The missus and I ended up going out to Pipestone yesterday afternoon and got in a ride outside! It was great to get out on a real bike as opposed to sitting on a trainer. The weather was good, the scenery was awesome and the therapy for the soul was even better.
As usual, the views of the Tobacco Roots were amazing although I would have thought they would have had more snow on them.
We cut our ride a little short due to my rear wheel having come loose a little. In getting the old single speed ready for the ride, I inadvertently forgot to tighten the nuts on the rear wheel and they of course came loose a couple of miles in which meant I had to ride carefully without doing anything too technical so my wheel would not fall off...The rear brake was not working either (due to the wheel not being tightened up) so it made for taking some extra caution in the snow/ice/mud. All in all it was still a good day to get out and enjoy our unseasonably warmer weather.
The knee held up well on the single speed on Sunday which was a little surprising (pleasantly so) considering that I had a wheel with an old cog on there which made for a tougher ratio than usual. I was running a 33: 17 and the knee felt good, and the legs felt decent too. Granted it was a short ride but it is better than the alternative. Once we got home I decided to compare my shoes and cleat position with the spinning shoes I use on the trainer. It is a good thing I did because I noticed a significant difference! There was about 3/4 of an inch in the fore/aft position between the two sets of shoes. The shoes & cleat position were quickly changed and it got my mind to wondering whether that was the source of my ongoing knee pain. I hopped on the trainer and spun for about an hour and to my pleasant surprise there were no pangs of pain. The proof in the pudding was when I woke up this a.m. and the knee was still feeling good and relatively pain free....maybe this was the AHA moment! The irony is that I had tweaked the cleat position about a month ago hoping it would alleviate the source problem. As it turns out, it was....but the adjustment was just not nearly enough considering it was only adjusted a couple of millimeters.
Ultimately it will take a couple of weeks before confirming the theory but it is a good start. I had not been able to really hammer on the cranks/pedals with much resistance so I think the tell-tale sign will be once that happens than the knee still feels good. Me thinks it will be a gradual easing into mashing gears though....
As usual, the views of the Tobacco Roots were amazing although I would have thought they would have had more snow on them.
The knee held up well on the single speed on Sunday which was a little surprising (pleasantly so) considering that I had a wheel with an old cog on there which made for a tougher ratio than usual. I was running a 33: 17 and the knee felt good, and the legs felt decent too. Granted it was a short ride but it is better than the alternative. Once we got home I decided to compare my shoes and cleat position with the spinning shoes I use on the trainer. It is a good thing I did because I noticed a significant difference! There was about 3/4 of an inch in the fore/aft position between the two sets of shoes. The shoes & cleat position were quickly changed and it got my mind to wondering whether that was the source of my ongoing knee pain. I hopped on the trainer and spun for about an hour and to my pleasant surprise there were no pangs of pain. The proof in the pudding was when I woke up this a.m. and the knee was still feeling good and relatively pain free....maybe this was the AHA moment! The irony is that I had tweaked the cleat position about a month ago hoping it would alleviate the source problem. As it turns out, it was....but the adjustment was just not nearly enough considering it was only adjusted a couple of millimeters.
Ultimately it will take a couple of weeks before confirming the theory but it is a good start. I had not been able to really hammer on the cranks/pedals with much resistance so I think the tell-tale sign will be once that happens than the knee still feels good. Me thinks it will be a gradual easing into mashing gears though....
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