BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Soreness in the meat of your legs or the joints? Do you stretch your quads, hammies and calves/calfs/triceps surae before and after?

When I increased my milage the same problem happened to me, getting my bike re-fit helped.

Mostly in my lower to middle thigh above the knee, but it's definitely not my knee - and no I really don't stretch. Guess I should!

Not properly stretching after you ride has been known to produce painful legs. All the muscles around my knee hurt if I start to get lazy with the stretches.

When i used to run a lot, I used to stretch religiously 5-10 both before (after warming up) and after, but after reading enough articles debating the effectiveness of stretching, I stopped doing it and i can't say I noticed any ill effects.

Specifically for this case: http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2010/08/03/stretching-good/

I experience soreness when I ride farther, faster or steeper than I am used to. I find stretching afterwards to help -- maybe not with the soreness, but definitely easing stiffness. Every body's a bit different...

It sounds like you've been enjoying your bike, italianblend!

Yea, mine does not help soreness (my legs haven't been sore in a long time) but my knees ache if I stop. It almost feels like the joint, but it isn't. It seems to be that the muscles around the joint are really tight. Walking and riding feel good, sitting in a chair for more than 5 minutes hurts. Stretching totally eliminates it.

What kind of gearing are you using? Your pedal strokes should be light and easy, like 60 rpm and up. Many times beginners try to push too big gears. Don't hesitate to use the low, low gears and spin. Think more "Mozarts overture to the Marriage of Figaro", less "Chopin Funeral March". Spin.

Kinda same as salty here: when I ran, I stretched beforehand, and I am pretty sure if i didn't, I would hurt myself, if I recall correctly. I have never stretched before riding a bike. Never had any soreness afterwards.

I am usually in low 3s or high 2s for gear. If I hit a hill I'll go to 1s. Seems like the lower gears I'm spinning too much, so I try for a slower stroke, but if it seems like too much effort, I'll take it down a bit, if any of that makes sense.

Could be a lot of different reasons... bike fit, general fitness level, nutrition, hydration, churning too high a gear. If you're just starting to do bigger miles, you may want to pack the bigger rides in on the weekend & take it easy during the week so you can let the legs rest & recover for several days between efforts.

I am not an expert, by any means, but it might just be soreness/slow recovery. Try taking in some protein after your long rides. Chocolate milk, a protein bar, etc, might be a quick fix, if it is mostly a conditioning problen rather than a bike fit sort of problem.

leg massage

Soreness that develops over the next day or two and can last up to a week is delayed onset muscle soreness and sounds like what you're experiencing. It's normal and caused by inflammation and tearing to your muscles in response to this new activity. It's microscopic muscle damage and is the normal comditioning response to new exercise and not "damage" in the sense of an acutal injury.

You could back off your rides a little bit making them shorter and less intense though you don't necessarily need to rest completely. Just give yourself time to adjust and you will be a much happier rider.

Warm up and cool down seem to help. Streching after seems to prevent some of the tightness and cramping feeling. Massage or rollers can help. An anti-inflammatory like asprin can help you feel better, but won't actually speed recovery.

If you are getting sore, you might want to look into having a very low gear range for the hills we have.

For me, the standard triple chain ring with the lowest gear being 28 F and 32 R is not anywhere near low enough.

Others vary considerably on this, though.

If you walk up the steepest hill on each ride you do, that might help.

Do you use cleats? If you do, the fit is more critical.

For me, taking walks helps with bike-induced (or other exercise induced)soreness Walking is like yoga.

As Tabby says, it takes time.

Have you ever started other kinds of exercise? Did you have similar soreness?

If you start having really dark urine along with the sore muscles (particualrly on hot days), that might be a sign of a muscle problem. If so, drink as much fluid as you can stand (make sure you get enough salt), and talk to your doctor about it.

I started using this foam roller thing after long bike rides and after hockey, both of which really get to your thighs. The beautiful of the roller is that it gets down into the muscle and helps with the soreness. It worked for me immediately.

I used to use a cut up swimming pool "noodle" to roll on for soreness and loosening tight illiotibial bands. Those plastic rolling beads on a stick work pretty well for self massage also.

I always felt mild soreness was a good thing- meant I had done more than usual. But one needs to differentiate between that and injury.

Mick has just been honored "Man of the Year" by the GGCMAA (Granny Gear Cycling Manufacturers Association of America) for his unrelenting advocacy of the third, tiny chainring.

Attaboy Mick!

@ALMKLM Granny Gear Cycling Manufacturers Association

Hey! A granny gear might change his life!

Of course, his soreness is probably a combination of factors. The gear might have nothing at all to do with it, but someone has to point it out.

For some people it's huge. Your locl bike store is unlikely to mention it.

As soon as possible (financially and mechanically), every bike I own that does not already have one is getting a third ring. I don't know why all bikes don't have them. If we want to get more people out there on bikes, we need to make it easier/possible for newbies to tackle hills.

I rode alongside a woman on the Dr. Varacallo ride who had to push her bike up two fairly mild grades on that ride. (Think of the Panther Hollow Trail as it goes under the Parkway.) Without REALLY low gearing, some new people won't even try.

A couple of years ago I bought a nice road bike that I fell in love with, Kona Kapu, not a race bike wannabe by any means, and right away went through the PITA of swapping it to a triple crank, because I actually wanted to ride it around here.

Sunday, went for a ride on a slightly faster, racier road bike, with a double crank, stripped, no rack, no fenders, etc. cause I was missing riding a racy bike. Over a 2 1/2 hr ride, my average speed was 1/2 mph slower than normal on the fully outfitted Kona with the triple. So, take that for what it be.

I grew up in Ohio, so I occasionally miss taking day long rides on a road bike with a 52/42 crank and a 12/18 cog, and not worrying if I'm going to be able to make it home alive. Though I am carrying about 30% more me also.