Back to audax

April 23, 2023 |   |  Comment  |  Just riding

Yes, I’ve been a bit absent here – the back issues have been a pest, although it’s now beginning to seem more likely that they are now not back issues but knee issues. The problems morphed a bit but were still somewhat similar to back issue symptoms, but a recent MRI shows my knee is a little bit toast. This seems more likely trauma (an MTB accident three years ago) than arthritis. I suppose that’s good?

I’ve been back on the turbo for a while, and back to strength training. I’ve been doing mobility work as well and that seems to be paying off in that I definitely have more mobility (dynamic cyclist program – not sponsored, not an ad, I just like it).

I went, I rode. I dithered the night before, worrying whether I’d be fit enough etc etc. I decided to drop from the 100k to the 50k, from some caution – I haven’t ridden for much more than an hour, even on the turbo, this year. I don’t think I’ve ridden more then 30km or so either, so 50k seemed a manageable increase, whereas 100k was possibly overdoing it.

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Reboot the noodle

August 22, 2021 |   |  Comment  |  bicycles, gadgets, Just riding

bike at Old GorhamburyOnce more into the fray etc – or, at least, the first time this year into the fray on a drop-bar bike. Not covid, but a somewhat broken back (apparently literally at some point, according to the MRI scan …) and spinal nerve issues etc have been getting in the way. Much physio, some steroid injections and rather more painkillers/anti-inflammatories/muscle relaxants etc later, and things are beginning to get back to normal.

ETA: this is not the same disc issues from the last post – just in case anyone was wondering. Those got sorted out fairly fast and did not cause anything like the same degree of problems – this was a fresh batch in January. Lack of posts last year was due to a global pandemic and generally not doing anything interesting on the bike, not due to back!

I still can’t walk all that far without a cane (but that’s an improvement on crutches) and I did get out on the flat-bar bike a month or so back, but this was the first time out on drop-bars. It has to be this bike as this is the least-aggressively set up of the two options open to me, and I need to be careful on back flexion.

Various things done to try to make this a little safer – I was already running tubeless, but have added Airliners so that, even if a tyre flats completely, I can still ride home/to the nearest train station – the insert reduces the risk of certain types of puncture, and provides enough support etc to be able to still ride. The problem is principally that I’m not entirely sure that I could manage to deal with the tyre/inner tube etc without quite a lot of pain – this effectively adds some security. I’ve also adjusted the stem for height so that my back flexes less, and running the tyres at a little less pressure for comfort/shock absorption. I’m thinking about getting a suspension seatpost as well (the stem already has suspension).

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Discs and discs

October 27, 2019 |   |  Comment  |  Just riding

I had been riding; no particular excuse for not writing for the last month or so though – other than general malaise.

The summer passed in a blur of rides, and then onto Penzance and thence to Lands End for my fourth attempt on Lands End-John O’Groats (two successful so far, the third abandoned when an off stopped play). This was, again, Threshold’s Deloitte Ride Across Britain – given time constraints, it’s simpler to just have the logistics etc all dealt with.

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London to Paris

July 29, 2019 |   |  Comment  |  Just riding

I have, in fact, been riding. One of the reasons this blog has been quiet is precisely that: I’ve been on my bike, not on my computer.

The riding has been mostly long stuff, interspersed with gym sessions and pub rides and turbo when nothing else is feasible. Long stuff = 200k audaxes, the club annual century ride, that sort of thing.

This weekend, the “long stuff” went a bit further – I resolved about three months ago to tackle London to Paris in under 24 hours. It’s one of those somewhat iconic rides that gets mentioned as a must do. So, I must did. Obviously.

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Random review

June 17, 2019 |   |  Comment  |  food

Torq have brought out a line of flapjacks (called Explore) – apparently launched in April, so I’m surprisingly up to date. I found them in a running store near to work and decided that they looked potentially bike-worthy.

For some background – I lose my appetite on long rides and also get flavour fatigue on those long rides. Not a good combination. So I tend to keep an eye out for possible on-bike foodstuffs to be able to have a selection of things on a given ride (and preferably not always the same selection of things).

The apple-strudel flapjack makes the cut – it’s not dry, but not too damp; not dripping butter/oil/random goo; it’s easy to chomp off a bite and the flavour is good. Not bland, not weird. It tastes reasonably home-made, in fact.

One bar = 263 cals, 43g carbs. That’s reasonable, overall. I try to aim for 60g if carbs per hour, with about 1/3 from hypotonic hydration. I don’t eat a full bar of the flapjack per hour, as I mix it with other food (babybel, mini pepperami, skratch bars, Veloforte bites, random sweet things etc etc).

Generally recommended – the apple-strudel flavour, anyway. I’ve tried the carrot cake as well, but that was less successful. Whatever spices are in there don’t work with my tastebuds; the texture etc is all fine (similar to the apple flapjacks) but I would have difficulty persuading myself to eat the carrot cake version mid-ride.

(As usual, no-one’s paying me to say this. I bought the bars myself).

Catching up is hard to do

January 21, 2019 |   |  Comment  |  training, winter

Things I have learnt in 2019 – I can run (well, jog) 10k. I cannot jog 10k without aching for 48 hours afterwards, however.

Why running and not cycling? Mostly an experiment to work out cross-training; running has the merit of impact which, with a history of osteoporosis in the family, seems like a useful thing to do.

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… back to the turbo …

November 3, 2018 |   |  Comment  |  Uncategorized

It’s getting cold, work isn’t getting any less time-consuming, so I’m back to the turbo. October was a bit cursory, in terms of riding – I planned to start a base build on October 29, so wasn’t too fussed about what happened before. A month “sort of off” isn’t really a bad idea.

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