on both counts. Thanks. I’ve heard of glucosamine but wasn’t sure it really worked. I’ll pick some up this afternoon.
Also, in light of what you said, I think it may have been the hill climbing I did sitting down and mashing somewhat that caused me problems last week. I had already heard about standing over the pedals, so I made sure to be over the pedals and upright while pedaling standing up. Still, since I hadn’t really done either before I wasn’t sure where the problem was.
Thanks, Rick, but I do have my saddle adjusted so that my are legs nearly straight at the bottom of the stroke.
Another thought occurred to me this afternoon, and that is that the problem might be the shoes I’ve been wearing. I bought some New Balance shoes with “roll bar” technology a couple of years ago which are supposed to be great at bringing your ankles, knees and hips in line. But since I’m a little bow-legged to begin with I’m thinking that bringing my ankles into align may be throwing my knees out of alignment. It only just occurred to me just this afternoon that my knees really started to become a problem several months after I began wearing the NB shoes. I think in addition to trying the glucosamine I’ll try wearing a new pair of shoes for a while and see if that helps.
Thanks again, guys. I appreciate the advice.
There are lots of articles and Youtube videos online showing how to get a proper fit. I Googled “proper fit” and “bicycle” and got this. You could start there.
What really helped me with hill climbs was clipless pedals and shoes.
I’ve been thinking about getting them too. Being able to pull up on one while pushing down with the other has got to make climbing easier. Trouble is, I’ve nearly bitten the dust a couple of times recently, once when I inadvertently got into some thick sand in the middle of a turn, and I know I would have hit the dirt both times if I’d been clipped in. So I’m going to hold off for a little while but I’m sure they’re in my future.
Glucosamine is for cartilage not tendons, sorry. No supplements beyond good nutrition.
I lifted for years as a runner mostly emphasizing high(12-20 reps) and multi-joint lifts( bench press, bent row, power clean as examples.).
For the bike, mostly legs-quads, hamstrings, glutes, Calves don’t really play much of a role but should get work.
I would do some upper body work so you can be comfortable on the bike.
When I bought my current bike, the folks at the Friendly Neighborhood Bike Shop took care of all of that. They’re really excellent about service, though… I don’t know if that’s typical.
When I say almost straight, my saddle is adjusted to that my knee is only 1 or 2 degrees from being locked straight. This is what works the best for me.
When you get clipless pedals you will fall 2 or 3 times while you learn. Then it becomes second nature.
(Hint, ride in a park next to the grass and practice so those falls are on grass)
Same here. For all intents and purposes my leg is straight when the pedal is all the way down. There’s just a very tiny bend in my leg, virtually unnoticeable if I’m in jeans.
Even when you’re accustomed to them they can be tricky though. I was riding with some of the local bicycle club guys last weekend and as one of them glided by in the parking lot I asked him a question about his Camelbak. He stopped to talk to me about it but for some reason unhooked his right foot and then tried to put his left foot on the ground. He managed to unhook his left one at the last second, and, between his frantically hopping sideways and me running up to catch him, we averted what could have been a nasty fall on gravel-pitted asphalt. He was a pretty big guy too, about 6’3" and 280 lbs, and he would have landed hard. I’ve talked to several people too who simply forgot to unclip at stoplights and fell over.
As for myself, I’ve already fallen twice, including once where I landed ribcage first on a concrete curb. Oddly enough, having survived those falls in pretty good shape has made me less concerned about falling. I know now that I can do it and come out okay. So I’ll probably be moving up to clipless before long. Thanks for the advice though, riding next to grass first makes good sense.
You just sort of learn to roll into a fall with your shoulder and you usually come out okay. The fun ones are where you go over the bars and your feet don’t unclip so you’re tangled up on the ground.
Learn to always unclick and put down the same foot every time. That will prevent what happened to your friend. For me it is my right foot. Without thinking I unclick my right foot whenever I slow down to under a few MPH. Really it does become automatic after a very short learning curve.
Either that, or you prove that a hamster is smarter than Bart Simpson. (smile)
I estimate I’ve done perhaps a quarter million kilometers on a race bike in my life time. I’m 49 now and I’ve been doing the sport full on since I was a teenager. Most pros clock up over 25,000km a year, so it’s not hard over 30 years or more.
I tend to forget most people aren’t 99th percentile in that regard. But yes, a lot of stuff becomes absolutely 2nd nature, to the point you’re not even aware you’re doing it anymore. There are times you might be on a long country road, amongst the sugar cane, with a slight tailwind and you’ll be ripping along for 10km at a time until a dog unexpectedly runs out and in an instant you’ll be taking evasive action without even noticing.
What’s understood as common knowledge in cycling is the smooth spinner concept. If your belly is kinda small and it isn’t getting in the way with the tops of your thighs when you’re in your optimal riding position, theoretically your hips, legs and ankles should be moving like a smooth swiss watch with barely any discernible movement in your upper torso. Some people rock and bob about like a fishing float, but realistically that just means you’re not set up right. We like to refer to guys as being real smooth pedallers, the sorts of guys you can ride right up close behind just 3 or 4 inches from their back wheel, for mile after mile, without the slightest hint of danger.
Those are the guys you just live to train with. The bike and they are one unit. Like a smooth swiss watch. You can trust those guys with your life. And the ulitamte compliment is when they pay the same compliments to you.
Being smooth on the bike, at high speed, and making it look easy, is the ultimate goal.
I dunno, the guy didn’t really fit me for the bike when I bought it. I actually had to go back a few days later and get the saddle adjusted. I feel like the guy took me for a sucker. I asked him to total up the final bill so I would know how much everything was. I decided to buy, then when I brought him all the accessories, he “forgot” to add a lot of them to the final bill I based my decision on. He didn’t offer a lot of advice… he just took my money and showed me the door. I was underwhelmed by my experience.
Cycling clothes are for people who will be in the saddle a LONG time, not the average person just cycling recreationally. Chaffing shouldn’t be a problem for the average person. It’s when, like my neighbour, you are training and on a ride that lasts six hours, that you want the shots with the chamois pad in the crotch. I have worn cycling jerseys as a beginner on 20 mile rides because it’s honestly pretty awful to climb a tough hill, then come down the other side to freeze because I’m wearing sweat-soaked cotton. That was a mistake I won’t do again.
I will admit, I now appreciate mountain biking shorts though. They look like regular walking shorts, no spandex and not tight, but they are made of wicking materials and have flat seems inside. I appreciate them so much since I started taking spinning classes and ended up with a blister in my nether-regions due to the regular seams in my regular shorts.
But just going across town and back, I usually wear regular t-shirts and shorts.
I wear proper shorts any time I’m on the bike, but I usually only wear a jersey if I’m going to ride more than 20 miles. After an hour, a jersey is a lot more comfortable. I wear cycling socks anytime I wear shoes now. I hate cotton socks.
Correct. Same as in a car - upshift for flats, downshift for hills.
Congrats on the success so far!
cheers
I just wanted to give a small warning, your ass may be sore, but watch out for your prostate, bro. That will take some serious damage over time, try not sitting square on the seat when coasting or resting, etc. I personally practice sitting on my lower leg (one or the other), I’ve always got a ‘gangsta lean’ when riding. This isn’t hard to do (easy for me, I’m a bit of a flashy cyclist: “look ma’, no hands!”), but it’s harder if your bike is the proper height for you, seeing as how your legs should be barely off the ground, making things slightly more top heavy and so forth. Just my advice, not everyone will agree, most don’t even realize this is an issue (until they’re running to the bathroom every 20 min. in their 40’s and wondering why), but it’s your crotch, I’m just telling you about it :).