Subject: Poor pedaling = sore calves? I'm cross-posting this from the Injuries and Health forum, in the hopes it'll see a little more action here. Any advice for a newbie would be most welcome:
My apologies if this has been covered before, but searching didn't turn up anything particularly relevant. If there are threads out there, please post a link and I'll go away quietly.
I just completed my first mini-sprint this last weekend, and at several points on the bike ride, I felt like my calves were going to go *pop*! This occurred mostly on the hills, of which there were several, but fortunately neither one ever did give out. I thought I might have been pedaling with the pre-clipless technique, pushing only and not pulling, but consciously concentrating on a "circular" pedaling style only seemed to help so much.
I was afraid that when I got to the run, this existing stress on the calves would really be a problem, but it turned out to be a non-issue during the run. If this rings a bell for anybody, do I just need to work on the "scraping mud off my shoes" style, or is this more likely a function of needing to spend more time in the saddle? I'm still pretty much a novice biker, so it might be mostly that.
Thanks,
Bob |