Ebikes and the Unfit Very Heavy Rider - A Cautionary Tale for Newcomers

[Phil Dryden]

Nice to get back to the original thread posted by the OP!! Great to see you are still at it, Bob. If you have had a bit of a lay-off for a couple of weeks, and are now trying for a longer distance you will feel it in the legs. Especially the knees and the thigh muscles immediately above the knees. If its just an aching soreness I wouldn't worry too much - it will wear off after a few more rides. If its a sharper pain it could be a tendon/cartilage, or similar and get it checked out. Cycling is known, though, for being generally kind to knees unless there is pre-existing damage or accident injury. The more consistently you are able to get out even for fairly short rides, the better. Just don't try too much too soon, especially after a layoff. Great for riding this weekend!

 

[Bonzo Banana]

So, got up a silly o'clock to guarantee empty roads and managed my longest ride so far of 7.3 miles according to the Bafang C961 display (although all the maps/routers say 7.8 miles...) – don't laugh! I could have gone further but was worried about the gradient at the end of the return leg. Luckily most lights were with me so not too much trouble with hill starts. It was my first ride for nearly two weeks and was surprised I didn't collapse at the end of it as after earlier rides. Knees are feeling very sore though so may just go for a short ride tomorrow. Still a very long way off riding at normal times when roads are busy.

7.8 miles is probably more than the majority of the world's population have ridden a bike. A huge number never ride a bike except as a child for short journeys. My mother rode a bike many years ago and I think she said only about 3 or 4 miles maximum. The most I've ridden a bike in a day is about 45 miles, 20 miles each way with a bit cycling around the destination. That was Yeovil to Dorchester. I've got plans for a trip Yeovil to west bay (20 miles), west bay to weymouth (16.5 miles), weymouth to Dorchester (9 miles) and Dorchester back to Yeovil (20 miles) so about 70 miles all done in little sections. Maybe a 7am start and back in the evening. If I manage to do it with some ease I plan to extend it to include a diversion and ride up to the top of Portland and have a look around. That could add another 10 miles or so but add some terrible hills too.

 

[FatBob]

Nice to get back to the original thread posted by the OP!! Great to see you are still at it, Bob. If you have had a bit of a lay-off for a couple of weeks, and are now trying for a longer distance you will feel it in the legs. Especially the knees and the thigh muscles immediately above the knees. If its just an aching soreness I wouldn't worry too much - it will wear off after a few more rides. If its a sharper pain it could be a tendon/cartilage, or similar and get it checked out. Cycling is known, though, for being generally kind to knees unless there is pre-existing damage or accident injury. The more consistently you are able to get out even for fairly short rides, the better. Just don't try too much too soon, especially after a layoff. Great for riding this weekend!

Don't worry, Phil, I welcome everyone's input to the thread, honestly. I'm all very new to this so the convos get on to stuff I've never heard of or thought about even if most of it goes over my head!

I've had problems with my knees all my adult life, even when I was a fit slim 20-something. The pain this morning was just soreness and it's mostly gone now so hopefully will be ok for a gentle ride tomorrow. I know somewhere down the line I'm going to have a serious problem with them but I'm burying my head on that one for now.

 

[FatBob]

7.8 miles is probably more than the majority of the world's population have ridden a bike. A huge number never ride a bike except as a child for short journeys. My mother rode a bike many years ago and I think she said only about 3 or 4 miles maximum. The most I've ridden a bike in a day is about 45 miles, 20 miles each way with a bit cycling around the destination. That was Yeovil to Dorchester. I've got plans for a trip Yeovil to west bay (20 miles), west bay to weymouth (16.5 miles), weymouth to Dorchester (9 miles) and Dorchester back to Yeovil (20 miles) so about 70 miles all done in little sections. Maybe a 7am start and back in the evening. If I manage to do it with some ease I plan to extend it to include a diversion and ride up to the top of Portland and have a look around. That could add another 10 miles or so but add some terrible hills too.

Impressed by your distances you travel. Ever done more than 100 miles in a day?

Is it normal for odometers on displays (Bafang C961 in my case) to differ from distance calculated on maps? The C961 data is consistently lower than a range of maps/apps.

