About a month ago I began getting a dull pain in the muscle that is located on the back of my leg, directly below my knee. The pain usually comes on a few after after a ride and is most noticable the next day. I usually take a couple of days off riding until the pain goes away, but as soon as I ride again, it appears. I have never had this pain in my left leg. It is not super painful, it kind of feels like a tight, sore muscle. It is more aggrivating than anything else. Any ideas or suggestons?
Sounds like you might be hyperextending your hamstring. Is your seat too high? There should be a slight bend in your leg at the bottom of your pedal stroke. If your leg is straight your seat is too high.
That is exactly what a coupld of my riding asked when I described the pain to them. My seat it not too high - it allows me to have a slight bend in my knee at full extension.
Behind the leg directly below the knee sounds more like its related to the lower leg rather than the upper leg. If its either tendon behind and to either side of the knee (forms the "knee pit)...it would be a hamstring issue. If its more along the centerline of the leg, it could be that its connected to the use of the calf muscles...I'd check to see if your shoe-pedal connection is aligned. Sometimes that can cause pain behind the knee by using otherwise underused portions of the calf muscle.
I had this issue a couple of years ago.. after a hard season of riding lift-assisted DH, the same dull pain (more of a discomfort actually) set in right behind the knee, in the upper calf area. I had no idea what to make of it, as it didn't go away for weeks. I got an MRI of the knee, and got the all-clear from the doc. I took some anti-inflamatories for about a week, and rubbed BenGay on the upper calf area. The pain slowly subsided and gradually went away over the next couple of weeks. I haven't had any problems since.
