twist and crawl

[hazardharry]

its been a long season with lots of pain. it seems the worst pains are in the hips and lower legs/ankles. being well over 6' with clown sized feet i tend to hurt the lower half more than my noggin. i installed a saddle for getting in and out of the canoe. but the rear thwart still gets my foot tangled now and then. i do not have toe blocks or ankle blocks. just can't sleep well anymore. i was hoping to condition away these pains but the leg is killing me! has anyone been through this or going though it? or just living though the pain for the love of the sport? i am new to sitting in the saddle.

[DougB]

You should play with your outfitting. Most saddles are 8" wide by 8" tall. I last about 5 minutes in one of these. I modify mine to be 9" tall and 9" wide when possible and also install ankle blocks. These small modifications allow me to sit all day. I'm also tall, with size 13's and have zero flexibility to boot. You can find a way to make it comfortable.

[thomsonbytheriver]

Would you perhaps be in the 'Masters' category? I'm finding at the age of 45 that Pains are creeping in and lasting where they never did before. My right ankle is the worst. After a fairly active season, I now have permanent pain and stiffness there. My knees have given me trouble for years. Do what you can with the outfitting, but you may find you will have to grin and bear it. I have a number of boats, both open and decked. The one I used most is my Groove which has a 5 1/2" High saddle. This contorts everything substantially, so I spend alot of time stretching to improve flexibility. That, along with daily doses of glucosamine are the only things that really help. I also switched from 2 thigh straps to a single lap belt. It gives me a little more wiggle to alleviate the pains when I'm in the boat.

Good luck.

Ian

[Shep]

You haven't really tried to fix your ankle pain if you haven't tried ankle blocks yet. These make a huge difference for me and many other people.

Shep

[thomsonbytheriver]

I used to use ankle blocks. They not only occlude my pedal artery making my feet fall asleep, but they actually make the pain worse because they limit movement. I stopped using them about 10 years ago.

[Wendy]

I recently have found that elevating the knee pads then using shin blocks is very comfortable. The feet don't go to sleep and the ankles are very comfy.

[hazardharry]

in the boat i do well. its at night when i sleep i wake up to extreme pains in the leg. i used to get horrific cramps but i think i stretched those away for the most part. i will try something under my shins to see if more support in that area does anything. i hope to get a new ride for the spring.

[Bob Wiggins]

May I suggest going to a chiropractor or similar? The problem may not be in the boat, but in your joints instead.

[Sir Adam]

Everyone's body is different, but here are a few things that I've found have helped tremendously comfort wise for me:
1) Wider saddle as MikeW mentioned
2) Higher saddle (of course), thought that is relative.. most of mine are still 6 or 6.5 or less. And yes, a 1/4" does make a big difference comfort wise
3) Be sure your knee pads are thick enough for knee safety (rocks and hard hits), but not too thick -otherwise it is like lowering your saddle
4) No angle blocks. Get your ankles used to stretching out (it will take a while) and be fine. I do put a minicell skin down though (1/8" thick or thinner) for a little comfort. I only wear socks (or nothing) on my feet (this helps a lot too)
5) Get your knees out as far as you can (before the hull isn't flat). I have boats I can almost sit on the bottom of because I can get my knees that wide - my lets are more out to the side than under me too, which allows me to flex my ankles as needed
6) Lose weight. I'm not exactly heavy to begin with, but sometimes losing 5 or 10 lbs helps a lot for me (I tend to have some leg weight... I know, if I didn't tele and XC ski in winter my muscles would be smaller and that would be even better for CBoating...)

Keep experimenting and figure out what works for you. I'm not the most flexible person to say the least (can barely touch my toes), but with a little stretching can generally sit in one of my non squirt boats all day (17 mile Hudson run). I'm stiff when I get out, but I can walk... These days I do try to take a few stretch breaks, but with as uncomfortable as kayaks seem to be now I find they need to stretch more than I do which I do find most humorous:)

[JzP]

[quote= i hope to get a new ride for the spring.[/quote]

[hazardharry]

that looks like a giant b*n*r! yup may be just what the doctor ordered? dude i tore up the surf hole on the p-cat the other day now oy my bones...15' of boat is a bit much when chasing kayaks chikcs.

[Wendy]

The green boat is an Octane. I love mine, but added wedges to push the knees out to the walls and 1/4 minicell where the outer foam stops to pad the knees. I also widened the saddle, raised it because I am short waisted, then added some shin pads. This boat you can paddle class II- II+ easily sitting on the thwart and with practice stand up thru rapids, yet play down creeks and boof like a maniac. I have my saddle up to 8 1/2 inches. So, with the discomfort you have experienced everyone has had good advise- stretch, adjust, pad, and consider this very fun boat. I also had a blast in the Ion, L'Edge, and Option, but the most comfortable that also allows high performance is the Octane.
My 2 cents (BTW- I have owned or paddled most OC1s made for the past 47 years. I don't know it all, just love to try it all.

[zappaddles]

At 5'10" 180lbs. and 62yo I find that taking my feet off of the foot pegs in appropriate water conditions helps me; I rest the tops of my feet on the bottom of the boat and reach back to put them back on the foot pegs when needed. Adjust your saddle height to be as high as possible while maintaining your level of paddling skills. Get out of the boat as often as needed to straighten and lubricate those joints.