I’m about to leave on a drizzley 4 hour drive over to Mountain View to meet up with the other organizers and get the final details worked out on a big IMBA work weekend/trailbuilding school at the end of this month. I would have left already, but, I had a doctor’s appointment. Along with the excitement that comes with entering the DK200 comes the revelation that I’m going to have to address the nagging foot/leg pain that I’ve been getting on long rides. “Long” in this case used to mean 4 or more hours, but, even after taking a month off, the problem is creeping into the 2-3 hour range.

That’s not gonna fly.

Last summer, I visited a local orthopedic doctor’s office. The foot specialist there was incredibly rude- he told me that my shoes were probably too tight and that it wasn’t worth my time or money to diagnose any further. I told him that’s not the case (I wear my shoes large and barely buckled), and he grudgingly ordered an EMG/Nerve Conduction Study that turned up normal. I didn’t want to go back to him, so I gritted my teeth and did what I could to avoid the issue.

I also visited a structural integration therapist (partially because of the car accident, partially because of the foot/leg pain). I definitely felt amazing as a result of her course of treatment (if you’re an athlete, I’d highly recommend it), but it still didn’t do much for the fact that my left outer two toes felt like they were about to explode off of the end of my foot on long bike rides.

With my impending hours of saddle time, I decided to go to Campbell Clinic (the same place I went for treatment after being hit by a car). I saw a sports medicine doctor last night, and he had several ideas of what if could be, and referred me to a different doctor (I get the vibe that they work with each other a lot like how two great mechanics will pass a troublesome bike back and fourth to bounce ideas off of each other). He found through ultrasound that the bursa under my left sitbone looked inflamed. However, he wanted to totally rule out other issues in my back and pelvis before calling that the solution. So, I’m scheduled for an MRI this Tuesday.

I still feel like there’s something wrong in my hamstring (which seemed to be what the first doctor was thinking), but, I trust doc #2, and I actually get the feeling that, while neither of them has an exact diagnosis at this point, they’re actually interested in starting the process of eliminating the things that it’s not. I should know more when I go back for the MRI results next Thursday.