William H. O'Hara said:I end up riding quite fast. I know it
is quite inefficient. I am wondering
if going to a short crank versus 172.5
might be a good idea.
I thought that the general trend for track cyclists who reach high rpm
was to use shorter cranks. I would try to cut back some on the rpms to
<=100 first, though.
Quoted message said:I'm very tempted to try the speedplay.
You might want to look at the Shimano SPD clone pedals available from
Nashbar, a lot cheaper than Speedplay, to see if they help. Float makes
cleat adjustment less critical- it allows you to setup your shoes less
than perfectly without creating stress.
Quoted message said:I tend to cruise around 100 rpm alot.
At 80 rpm my knee really hurt bad
on a 5 mile trial yesterday. My current
plan is stay off for two weeks. I have
a physical scheduled in two weeks.
I'm thinking at the point to go back to
50 miles a week.
I don't think you necessarily have to quit altogether. If you have
found that the pain comes on the upstroke, then try riding without
pulling on the pedals; there's a lot of argument about whether pulling
on the pedal stroke is of any value at an aerobic output level. I
personally don't feel that it is for me under most circumstances.
I think the key to recovery from injury is finding out what causes the
pain and trying to adjust your riding so that it is pain free. If you
don't solve the cause, it doesn't matter how long you rest, you'll be
doing the same thing that caused the injury in the first place.
Quoted message said:I had rushed myself up to 100 miles a week
and perhaps it was part of my problem. I
should have done more time at 90 miles a week
and 80 miles a week.
I don't know about that. It may not be the weekly mileage, but the
length of the 60 mile ride. Four 25 mile rides is not going to be as
stressful as two 20s and a 60, where the 60 came without much prep.
OTOH, spread over four rides, the difference between 90 and 100 is only
2.5 miles per ride.
The result of stepping up mileage too quickly should not generally be a
repetitive stress injury, it should be tired muscles.