Wicklow 200: Ireland's Premier Cycling Challenge

Injury - Bike fit

We are pleased to let you know that Karen Doyle is just back from a very successful trip to the World Cup Track Cycle series held in Beijing, China last week and as promised she writes the following for us as part of our preparation for the Wicklow100/200:

Niggles? Could be your bike fit.

Knee pain is the most common injury experienced by cyclists and one I see frequently in the clinic. Aside from over training or biomechanical issues, one of the most common causes of knee pain that I encounter seems to be bike set up.
If your bike set up is the root cause of your niggle or injury unless you do something about it the pain will not go away and you can end up spending longer off the bike. I would encourage anyone to have their bike fit reviewed as soon as they have niggles that last more than 2-3 weeks before the niggles turn into full blown injuries that keep you off the bike.
For example saddle height, saddle position (forward or backward), cleat positioning all affect knee angle which it itself in turn affects the balance of muscles around the knee. A saddle that is too high can cause
pain at the back of the knee, a saddle too low or forward cause's front of knee pain, a saddle too far back can cause ITB problems as can cleats that are rotated inwards too much. Cleats rotated excessively
outwards can cause pain at the inside of the knee. Considering an average cyclist could turn the pedal 5000 times in an hour and can be out for 3-5 hours or more, something that is only slightly off in positioning can have a detrimental effect on your muscles and joints after 15,000-25,000 revolutions.
Many cyclists will tell me that they are happy with their bike set up, as it was set up correctly for them in the shop, or a more knowledgeable friend took a look and said it was ok, however I have often found that
after getting it rechecked they've tweaked one or two things that made a positive difference to their injury and the time take to get back training. Sometimes our bodies will change which means a former set up that suited once no longer does, and sometimes a fresh perspective may pick out something that was not noticed earlier - two heads are better than one. Also it keeps you off the treatment table!

To contact Karen call her at the Maple Clinic on 01 5441225 or check out her site at: info@mapleclinic.ie
How are your personal goals going in relation to personal fitness and cycling, have you increased the miles and have you entered?
Apart from the contacts on our web sites at
www.wicklow200.ie and www.ivca.info there is a new cycling web site called Sticky Bottle and may contacted at www.stickybottle.com it has a lot of great up to date cycling articles and information, well worth viewing.
Admin team.