Shoe position+knee pain... for MTB riding?

O.K. just finished winning a 24 hour mountainbike race with my awesome team----but my knee is killing me! Only my left, and I'm clipped in right I thought!! Any suggestions on what I could do to help it? Ice? Special Exercises? How do you find the sweet spot?

Shoe position+knee pain... for MTB riding?
Congratulations on the win!





Pity about your knee. I think you should do two things:





1 If this is persistent, get some advice from a good sports physio or a specialist doctor. It doesn't sound within the normal range of post-ride aches and pains.





2 Change your pedals for a set with more float - both frogs and eggbeaters are good in this respect. Maybe even consider returning to platforms. Try a few vigorous training rides on platforms and see if this cures the problem.





If you have the typical woman's wide pelvis your knee joints will be inwardly rotated to a greater degree than some (straight up and down) women and most men. You require the maximum floatability because the anatomical relationship in the length from hip joint to knee joint causes a lot more rotational movement of the long female femur.





Don't risk your knees, you'll spend more than half your life regretting it. I speak from experience. I'm a lifelong mad-keen cyclist. Now I'm in my mid-50's a ride every day with clicky knees and a dull, precisely bounded pain somewhere in the medial side of my right knee joint. Getting up stairs is painful for me and sometimes so acute I think my right knee is going to give way. Its a heavy price to pay when I still have maybe 35 years cycling left in me.
Reply:ice, rest, if not better in 5 days go see an orthopedic doctor, u might need pt
Reply:For my knee problems, it was a combination of asprin, FlexAll, and a heating pad that seemed to work the best. To try and prevent the knee problem again, check the position of your left cleat. What may be happening is that you are trying to heel in or heel out and do not have quite enough float in the cleat position to do so. This means you are trying to twist your heel to what is your normal position and can't because the cleat binds it. If you have a tendency to heel in (closer to the frame) turn the nose of the cleat to the right side of the shoe (looking at the shoe from the top). when it is clipped in, the cleat is straight with the pedal but the heel of the shoe is turned in closer to the frame. If you heel out (heel away from the frame) then angle the cleat's nose to the left to shift the heel out.



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