Wonky knees - CycleBlaze

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Wonky knees

Mike Ayling

I am a 1942 model and seem to be doing better than others on this forum

About 30 years ago I was in too high a gear on a sudden steep pitch and twisted my knee tearing the meniscus. This was repaired with an arthroscopy.  About ten years ago that knee became very painful but the orthopaedic specialist said the only option would be a knee replacement if the pain persisted. He said it might go away which it did and referred me to a physiotherapist who told me that as there was no remaining cartilage I should strengthen the muscles above and below the knee to keep the bones apart. I do lying down leg raises both with my foot in the normal upright position and with my feet turned outwards. I do heel raises and squats and lunges. I see the Physio every six weeks and he massages my quads. So far all is well. A side benefit of all the exercises is that my hill climbing has improved although I do have an ebike if a very hilly ride is on the programme.

My main ride is my Thorn Mercury with Rohloff and with a twist of the wrist I can drop four gears when faced with a sudden slope.

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1 week ago
Graham SmithTo Mike Ayling

Mike glad to hear that a physio alternative to surgery is working.
And that’s a  good tip about avoiding high gear on  sudden steep climbs. I recently met one of these unexpectedly in the Royal National Park. I was on my fully loaded Bike Friday.  

Locals call that piece of road ‘The Wall”.  20%.   As tempting as it was to ride it, I walked.

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1 week ago
Mike AylingTo Graham Smith

Good decision Graham.

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1 week ago