One ‘present’ I received during the bike ride was a knee injury that seems to be worse than I initially thought. My knees had been hurting from day 1 and it got progressively worse. The pain was especially bad in the morning, but normally would get better while riding for a while. But climbing mountains (which is what we did about 50% of the time) was still very painful. However, no reason to give up of course.
I thought the pain (mainly on top of my right knee cap, but also below my left one), would go away after a few days. That’s not the case: when I walked up the stairs to my 7th floor office every step hurt, and I now consider taking the elevator from tomorrow onwards. Yesterday I went for a run, but had to give up after about 30 minutes because my knee was interfering. I think I will take it slow for a few days, I don’t want to make it worse. Right now I can hardly get out of a chair without pushing myself up. If anybody has suggestions what to do, let me know.
I’m more of a runner than biker but
what you have sounds abit like “runner’s knee”. Google this
– ie here’s one ref. that looks good:
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_5/194.shtml
I do knee exercises almost every day
to strengthen the ligaments that hold the kneecap in place and prevent this
overuse syndrome. I assume biking alot can have simlar effects if the
kneecap isn’t held in it’s proper place.
There are doctors in Shanghai, right? Maybe check with a Chinese TCM doctor of your confidence.
Can it be the ‘Miniskus’?
Take care!
@Bill: Thanks for the link, it looks like that’s exactly what I am having. I guess taking it easy for a while and cooling the knee with ice should solve it.
@Suzie: It’s luckily not the meniscus, I had that once before (I ran the Great Wall half marathon with that injury in 2002, not a smart move… I could not run for months after that). I will be in Europe later this week, maybe I will get a second opinion from a sports doctor there. Thanks for your help!
Marc,
Let me get you in touch with one of the founders of the Marco Polo Cycling club (Remko Kramer), he is a pro cyclist and physiotherapist.
And… they run the first commercial CHINESE registered cycling team 🙂
So what better party should you talk to.
Marcel
ps: http://www.marcopolocycling.com