In article <[email hidden]>,
Jean said:"E. Willson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
| Since the weather has become so cold I have avoided riding for several days, several times. I
| notice that after four or five days of not riding my knee hurts. When I start riding (ten miles
| a day) again, the pain goes away, and stays away for four or five days. After four or five days
| without riding the pain comes back. The pain seems to be under the kneecap. Does this happen to
| anyone else? Anyone know what is going on?
Quoted message said:Ernie, I have the same problem.
Many years ago, I managed to screw up my knee (torn cartiledge). I had surgery ...and then I had
to have more surgeries to try to fix the damage done by the first operation. For the next 5 or so
years, I had to wear a knee brace all the time. Then I started riding a bike. To my amazement and
glee, I was able to abandon the knee brace. That was roughly 19 years ago. And to this day, if I
start having knee problems like pain and/or instability all I have to do is go for a short bike
ride and the problems disappear afterward. I don't know specifically why this happens - I'm just
glad that it does happen...
I should preface this by saying I'm not a doctor, but I have done some amateur knee surgery
as a hobby*.
Pain under the kneecap is typically diagnosed as patellar tendonitis, which means that the groove
interface on the end of your thighbone that the kneecap rides in is inflamed, usually because the
kneecap is not tracking right. A common cause is asymmetric muscle development for the muscles that
control the kneecap, which some people are just prone to.
The usual treatment for PT is specific muscle-building exercises. When I had that, I had to do these
little leg lifts with light weights on my feet. It sorta comes and goes for me, but is essentially
nonexistent now. However, I am somewhat particular about cleat positioning and _very_ particular
about gettting my seat height and crank length correct.
If I had to guess, I'd say you had that issue, and it just happens that your bike position is so
good it provides the necessary exercise for your underdeveloped muscles. The obvious answer is to
buy cold-weaher riding gear, but a better answer might be to see a physiotherapist and do what they
tell you. Fixing the problem permanently might make you happier.
*This is a really big lie.
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] sfu.ca~rcousineOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club