General Fitness & Nutrition: Right foot goes numb during ride

New to site and a new rider--been riding about 2 months and have lost 30 pounds with about 100 more to go to get to my goal. I have always loved bike riding, so am using that as my exercise and fitness while getting back to a healthy lifestyle. I am a diabetic (type 2--oral meds not insulin) but have gotten my blood levels under control in the last 2 months. 

 I have set a goal of doing my first century ride within the next year sometime. Right now, I ride solo and my longest ride to date has been about 23 miles. I ride an average of 10-20 miles six days a week right now. 

 Here's my question: every time I ride and am about 30 minutes into the ride, my right foot goes numb. I have to shake it every few minutes to try to get it feeling ok but it just feels like it goes asleep.  My circulation in my legs has been tested every time I go to the doctor--which is quarterly since I'm diabetic--and has always been fine. 

 Anyone else experience this?  Any suggestions to help or what might be causing it? 

 I ride a hybrid Raleigh 21 speed right now with a dream of getting a "road" bike by year's end so I can work on doing that century. 

 

Thanks for any tips in general for a new rider as well! 

shorerider:

 A couple of thoughts:

Make sure your shoe is not too tight. Double check the fit.  Many people have a least a half size difference between feet.  Loosen the straps on that side for one ride and see if it makes a difference. Consider trying a different pair of shoes. Are you using clipless pedals or "ratcage" pedals? 

Don't clinch your feet.  I used to get numb toes during a ride until I realized I was subconsciously  curling my toes while trying to aggressively pedal on the bike.

 Your description doesn't sound like impaired circulation--that would usually affect the thigh or calf muscle area first.  Your numbness is confined to the foot, right?  If it were the entire leg that would argue for a sciatic area focus--foot numbness alone suggests a more localized process.

 Hope this helps.  Congratulations on putting some real effort and commitment into improving your health-you're way ahead of most people (not users of this site, of course!)

Go to your local bike shop and schedule a bike fitting. It will cost money but is worth it.

Right now, I'm just wearing my old sneakers to ride in and no clips/cleats. However, I've been thinking of getting some more specialized type shoes to see if that helps.

 

I'll try the loosening my laces and see how that helps and double check my foot position on the pedal. I have noticed that I tend to ride on the balls of my feet a lot.

 

Thanks for the advice! 

Hey Shorerider, I have the same problem but in both of my feet. I have spoken to a few people about it. First, they ask whether it is your whole foot, or just your big toe primarily. If the numbness doesn't spread and its primarily in your big toe, it is likely that you are putting too much pressure on the soft part of your foot right before your toes (I don't know the name of it)--generally the part of your foot that is making the most contact with the pedal. This happens often when you are wearing just regular running shoes that allow your foot to bend when you petal. I have been advised to get actual biking shoes that prevent your foot from bending. I haven't tried this yet, but hopefully will in the future. Perhaps this could be causing your toe numbness as well?

I went through numbness too. I'd also recommend stiff-soled shoes to take stress off of your foot. Sneakers will transfer all the stress to the muscles and tendons/ligaments in your feet, especially the plantar fascia.

Clipless pedals will help you pedal more efficiently and keep your foot in a consistent alignment. With my Shimano mtb shoes releasing some tension on the front laces to expand the front part of the shoe helped reduce numbness. My pedals are Shimano SPD's, which are fairly common on mountain bikes but offer a small contact area or platform, which caused me some "hotfoot" on multi-hour rides.

On my road bike I love my Sidi shoes and Look Keo pedals, but I'm sure there's plenty of other good combinations. A lot of people like the Time road pedals, and some like the "float" of the Speedplays.

Don't push too hard through pain from an injury, or you may find your not be able to ride for a while which sucks.

Best of luck

aussiebloke beat me to it. I suffered from a numb right foot when running and went through all sorts of sneakers, changing running form, etc. to no avail. Turns out it had nothing to do with my foot but with my lower back. After a few visits to a chiropractor (a good one-there are some quacks out there!) and some stomach strengthening, it has gone away.  It also helped that I lost a lot of weight and this reduced the size of my gut.  Big gut means more pressure on the back muscles and spine. 

polkadot:

Clipless pedals will help you pedal more efficiently and keep your foot in a consistent alignment. With my Shimano mtb shoes releasing some tension on the front laces to expand the front part of the shoe helped reduce numbness. My pedals are Shimano SPD's, which are fairly common on mountain bikes but offer a small contact area or platform, which caused me some "hotfoot" on multi-hour rides.

 Those Shimano mtb shoes are pretty darn good.  I used the equivalent from Specialized for quite a while on both mountain and road.  You can find the shoes in the $60s or $70s, plus another $60 or $70 for the pedals.  You can get the hotfoot, but good socks and good placement can mitigate that.

 

I would try those before the chiropractor.  You'll want the shoes anyway, and if the problem goes away you can save some bucks.  That's not to say I don't believe the posts about the potential back problem, but it would be nice if you could eliminate that as the problem easily.  I'm also a big fan of professional bike fits, but they can be expensive...