Tendon pain from distance unicycling with the guni

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.


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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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