Knee pain

I have been doing a lot of MTB riding, but nothing I haven't done before. This last time I went on a good 12 mile ride, I started getting pain, not riding but when I was walking, moderate, on my left leg just under the knee cap and it felt like my joint, or where the two bones meet from the lower part to the upper part of my leg. For a couple of days I experienced the pain, although not untolerable, but still bothersome, then it went away. Is this some thing I need to have checked out? or is my age just catching up to me?

This may well be some simple patellofemoral joint pain. If it was your first ride for a while then this is not uncommon. Also if the ride was a bit tougher than usual this may also be a reaction to normal increase in loading in a 56 year old. Nothing to worry about but often these things can be cummulative and that overtime they become painful. If you think that may be closer to the reality then having someone chck you out and chck your bike setup would be useful for you in the longterm. Happy MTB'ing :)

Hi,
To the above reply I would also like to add that you could consult a physio in your area and might as well start on some exercises focusing on strengthening your muscles on the inner side of the knee(Vastus medialis obliqus). As I believe if you have experienced this pain once, it is likely that it happened due to some malalignment of patella. It might not come back in any other activity but may be if the patella is stressed in one particular position again it might bother you again. so better prevent it from any further stress and damage. As you told you've already undergone meniscal repair, following which patello femoral pain is quite common, because the joint alignment to some extent is always compromised post surgery.

Rather as a rehab protocol, the exercises specifically designed to strengthen the medial part of the knee follow from post operative day 1.

Hope I have not been too boring... Hope it helps.
Aditi.