So, I have a painful reoccurring issue. Its at the top of my calf, about 3″ down from the bend at the back of my knee. If I push my thumb in theres a ligament or something which has a very definite painful spot – hamstring maybe?

It goes away after 1-2 days of the bike, and comes back after about an hour of riding getting progressively more painful, is a recent thing – last 8 weeks – I didn’t have it before. I just had 4 weeks of the bike due to illness and its come straight back. No changes to my bike(s) setup.

Any ideas of what the issue is any how I might treat it?

go and see a physio that understands bike people

i have a similar calf pain issue sometimes, just the left calf, it’s nothing to do with my legs but a tightness in my back that was finding a weak spot in my leg to pop out, a couple of days of some specific stretches and it’s sorted

that’s just an example, it’s probably something completely different for you, go and see someone

I had a pain like that in my calf when I was jogging……a few minutes before my calf muscle tore!
I would suggest a small muscle tear that you keep aggravating…..
I ain’t no doctor either, save your money on a physio and RICE and or calf compression sleeve until the injuries healed?

Cat AIDS the bad type.

Plantaris strain?

Go and see a msk physio. Doesnt matter if they know the first thing about bikes a soft tissue injury is a soft tissue injury.

PS if it’s your hamstring 3″ below your knee you’ve either had tendon transfer surgery gone wrong, or you’ve got a badly broken leg – that could be the cause of your pain..

I had something similar sounding last autumn

“pain” never became significant but I did no riding for 3 weeks anyway. Still a little bit noticeable but no pain

..then I did a really small jump/long step over a puddle while walking away from work

I swear I even heard a soft “pop” when it went and christ it hurt – took me 20 minutes to get to the car, 600 yards away

I assumed I’d snapped a tendon or something and was all set for a loooong recovery. By day 3 it was back down to very painful and I was limping around the house again

had some physio a week or so later; first time for me. By then it wasn’t really painful, just uncomfortable. Physio hurt a bit but mostly in other parts of my legs where there were very obvious hotspots.

Pain fully gone within about 3 weeks. Had a couple more physio sessions afterwards and no recurrence

No idea what it was, and mine was clearly fairly trivial but, Christ, it hurt. I wondered if I’d popped a baker’s cyst – still do

You need to find (or rather find someone who can) out if it’s hip down, knee down, or ankle up issue 🙂

Most likely is ankle up

Any Achilles’s symptoms, past history of any same sided leg or lower back injury/pain etc?

Nope.

its definitely posterior knee pain. There seems to be a tendon or ligament the runs between the two calf muscles at the top and this is clicking, and pressing on it hurts.

Did an 85 mile ride today the second half of which was painful. The pain is when my leg is in extension – at the 5 to 7 o clock position and worse the more power I put through it aka climbing. I noticed this on the Turbo last week so lowered my saddle 5mm just in case I was overextending (all my bikes are the same height after a bike fit, have been for 2 years with no issues).

After a hot shower whereby I concentrated the heat on it for quite a bit, some walking around its eased up a fair bit.

The only back issue I have is a constant tightening of my left trapezius which is caused by my shoulders out of alignment after the right one was pinned and plated in 2010 or thereabouts.

Any ideas?

It’s difficult without seeing you

And, really, I’m not trying to be pedantic, but you did say the pain was 3″ down from the back of your knee, in which case it would not be cannot be described as posterior knee pain. Flexing the knee is when you bend it – ie bringing your heel and foot closer toward your thigh/buttock

Which knee is it?

You could have a tight hamstring which is being ‘pulled’ by the tight tapezius/lats via the pelvis…

My best advise would be go see an decent osteopath

Amputation, it’s the only safe way to stop it spreading. Either that or as suggested above find somebody who knows bodies and bikes. I can suggest a good bloke Warwick way if that helpshelps.

Had this amongst my many many aches and pains. For me it was singlespeeding, pushing too big a gear too hard from cold. Saddle was a little high on that bike too. It comes back occasionally after heavy sessions. I think but can’t prove my left leg is ever so slightly shorter than the right. The foot is definitely ‘bolted on’ slightly different due to past injuries with hamstrings and ankles.

You could have a tight hamstring which is being ‘pulled’ by the tight tapezius/lats via the pelvis…

Aye right. Pull the other one.

I had something similar when my cleats were too far forward and basically I was making all my power with my lower leg not thigh.

Depending how bad it feels, look carefully at your position and if in doubt see a sports specialist NOT a GP (unless your GP happens to understand sports injuries – ain’t necessarily so)

You could have a tight hamstring which is being ‘pulled’ by the tight tapezius/lats via the pelvis…

I know they say treat proximal to the injury but this is pushing it a bit far, isn’t it? 😉

I’d say wanmankylung has the most plausible explanation so far (plantaris) but either way you’ve prob got some injury through over use and you’re making it worse by overloading. Complete rest is not good, but it sounds like you’re going too far the other way and damaging the tissues further. Get yourself to an msk physio or even a good sports massage therapist for treatment and advice

‘Treat proximal’ did you mean distal?

It could well be a plantaris something or other, but why is it being irritated??

A sports massage person would almost certainly help, but for a thorough root cause diagnosis you need someone who looks at the bigger picture.

My ‘shoulder issue down could be a possible differential’ was illustrative of that 🙂

‘Treat proximal’ did you mean distal?

Nope, I’m pretty sure that treating proximally will be far more effective than treating distally.

A sports massage person would almost certainly help, but for a thorough root cause diagnosis you need someone who looks at the bigger picture.

A qualified healthcare professional such as a physio would be doing just that.

My ‘shoulder issue down could be a possible differential’ was illustrative of that

It’s also illustrative of complete pie in the sky nonsense.

Nope, I meant proximal. As in, if the injury is acute you can still treat proximally. Not relevant in this case, but it was only meant as a light hearted comment, apologies for the flippancy 😉

Ok not 3″ but an inch from the inside “crease” of my knee. Googling plantaris and yes that’d be in the right place.

Plantaris fans (i.e. obi wanmanky) – I had a google when I did my calf but decided it couldn’t be plantaris rupture because it reolved so fast (acute pain largely gone over the course of a weekend and just sore by the end of a week)

?? a meringue

I should have mentioned – had 10 mins with a Rugby physio this morning and he thinks it’s the Plantaris also.