Tendon pain from distance unicycling with the guni



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siafirede

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I have never had any pain on my tendons near my feet while riding long
distances on unicycles, but I went for a ride on some hilly terrain
with my relatively new geared 29 yesterday and kept it in high gear for
most of the ride. After the 33 mile ride with a lot of ascents and
descents the top of my foot where it meets the leg was killing me. It
is in line with the ankle but on the front, so I am assuming I strained
some kind of anterior tendon in my leg (it isnt in the back where the
achilles would be, it is in the front).

I am curious as to why this pain occured and if anyone has had similar
issues and how you fixed it.

My thoughts are...

1) It could be from a seat height issue (but I don't think this is the
case).
2) It could be from riding in high gear constantly with 125mm cranks
and the force was just too much for me on the climbs and descents.

Any input or ideas?


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My thoughts were in line with #2 above, but just that it was perhaps too
much too fast. Maybe working up more slowly to the effort described is
in order.

Maybe you did, I don't know. :confused:


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I'm very aware of the extra force I have to apply to the pedals when
riding my geared 36er. My quads are especially aware of this. It's like
riding a bike in high gear, something we unicyclists aren't used to if
we don't ride bikes. My legs are getting used to it now...


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siafirede wrote:
> I have never had any pain on my tendons near my feet while riding long
> distances on unicycles, but I went for a ride on some hilly terrain
> with my relatively new geared 29 yesterday and kept it in high gear for
> most of the ride. After the 33 mile ride with a lot of ascents and
> descents the top of my foot where it meets the leg was killing me. It
> is in line with the ankle but on the front, so I am assuming I strained
> some kind of anterior tendon in my leg (it isnt in the back where the
> achilles would be, it is in the front).
>
> I am curious as to why this pain occured and if anyone has had similar
> issues and how you fixed it.
>
> My thoughts are...
>
> 1) It could be from a seat height issue (but I don't think this is the
> case).
> 2) It could be from riding in high gear constantly with 125mm cranks
> and the force was just too much for me on the climbs and descents.
>
> Any input or ideas?



You may be correct in assuming a seat height issue.

When I first started to ride I had my seat a bit too high and was
experiencing the same pain in the same location that you are talking
about. lowering the seat by just 1" made the pain vanish almost at
once. I will assume that in my case my foot was having to stretch in
order to maintain contact with the pedals.

Again with any new activity or change you could experience problems but
if they persist then very likely something must be wrong.


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Yeah I have been riding with the 36 for years and my legs are quite well
adjusted to that and I never really get muscle pain, but the geared uni
does work out the quads and calf muscles more I find.

I don't mind the extra muscle work out, but I am wondering why my right
tendon near my foot is acting up, it really isn't a good sign. I guess
it could be related to the extra muscle input required.

33 miles isn't far enough for me to be affected I wouldn't think (I
guess there were a lot of climbs though). I have done 100 miles, back
to back 60 mile rides, 75 miles, tours in new zealand all on the 36 and
I never had any pain near my foot just minor knee pain, so this tendon
pain is of concern to me.


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Harley wrote:
> You may be correct in assuming a seat height issue.
>
> When I first started to ride I had my seat a bit too high and was
> experiencing the same pain in the same location that you are talking
> about. lowering the seat by just 1" made the pain vanish almost at
> once. I will assume that in my case my foot was having to stretch in
> order to maintain contact with the pedals.
>
> Again with any new activity or change you could experience problems but
> if they persist then very likely something must be wrong.



That is really good news actually since it means the solution could be
simple and others have experienced the pain before.

I will try lowering the seat even more and hope that the pain doesn't
transfer to the knees.


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That's a bummer that you have been getting some leg pain. I wouldn't
necessarily associate it with the geared uni. I actually find the
opposite has been true -- my geared 36'er gives me less leg pain,
simply because I'm not spinning my legs as fast.

corbin


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> That's a bummer that you have been getting some leg pain. I wouldn't
> necessarily associate it with the geared uni. I actually find the
> opposite has been true -- my geared 36'er gives me less leg pain,
> simply because I'm not spinning my legs as fast.
>



by less leg pain do you mean...less muscle pain, less knee pain, or
less irratation/rubbing?


