Caring for Your Knees

Knee injuries are one of the most common problems experienced by long-distance bike racers, which is not surprising given the demands placed on this joint. The spring time is one of the most likely times of the year to experience problems, for two reasons:
1) Base miles are done and the intensity is really ramping up. Depending on where you live you could be racing every weekend by early April. This additional strain can push knees past their limit.
2) The sun is poking out and riders are getting sloppy about keeping the knees warm & toasty.

To help you avoid being sidelined, here are some tips to keep your knees happy and healthy. This assumes that you have the basics like bike & cleat fit figured out, as well as cadence & pedaling form.

1) Keep your knees covered below 65 degrees. Yeah I know, this is warm enough to go outside in shorts & a T-shirt. Doesn't matter. Knee joints don't get the same blood flow that your muscles get, and they have little to no insulation on them. You'll have time to work on your tan in the summer when it is warmer.

2) Use a high quality warming rub on the knee and surrounding muscles to help you stay limber & aid blood flow. My favorite is Born #1, which absorbs nicely into the skin & has Arnica, an herb used for years by trainers to help keep muscles & joints limber. I also like Freddy's Choice Start Up Oil, although it does not have much heating effect so I only use it above about 55 degrees.

3) In wet & cool racing situations, use a heating oil lieu of leg warmers, which get heavy & wet in the rain (if you are chicken legged like me they also wind up around your ankles). When you see European pro road racers in cold conditions with "bare" legs, they are in fact loaded up with these heating rubs. My favorite is Freddy's Choice Warm Up Extra, which goes on as a thick oil & does not really absorb in completely. It will keep your legs cooking for hours. An easier to find alternative is a thick layer of Vaseline over a coat of Ben-Gay or Icy-Hot, but you should really use this as a fallback. Now your starting to see why shaving your legs is a good idea, aren't you? Having these coatings on your legs will collect a lot of dust & can be messy, but in a racing situation it is well worth the hassle. For day to day training stick with the knee & leg warmers.

4) Make sure your cleats are in good condition, too much wear can cause undesirable foot motion, leading to knee problems. In fact most knee pain starts as a foot or hip problem, and the knee is just where it shows up.

5) Take time to stretch periodically on the bike once you get warmed up, and stretch after the ride as well.

Your knees take a lot of use & abuse as an ultra-MTB racer, so you need to give them the proper TLC. With proper care they will be able to handle whatever demands you put on them.