TOUR DIVIDE 2014

[aschuhmann]

Well here's a bummer of a question for everyone... I've been having some knee pain on my past few rides, which really threw a wrench in my spokes last weekend as Marshall and I rode portions of the Kokopelli (Marshall did a nice write up of this ride on his blog.) Think'n I went off the rails on the "Over"train... I've RICE'd it for a week, and rode a paltry flat 14 miles today. No significant pain, but it was there... Tonight the knee is definitely sore. More RICE...

Fit wise I've adjusted cleats, moved the saddle up/down forward back ward and reverse looking for a sweet spot, but I think I've just overdone it. (Rode a 200 mile tour of Boulder County's singletrack with 30k feet of elevation gain two weekends ago. While awesome at the time, thinking it may have been a bit stupid now...)

I'm starting to get pretty concerned as race day quickly approaches. How long should it typically take for tendonitis to resolve itself? Is there anything else I can be doing in the meantime? I don't want all of my fitness to go out the window just before the race, but at this point I'm weary to get back on the bike... Swimming? (GAG!) Advice?

-Andrew

[Marshal]

No single/ easy answer to knee pain.  Yrs ago one thing that helped me was moving my cleats back.  I have to dermal out the my shoes adjustment slots to get them back far enough. Totally changes pedal motion and takes some getting use to-- but I have less knee issues as a result

Luck in getting your knees back on track

[BobM]

Well here's a bummer of a question for everyone... I've been having some knee pain on my past few rides, which really threw a wrench in my spokes last weekend as Marshall and I rode portions of the Kokopelli (Marshall did a nice write up of this ride on his blog.) Think'n I went off the rails on the "Over"train... I've RICE'd it for a week, and rode a paltry flat 14 miles today. No significant pain, but it was there... Tonight the knee is definitely sore. More RICE...

Fit wise I've adjusted cleats, moved the saddle up/down forward back ward and reverse looking for a sweet spot, but I think I've just overdone it. (Rode a 200 mile tour of Boulder County's singletrack with 30k feet of elevation gain two weekends ago. While awesome at the time, thinking it may have been a bit stupid now...)

I'm starting to get pretty concerned as race day quickly approaches. How long should it typically take for tendonitis to resolve itself? Is there anything else I can be doing in the meantime? I don't want all of my fitness to go out the window just before the race, but at this point I'm weary to get back on the bike... Swimming? (GAG!) Advice?

-Andrew

Best of luck, Andrew.  The obvious suggestion of course is to have it examined by a Sports Medicine professional if possible.  Knowing for sure the cause of the pain is critical to resolving it.

[mtbcast]

The obvious is icing. It won't hurt and may help. If you've been riding the same position with no issues  until this big push I'd say take some time and ice it often. IANAD, however, and seeing a good specialist is always the best thing.

[sherpaxc]

Try riding with some flat pedals/shoes combo.  You may have to lower your seat a hair.  Sounds crazy, but it helped me.  That and some rest.  Dont worry.  If you are truly fit, you're not gonna lose much by resting.  Good luck.  It sucks I know.

[tanman1337]

I wouldn't be too worried about fitness at this point, you are either ready or not by now. No need to try cramming in something that may make the actual issue worse. You will not get out of shape before race day...guaranteed. I'm having a ton of knee pain too. My bike fit person pushed my saddle further back and I went to 170mm cranks instead of 175's. So far it has helped a bit, but they keep getting sore. I'm trying to experiment with those small bands that go underneath the knee cap and are meant for patella femoral syndrome or "jumper's knee". They aren't too bad for just wearing around, but can be kind of annoying while pedaling. Anyway, I'm just gonna go with it and hope that the issues resolve themselves. I'm really going to listen to my body and not go out too hard too fast on this one

[EDMountain]

re: Knee pain.

Rest and ice. And when you do go out and ride again (on the TD or elsewhere)...TAKE IT SLOW, especially on the hills.

