Re: Human foot problem

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Carol Barrett wrote:
 For
> the last year, I have had problems with the "ball" of my foot while riding.
> After about ten minutes, it starts to ache, then burn, then my outer toes
> go numb. As you can imagine, this is *very* uncomfortable when you're
> riding 50+ miles! I about died on my last ride.

Carol, I will be the first to admit my AERC miles is limited (505), so I
can only tell you what *my* experience has been, which was very similar
to yours---numb little toes that disappeared when I got off.  This may
not help you, but I found that I was riding so that my foot kept
slipping to the outside of the stirrup and the little toes were getting
sideways pressure on them---not from the bottom of the stirrup, from the
vertical pieces.  I started wearing Thorlo socks with better padding on
the outside, and glued some neoprene (a cut-up Cashel cushion) to the
stirrup.  Plus, I paid more attention to foot position, especially when
I started getting tired.  And finally, I discovered that I was buying
shoes a half size too small, and although they felt okay walking, during
a ride my feet swelled and put more pressure on the toes.

Anyway, I hope this helps just a little.  In any case I can sympathize
and hope you find a solution. :-)

Susan G