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siafirede wrote:
> by less leg pain do you mean...less muscle pain, less knee pain, or less
> irratation/rubbing?



I mean less pain, everywhere. I don't count muscle soreness as pain, as
that is just muscle fatigue and is normal.

Fast spinning (17-20mph, 125mm crank, non-geared) for long periods of
time cause my right leg to have some pain in the tendon (or ligaments,
or something -- I can't pinpoint where it is, but the inside of my
right leg upper thigh starts to hurt). That no longer happens with the
guni at the same speeds.

I also get less rubbing and irritation in between my legs (but, i still
do get some, so I'm going to work on seat design to solve that).

corbin


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corbin wrote:
> I can't pinpoint where it is, but the inside of my right leg upper thigh
> starts to hurt).
> corbin


Sounds like it could be your sciatic nerve.

This could be aleviated partly by stretching your hamtrings and glutes
more, as well as strengthening your lower back and abdominal muscles.

These problems usually come from those areas being really tight and/or
week, but also can be from poor posture and bending at the hips instead
of the knees when picking something up or puting it down (it doesn't
have to be heavy, it's the accumulative effect).


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If you position your feet on the pedals with the pedal being more
towards the ball or toes of your foot that could cause more stress
where you say the pain is.


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Hmmm, once my pain goes away I am going to lower my seat and see what my
foot position is. I have been riding the same as I have always been
riding (as far as where my foot is on the pedal) but maybe the high
gear is affecting it differently.


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skilewis74 wrote:
> Sounds like it could be your sciatic nerve.
>
> This could be aleviated partly by stretching your hamtrings and glutes
> more, as well as strengthening your lower back and abdominal muscles.
>
> These problems usually come from those areas being really tight and/or
> week, but also can be from poor posture and bending at the hips instead
> of the knees when picking something up or puting it down (it doesn't
> have to be heavy, it's the accumulative effect).



That's interesting! I haven't gotten the pain anymore, and generally it
only happened when I spin *really* fast (non geared). It probably is
due to not stretching enough (I "sometimes" stretch before rides, but
not nearly enough). I have a fairly strong back and abs, so it probably
isn't that (I'm a 5.11 climber, which tends to use your back and abs).

corbin


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corbin wrote:
> That's interesting! I haven't gotten the pain anymore, and generally it
> only happened when I spin *really* fast (non geared). It probably is
> due to not stretching enough (I "sometimes" stretch before rides, but
> not nearly enough). I have a fairly strong back and abs, so it probably
> isn't that (I'm a 5.11 climber, which tends to use your back and abs).
>
> corbin



The pain you describe from spinning fast happens to me when I don't
stretch. It only happens when I am spinning really fast (on the same
set up you explained...ungeared coker 125mm cranks) and it actually
happens in the same place on the same leg, weird. I think that it is a
combination of not stretching and spinning fast with a super wide hub.
My theory (based on nothing but a thought) is that a more narrow hub
wouldn't cause this pain for me since spinning would be a bit more
smooth.

When that happens, I get off and stretch for a good 5 minutes and the
pain goes away for the most part.

I don't mind that so much, but this tendon pain near my foot is of a
little more concern to me. I hope that it isn't just an affect of
using the high gear because then I would have to change my RTL training
back to an ungeared 36. I'll have to do some experimenting once the
pain goes away.


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I have been suffering this pain lately on the top of my left foot. It
aches at night when I am in bed. Using info from the net it appears to
be tendinitis due to overuse. I only free-mount with my left foot and I
have been pushing it a little on my KH29 on the hills so I think it is
old body parts not being up to the strain. Sadly it probably means
weeks of no riding. I'd be glad of a miracle cure.

http://tinyurl.com/yvnabx


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Interesting. Prior to pulling out of RTL, I was training a bunch on a
29 guni. I didn't notice the pain you described, but in the early days,
I definitely noticed more knee pain than I get when riding my ungeared
36. I don't attribute it to the training itself, as I was fresh of the
'Nam tour and in good shape. I attibute it to the more frequent, more
severe back-pressure I was applying to maintain the balance envelope.
I was much more herky-jerky at first, just due to unfamiliarity with
the guni characteristics. The more miles I rode, the less of an issue
the knee pain became.


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