[ChrisE]

whatever happened to 'letters of intent'?  It is always interesting to read them and get an insight into the characters in the run-up to the start

C

[aschuhmann]

So my wife spoke to an ortho doc at her work, and he advised I DO NOT ride anymore until the date of the race. Yeesh... He said that rest is more important at this stage, with 20 minutes a day on the trainer to keep things loose, no resistance. (More trainer! And summer is just amping up! Ughh!!!!)

I'm sure I'll lose some fitness, but I know that it will be minimal at this stage. My legs are strong. I'm more worried about gaining weight due to my larger appetite and not being able to burn any calories!! And how can I not bike for a MONTH!?! This is going to suck...

My wife finally gave me the go ahead to drop the big bucks and get a professional fitting done as well, now that the ortho recommended it. (Guess she had to hear it from him and not me...)

This is about all I can do I think. Hopefully this will get it resolved and I will be in relatively good shape to ride to Mexico with everyone! If not, I'll be lucky to make it out of Montana...

[aschuhmann]

whatever happened to 'letters of intent'?  It is always interesting to read them and get an insight into the characters in the run-up to the start

C

If interested, you can read my letter of intent here.   http://singletrackstories.com/2014/02/

I posted on the TD website too, but not sure if anyone is reading them there?
-Andrew

[BobM]

So my wife spoke to an ortho doc at her work, and he advised I DO NOT ride anymore until the date of the race. Yeesh... He said that rest is more important at this stage, with 20 minutes a day on the trainer to keep things loose, no resistance. (More trainer! And summer is just amping up! Ughh!!!!)

I'm sure I'll lose some fitness, but I know that it will be minimal at this stage. My legs are strong. I'm more worried about gaining weight due to my larger appetite and not being able to burn any calories!! And how can I not bike for a MONTH!?! This is going to suck...

My wife finally gave me the go ahead to drop the big bucks and get a professional fitting done as well, now that the ortho recommended it. (Guess she had to hear it from him and not me...)

This is about all I can do I think. Hopefully this will get it resolved and I will be in relatively good shape to ride to Mexico with everyone! If not, I'll be lucky to make it out of Montana...

Andrew - has the doc actually examined you?  I would take the advice with a grain of salt if he's just speaking in general.  More importantly, does he know what kind of "race" this is?  It's hard for me to imagine that doing NO riding for 3 1/2 weeks followed immediately by 110 - 130 mi/day with hellacious climbing and no rest days will be good for that knee.  Anyway, just my 2 cents. Again, best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!

[ChrisE]

Cheers Andrew,

They used to publish them all on the TD website bt it seems no more.  Shame is that's the case

C

[dream4est]

Just got my Passport today!!! I am so that guy pushing all his chips to the center of the table while saying "All In" in Vegas at the WSOP!!!!
Lets just hope my hand is good and not like a 2/7 unsuited!!!

About knee pain I got this to add. Short stems and really high bars and really high aero pads seem to be working well for my knees but you lose a little overall speed. IMO reaching over the knees with weight for extended periods of time is brutal. Most cockpits are designed for climbing speed on short rides. I seem to avoid knee pain with a short stem riser bar setup or equivalent but seat height also plays a crucial role. I am still a couple millimeters from perfect on the seat height. I feel a little low now that I moved my cleats back.

[aschuhmann]

Andrew - has the doc actually examined you?  I would take the advice with a grain of salt if he's just speaking in general.  More importantly, does he know what kind of "race" this is?  It's hard for me to imagine that doing NO riding for 3 1/2 weeks followed immediately by 110 - 130 mi/day with hellacious climbing and no rest days will be good for that knee.  Anyway, just my 2 cents. Again, best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!