 

[helentdavies]

So, got up a silly o'clock to guarantee empty roads and managed my longest ride so far of 7.3 miles according to the Bafang C961 display (although all the maps/routers say 7.8 miles...) – don't laugh! I could have gone further but was worried about the gradient at the end of the return leg. Luckily most lights were with me so not too much trouble with hill starts. It was my first ride for nearly two weeks and was surprised I didn't collapse at the end of it as after earlier rides. Knees are feeling very sore though so may just go for a short ride tomorrow. Still a very long way off riding at normal times when roads are busy.

Keep going mate you will get there. Wherever where is. And kudos for posting about it.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

Impressed by your distances you travel. Ever done more than 100 miles in a day?

Is it normal for odometers on displays (Bafang C961 in my case) to differ from distance calculated on maps? The C961 data is consistently lower than a range of maps/apps.

Like you I am a heavy cyclist so 45 miles is the max I've done in a day but hope to achieve more. I'm recovering from long covid and have some heel pain indirectly related to long covid. So just doing that 70 mile trip will be a huge challenge for me which I'm not quite ready for. I should add the heel pain only effects walking not cycling but you never know if it might kick in with a long distance cycle ride.

 

[GLJoe]

I'm recovering from long covid and have some heel pain indirectly related to long covid. ... I should add the heel pain only effects walking not cycling...

Interesting. What makes you say the heel pain is indirectly related to long covid?

(I've been recently suffering from a similar sounding strange heel pain and have no idea what's caused it!)

 

[DiggyGun]

Interesting. What makes you say the heel pain is indirectly related to long covid?

(I've been recently suffering from a similar sounding strange heel pain and have no idea what's caused it!)

Might be Plantar Fasciitis

 

[RossG]

This is really weird. Just reading through the thread and I see Plantar Fasciitis being mentioned, I too have been suffering with that for a few months now. Maybe it's something peculiar unto ebike riders, you can read about it here..

Plantar fasciitis - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

 

[DiggyGun]

This is really weird. Just reading through the thread and I see Plantar Fasciitis being mentioned, I too have been suffering with that for a few months now. Maybe it's something peculiar unto ebike riders, you can read about it here..

Plantar fasciitis - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

Regular massage helps along with Steroid injections. However, for me a good pair of compression socks and an insole with a strengthened, raised arch significantly helps. Had mine way before I was cycling.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

Interesting. What makes you say the heel pain is indirectly related to long covid?

(I've been recently suffering from a similar sounding strange heel pain and have no idea what's caused it!)

Basically a few months before I got covid I'd done an injury to my feett that caused Plantar Fasciitis due to walking a long distance in poor shoes. Then I got covid at the beginning of 2020 and suffered from long covid from then on. The long covid puts you in a inflammed state with congestion, sore throat etc which in my case seemed to lock in the plantar fasciitis because my body was in a heightened inflammatory state, as my long covid is improving so is my plantar fasciitis. The most dramatic improvement in my plantar fasciitis was when I started taking anti-histamines because of long covid but that also reduced the inflammation in my feet overnight. It didn't cure it but was dramatically better.

 

[DiggyGun]

Basically a few months before I got covid I'd done an injury to my feett that caused Plantar Fasciitis due to walking a long distance in poor shoes. Then I got covid at the beginning of 2020 and suffered from long covid from then on. The long covid puts you in a inflammed state with congestion, sore throat etc which in my case seemed to lock in the plantar fasciitis because my body was in a heightened inflammatory state, as my long covid is improving so is my plantar fasciitis. The most dramatic improvement in my plantar fasciitis was when I started taking anti-histamines because of long covid but that also reduced the inflammation in my feet overnight. It didn't cure it but was dramatically better.

Hope that you make a full recovery from your Long Covid. I caught COVID-19 last year in April 2020 and eventually was better by the November. But everyone reacts differently. Mind you it did it’s best to try and kill me whilst I was in Hospital.

I had PF prior to this, but after having a Steroid injection guided by Ultrasound in November 2019, it had virtually disappeared. However, it had started to re-appear over the last couple of months, but a standard Steroid injection a few weeks ago at the local GP seems to have sorted it.

 

[helentdavies]

I've had PF too. It really is a pain isn't it?
Does anyone get numb feet from cycling? The ball of my foot goes numb sometimes. I assume its the pressure on nerves? I now use a good insole and move my feet around a bit on the pedals from time to time.

