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.