Why would a knee suddenly start to hurt?

[Aunt Maud]

I'm five foot four if I breathe in and stretch.

So in the LR you're sitting in a "I'm at the dinner table" position and in the Ka you're in the "sofa" position.

Dinner table - push down on the accelerator pedal which allows you to rest the weight of your foot on the pedal.
Sofa - push against the pedal and hold your foot up with your leg and strain the knee a little, but for a long period.

I may be talking bollocks however, but I reckon it's related to the way you sit in the Ka if it's only just come on since you changed from the LR and you've not changed anything else.

[snail]

I think you're correct, definitely.

Although with the LR my heel doesn't touch the ground when I am driving. I have to literally hover my leg in the air and exert pressure on the accelerator. I have amazing quads, probably through driving rather than cycling!

I am hoping the physio will offer exercises and advice. And I might need to look at cushions and changes in the Ka. It's one of those cute little vans that were made for BT and I don't want to get rid; I've only just got it. But something needs to change.

[Kim]

I've gone from driving a Landrover Defender 110, to a Ford KA. And doing long (200+ mile drives) in the new one. It appears to have *possibly* contributed to a muscle strain (as hastily diagnosed by ex-physio mother in law) but I will see how it goes and maybe get a second opinion from local sports physio if it doesn't clear up.

Ah, there you go.

Physioterrorism mostly got my underdeveloped-and-overworked-foot-stabilisation-muscles-I-only-use-while-cycling-because-I-always-stand-on-the-other-leg under control, but a notable exception is driving.  Just holding the foot still at a given angle for long periods leads to painful tension if I'm not careful.  In the absence of cruise control, I find wearing stiff soled shoes (indeed, cycling shoes are pretty good) helps.

[Kim]

Although with the LR my heel doesn't touch the ground when I am driving. I have to literally hover my leg in the air and exert pressure on the accelerator. I have amazing quads, probably through driving rather than cycling!

IANA physio, but to me that says that you're using big leg-moving muscles to try to do a small foot-positioning job.  Analogous to moving a computer mouse with your shoulder rather than your fingers and wrist (sometimes necessary if your wrists are fubar, but not otherwise recommended).

Sounds like you need to wedge something on the floor under the pedals to support your heel, or otherwise improve the pedal ergonomics.  I discovered that my leg was fatiguing and I needed to do this in a van halfway up the M1 once.  Only thing I had available as a heel support was my left foot, which was quite bruised by the end of the journey.

[Si_Co]

I drive by wedging my accelerator foot against the wheel arch, the only car I haven't been able to do this in properly was a Ka. Vans are another problem, especially LHD.

[snail]

UPDATE!

So the car thing was a co-incidental red herring in the end.

Although I am right handed, I am left footed. I've always favoured my dominant left leg. Indeed, when my right leg went "ping" at 10km into the ride, I simply rode the rest (another 50km) using my left leg. Simples.

However... the upshot of having a "hulk" leg on one side and a weedy feeble leg on the other is that finally, after the years of being unbalanced, the inner quad just gave up - small muscle tear at the bottom of the vastus medialis. I must have put too much pressure on it too early and it finally decided not to play any more.

The physio was very impressed at the quads on my left leg. They are also surprisingly balanced for a cyclist - she said the outer ones tend to develop more than the inner ones. However my right leg is a poor excuse for a leg. The outer quad is ok but the inner one is rubbish and I would have been heading for kneecap misalignment problems quite soon.

So now I have exercises to strengthen the right quads. It was just one of those things.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. Thought I'd update in case anyone searches for a similar thing in the future and wonders what the outcome was...

[Wowbagger]

Glad to hear that you have a diagnosis and a plan to deal with the problem.

Are you, perchance, the first example of a forummer morphing into their forum name? It's a feature of gastropods to have only one foot. Is your stomach on the move as well? 

[hellymedic]

Glad to hear that you have a diagnosis and a plan to deal with the problem.

Are you, perchance, the first example of a forummer morphing into their forum name? It's a feature of gastropods to have only one foot. Is your stomach on the move as well? 

Surely nearly all members of yacf are like a Napoleonic army?

[Sergeant Pluck]

So now I have exercises to strengthen the right quads. It was just one of those things.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. Thought I'd update in case anyone searches for a similar thing in the future and wonders what the outcome was...

Out of interest, what are the exercises that have been suggested for the inner quads?

[snail]

I have always been a snail!

The exercises are tediously simple.

1. Stand on my right leg (the one I need to strengthen) and bend left leg slightly out of the way. Start to bend right leg and squat down - only a few inches. And back up. Keep quad tight, put the effort in. It's not a full squat. Just enough to engage the muscle. I thought it was useless till I looked down when wearing shorts and saw that, indeed, it's the inner quad doing the work here.

2. Exactly the same but as a "heel drop" by standing with the right leg on a step and left leg out straight, dangling, and bending the right leg. Again, just a few inches, enough to engage the muscle.

3. Doing quad stretches properly, ie, grabbing right heel and holding it up against my bum but keeping knees together and "pulling the pelvis forward and up towards the belly button" which makes no sense until you actually try it.

All these exercises have been performed constantly and assiduously throughout the day. When on a Work From Home day, I do them whenever waiting for the kettle to boil (ie every 30 minutes!) and when out cycle training, I stand on the pavement doing them as the kids weave up and down the road.

I ran a Breeze ride this morning - 35km, somewhat hilly (1100 feet) - and so far, so good! I need to pay more attention to overall fitness and maybe stop assuming that I can just jump on a bike and spin out 100km without thinking. Gym membership beckons.

My husband is EXACTLY like a Napoleonic army. He's taking part in the 200 year commemoration of Waterloo next year. I am considering cycling from Waterloo (Liverpool) via Waterloo (London) and down to Waterloo (actual Waterloo) to watch the 2-day event.