 

[GLJoe]

The long covid puts you in a inflammed state with congestion, sore throat etc which in my case seemed to lock in the plantar fasciitis because my body was in a heightened inflammatory state, as my long covid is improving so is my plantar fasciitis.

Ok, that makes sense.
I'll investigate that a little more. I haven't really looked into PF and inflammation as deeply as I should!
Ta.

 

[GLJoe]

Does anyone get numb feet from cycling? The ball of my foot goes numb sometimes. I assume its the pressure on nerves?

Your feet tend to swell quite a bit when they heat up, so watch out in case your shoes are a bit too tight and/or don't have enough 'give'.

 

[Yak]

I think all of us heavier riders are liable to the many and varied foot/ankle/knee/wrist issues out there, sadly. My two are carpal tunnel and ‘hot foot’, which I think is arthritic. My achillies tendinitis makes it difficult to walk but happily has zero effect on riding - yippee! Losing weight will always help - but damn me it’s hard. I feel my ebike is helping me get there though - I made this vid a month or two back:

 

[helentdavies]

I think all of us heavier riders are liable to the many and varied foot/ankle/knee/wrist issues out there, sadly. My two are carpal tunnel and ‘hot foot’, which I think is arthritic. My achillies tendinitis makes it difficult to walk but happily has zero effect on riding - yippee! Losing weight will always help - but damn me it’s hard. I feel my ebike is helping me get there though - I made this vid a month or two back:

Hey I enjoyed that thanks. What bike were you on? Theres some pretty big articulated lorry on those roads. What are the drivers like towards cyclists there?
Good news to hear you've on the recovery road. Well done

 

[Yak]

Hey I enjoyed that thanks. What bike were you on? Theres some pretty big articulated lorry on those roads. What are the drivers like towards cyclists there?
Good news to hear you've on the recovery road. Well done

Thank you! My bike is a 2004 Carrera Vanquish - it’s a very cheap road bike from a bike store chain in the UK I converted with a Yosepower kit. The drivers here are unbelievably courteous, the big lorry drivers in particular. They will cross to the other side of the road to pass, or wait behind you until they can. I‘ve never known anything like it.

 

[GreySpike]

Hi Bob,
Late to the thread as I have only just registered but I just wanted to say be careful about the pain in your knees, and check out your seat to pedal height.
I had to have an operation in my early 20's to remove some of the cartilage in my knees and I have had to be very careful about the knee bend range.
For me, the best position seat to pedal height means that I don't quite get the leg straight under normal cycling. That minimises the knee bend range without the 'locking' that occurs with a straight leg.
It may not be the most efficient but less pain means more cycling.

 

[GLJoe]

<
Bonzo Banana said:
The long covid puts you in a inflammed state with congestion, sore throat etc which in my case seemed to lock in the plantar fasciitis because my body was in a heightened inflammatory state, as my long covid is improving so is my plantar fasciitis.>

Ok, that makes sense.
I'll investigate that a little more. I haven't really looked into PF and inflammation as deeply as I should!
Ta.

For anyone interested, as a followup to this, now a few months down the line:
I think Bonzo Banana was on the right track with the inflammation.
I realised that some of my joints had also started to ache a little in the nights, as they did before I cut out gluten. So I wondered if anything had changed in my diet.
Turns out, it had! I've stepped up the gardening this year, and I've had an excellent crop of both first earlies, second earlies, and now maincrop potatoes! delicious - so I've been eating spuds since May!
You'd think that home grown organic spuds would be super good for you! Well they probably are for most people ... but by a process of elimination, I'm now 99% certain that they give me arthritis like joint pain!
So the last few weeks, I've totally stopped eating potatoes (as well as no gluten!) and bugger me ... as well as my knee pain having gone, it seems my suspected plantar fasciitis has also gone away.

Inflammation. It really is the root cause of Sooooo many diseases.
The trick is finding out what's causing it in the first place and eliminating THAT (rather than taking a drug to simply try and suppress the inflammation itself! which unfortunately is what most doctors do, and what patients have been programmed to expect!)

PS - if anyone wants to explain my 'Spud Intolerance', I'm all ears. I don't think its a nightshade family problem, as tomatoes and peppers don't appear to trouble me (unless its the sheer volume of spuds that gives the problem LOL). First I've ever heard of someone having issues with Potatoes. Sigh. They are one of my garden's most successful crops - and I love eating them!!