No he has not observed me. It's simply advice, but qualified advice, so I am taking it with some reservations. My wife has explained the magnitude to him, so he has an idea. He's right that if I go into this thing without it resolved I will not last. Better to give ample t time to heal properly, to fit the bike properly, and hopefully I'll be good to go. After a fitting, and maybe a couple weeks of light spinning on the trainer as he recommends, if I feel 100% I'll venture into a bit more riding. At this point only time will tell... A lot of effort to be out before I begin...

[THE LONG RANGER]

I can only give you anecdotal encouragement, but I was having knee pain up to and into the first day of the TD in 2012. Went away after day #1. For me, it was my old saddle being out of whack, and the new one being perfect. Little adjustments in your bike can make big differences to your body's happiness.

[blurltd]

This happen to me too and my race plans are out! I am now touring the route and have extended my days off to 45 days (long story I how got the time off). Anyway, I'll see most of you guys before the grand depart since I already have everything booked. I too, over trained and ended up with IT band issues. Been off the bike since March and slowly back on it now. All I can say is positive thinking, stretch, stretch and foam roll. I now have to add a Tiger Tail Foam Roller to my kit and massage the sh*t out of my legs every day. Where is your knee pains? Top of the knee, outside, inside?

If you want to chat about this offline, hit me up with a personal PM. No need to fluff this thread with my pains.

On a side note. If anyone is looking to tour this route around the same time as the grand depart, hit me up. I'll be tackling the route at a slower pace.

[Marshal]

Just got my Passport today!!! I am so that guy pushing all his chips to the center of the table while saying "All In" in Vegas at the WSOP!!!!
Lets just hope my hand is good and not like a 2/7 unsuited!!!

About knee pain I got this to add. Short stems and really high bars and really high aero pads seem to be working well for my knees but you lose a little overall speed. IMO reaching over the knees with weight for extended periods of time is brutal. Most cockpits are designed for climbing speed on short rides. I seem to avoid knee pain with a short stem riser bar setup or equivalent but seat height also plays a crucial role. I am still a couple millimeters from perfect on the seat height. I feel a little low now that I moved my cleats back.

bingo--classic set up for long multi-day races while pedaling a fully loaded bike up long climbs--might not be right for Andrew at this late date but this general set up is what works for many --knock on wood and all that but this type set up has all but eliminated my former/common overuse knee issues

[Marshal]

Oh, one other comment—it seems to me a lot of the faster TDR racers (less than 19 days crowd) run a more classic XC, lower and more forward/aero, position –I attribute this to their greater overall fitness and flexibility levels—but what works for a semi-pro level racer is not necessarily what’s best for others…….

[Marshal]

whatever happened to 'letters of intent'?  It is always interesting to read them and get an insight into the characters in the run-up to the start

C

Mathew Lee mentioned he reads each and every one submitted to the old TDR web site.  I think I know why, but truly would only be only guessing as to why they are not "published" in a official manner

That said I can think of no reason we can't "self-post" our own here on this forum

[PhotoJB]

Mathew Lee mentioned he reads each and every one submitted to the old TDR web site.  I think I know why, but truly would only be only guessing as to why they are not "published" in a official manner

That said I can think of no reason we can't "self-post" our own here on this forum

I would be more than happy to one up the idea to post a letter of intent. If anyone wants to email it to me - jeff@photojbartlett.com, I'll make sure it winds up on my blog/website http://www.adventurefreelancer.com. It'd bring plenty of people around to the scope of the race and the motivation behind our riding suicide.

That said, I need to keep pouring over the maps. I am behind schedule with some planning, ahead on my training, and on par with my kit. Just need to figure out the water situation :-)

I should also be a Debbie-Downer but there is gonna be snow in Canada unless something changes in  a hurry. The spring melt is 2-3 weeks behind schedule at this point. We need some solid rain and above freezing nights or things might get interesting.

I was also in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks last week. Teton - where the route goes - was mostly without snow along the roadways, but Yellowstone was still buried (this coming from a Canadian ski bum) It makes me wonder what some of the sections just to the west might have in store.

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