Foot pain

[rob137]

I normally ride fairly short distances 20-50 miles and have never had any pain anywhere. I did 110 this past Friday and by mile 70 my feet were killing me. No blisters or anything like that. They just hurt. Anyone ever had that problem? Any suggestions on how to alleviate it on longer rides?

Thanks.

[eddief]

i'm 55 and think being aged might be related to some sorta arthritic condition in my footsies. My feet don't kill me, but a bit of general ache and stiff seems de regular these days. I think my feet like Speedplay Frogs more than SPD.

[Louis]

Years ago I when I had a pair of Specialized shoes I used to have foot pain on longer rides (say more than 50 miles). It's been so long I can't remember for sure, but "hot foot" comes to mind. I suspected that it was due to the last being too narrow so I switched to Sidis which were a bit wider in the forefoot. (Not the super-wide Mega model) I've never had any problems since and without a doubt, the switch was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Bottom line, make sure your shoes fit you well.

Louis

[rpm]

Since your set-up seems to work most of the time, the conservative and cheapest thing to do is to change one thing at a time, and see what helps. The first place to start might be your insoles--invest in Superfeet or another good mold-to-your-foot insole and see if that makes a difference. After that you could look to change your shoes. Since you got the pain on a long ride, it may be that you need a roomier shoe to accomodate your foot swelling up over time. Be careful of fixing what works, like cleat position, or you could get caught up in one of those cycles where you keep making changes and new things like knees and ankles start hurting.

[cruzroadie]

This is from cyclingnews a few years back:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2004/letters07-26

Hot Feet

I'm 50 years old, 5'8" 175lbs. I ride mostly on the road. I've been getting hot feet after about 20 miles into my training rides. The hotness is mainly on the balls of my feet. Any help on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Tom Locke
Ligonier, IN

Steve Hogg replies:

Is this a recent problem or one of some standing? If it is recent, what has changed at that time? Have you changed shoes, cleats or pedal systems in the recent past?

For instance, I am aware of people who have purchased snugly fitting shoes in winter, only to have them be too tight in summer with the onset of warmer weather and consequent slight swelling of the feet that can accompany higher temperatures for some people.

Assuming none of the above is applicable, the other causes of your problems can be:

1. Shoe too tight across the forefoot or too short in length causing compression of the metatarsal joints and pressure on the nerve junctions in that area.

2. Cleat position too far forward. Make sure that if you mark the centre of the ball of the foot on your shoe, that the mark is slightly in front of the pedal axle with foot forward and crankarm horizontal.

3. Shoe sole that is too stiff or paradoxically, far too flexible. Stiffer is generally better for cycling shoe soles, but there is such a thing as too stiff a sole for some people.

4. Foot misalignment. This is common but usually only affects people in the way you describe, in my experience, if the cleat position in also less than optimal.

I suggest that you work through the above points 1 - 4 if you have had the shoes and pedal system unchanged for some time. If not and something has changed at a roughly similar time to the onset of your problem, get back to me and let me know what changed and so on and I should be able to refine the advice given.