Strange bicycling injury in my upper calf muscle- behind the knee- the backside of the leg. Very tight.?

Question

I have an old knee injury that keeps me focusing on my cadence. My cadence used to be 95 - 105. I think as a result of that I have a very strange injury somewhere around the upper part of my calf and where it meets the ligaments and tendons (????) on the back side of my leg. Kind of directly behind my knee on the back of my leg- not the knee.

It is tight when I pedal my bicycle. Feel it a bit when I walk or run but it is really tight - even borderline painful at moments.

I have since lowered my cadence to maybe 80 - 85 and have been going to my wife's chiropracter who does the "Adjustment Release Tension" for a lot of runners, but I am not a runner. To her credit she does a lot of triathletes.

I have gone to her once already but am really noticing that this insury does not want to go away.

Has anyone else experienced similar injuries? What have you done to make it better? Not bicyclcing is NOT an option here at all.

Answer 1

Try some yoga stretches.  I really like this Hardcore workout I found on Bicycling.com.  The first part is all stretches, and the second part is a strength-building workout.  I like that it's tailored to cycling.

Answer 2

most any back of the knee problem has to do with over stretching the hamstrings. many reasons for it, bending over a lot like when doing a lot of yard work etc. On the bike if your saddle is too high this is common and won't go away.

Forget the back cracker. See a sports med. or Ortho Doc. They know what they're doing.

Answer 3

i have not had this problem, but it may help if you stretch before you go ride, it may help loosen up you leg muscles