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The Knee Will Get Better

03.04.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

I was wondering there for awhile. Wednesday was just as bad, if not worse, than Tuesday. But my doctor has evening office hours Wednesdays, and I got in to see him.

The verdict: No meniscus tear, but rather, a “frictional effusion.” In other words, fluid on the knee caused by rubbing. That’s what made it impossible for me to bend my knee.

The prescription: A “steroid blast.” Prednisone, in large doses last night, the same amount spread out over the day today, then declining amounts over the next four days until the pills are used up. That, combined with heat.

So I took the big Prednisone dose last night, and wrapped my knee in a heating pad. What a difference! By the time I was ready for bed, I was able to walk with almost a full range of motion in the knee — not limping with the leg held out stiffly.

It ain’t perfect. I did the heat wrap again this morning before leaving for work, and it was good. But a day on the job — walking around, up and down stairs, which in some cases are unavoidable — took its toll. I’m stiff-legged again.

But I’m home, with the heat wrap out again, and tomorrow is my easiest work day of the week. So I’m looking forward to a good day.

But the bummer is the weather. Spring has decided to come to Texas. It was 68°F (20°C)  today, and the forecast looks equally good over the weekend. But I’ll be off the bike. I’ll make the sacrifice now, in order to be able to ride on my schedule for the rest of the year. It’s driving me nuts.

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Categories // Injury Tags // Injury, knee

My Knee is Killing Me!

03.02.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

A while ago, I wrote about the sorry state of my cleats. Finally, over the weekend, I did something about it. I bought new ones.

That night, I sat in front of the TV, diligently swapping out the old, worn cleats for the sharp, bright new ones. I even took time to trace the outline of the old cleats with a magic marker, just like Jeff Hemmel suggested.

Sunday, I did a 33-mile club ride on rolling hills. It was my first time on this route this year, although it’s one we do often. I found that the winter has taken its toll on me — by the time I finished, I was spent.

Monday morning, I woke up and rolled out of bed — and recoiled at the sharp pain in my left knee. Holy cow, did it ever hurt! And throughout the day, it got no better. Walking up and down stairs really was a chore. Downstairs, worse than up.

The biggest problem was, I couldn’t get comfortable with the knee regardless of its position. If I stretched it out straight, it started aching after a bit. If I bent it to relieve the ache, that worked — for about two minutes. Then that position became uncomfortable.

Monday night, I went home and grabbed my left bike shoe. I think I knew exactly what caused the problem. I walk with my feet splayed out a bit. With the old cleats, I positioned the left one so the left foot pointed a bit outwards when clipped in. For some reason, the right foot is just fine pointed dead ahead. But when I installed the new ones, I guess I didn’t pay close enough attention to positioning the cleat so that the left toe would point out a little. Dumb.

This morning, I woke up to more pain in the knee. If anything, it seemed to get worse during the day. I posted my dilemma to my club’s bulletin board, and got a lot of helpful responses, but only one that really addressed my problem. A doctor suggested taking Ibuprofen at the maximum dose. If I could tolerate it, he said the pain would subside after a couple of days.

When I got home tonight, I did exactly that. The Ibuprofen does seem to help. As I write this, I have less pain in the knee than I’ve had, but I’m not out of the woods yet. We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.

The worst case scenario is, I tore the meniscus in my knee. That’s happened before, in my other knee, about 16 years ago. I had arthroscopic surgery then to deal with it. I hope to avoid another round of that now.

What’s worrying me is that I might be knocked off the bike for awhile. I’ve got the MS 150 coming up next month, and now is the time I have to start building my mileage. A number of other organized rides are on the horizon too, rides that I’d like to take part in. I’ve already decided to skip Pedal Thru the Pines, a wonderful hilly ride through some state parks near Bastrop, Texas this weekend. It would kill me to miss more.

So for now, Bike Noob is out of the saddle. I’m pretty grumpy, and I’m not making things easy on my wife. “For cryin’ out loud, you”re 59!” she told me this evening (my birthday is Thursday). “Stop pretending you’re 29.”

Can’t help it. Biking has made me feel a lot spryer than I’m probably entitled to.

I’ll keep you posted on my recovery.

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Categories // Injury, soreness Tags // cleat, Injury, knee, soreness

Car back!

02.28.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

One of the first things I learned on my first group ride was to call “Car back!” if a car approached the group from behind.

The warning served two purposes: to let everybody know a car was around, and to tell everybody to get into single file to let the car pass.

So why is it that more and more, I hear “Car back!” or call it myself, and the group blithely continues along, blocking the car from passing?

If you’re riding in the right lane of a multi-lane road, the call is unnecessary. Cars can pass in the other lane.  But if you’re riding on a two-lane road, it’s a different story.

Make way for the car. It’s bigger than you. In a tangle, it will always win.

And I can think of no quicker way to antagonize drivers than not moving out of the way.

One of the more amusing cases I witnessed was on a club ride, when a big pickup was held up by our group — a couple of riders were riding side-by-side, chatting. The pickup pulled into the oncoming lane to roar past, but the passenger rolled down her window and started shouting the Bicycle section of the Texas Transportation code – the part about riding single file.

Problem was, another big SUV was coming at the pickup, and had to dive for the soft shoulder of the road when the pickup couldn’t get back into its own lane fast enough. Amusing, but dangerous. And even though the pickup was too impatient in that incident, you know those folks are not going to be kind to cyclists when they come across them in the future — even if in single file.

What I’ve noticed is that most of the time, bikers are engaged in a conversation when the “car back” warning comes. It must be a really important conversation to not break it off, get into line, and then resume it when the car passes.

Lots of bikers seem to have an “us versus them” mentality when it comes to cars. Bikes are greener than cars. They take up less space on the road. To heck with them.

I don’t buy it.

Under state laws, bikes are vehicles. We have certain rights when it comes to using the road. We also have certain responsibilities.

The next time you’re with a group and someone calls, “Car back!” do what you’re supposed to do. Cut off the chatter and get into a single line. It won’t hold you up at all, and it will do its small part to ease relations between us and motorists.

Picture from the fine Commute Orlando blog. Lots of good safety information there, although set in a more urban environment than I talk about here.

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Categories // Safety Tags // etiquette, Safety

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