Training Log Archive: PG

Up to Montague, gently rolling. A harder effort than intended. Waiting until late afternoon and it had cooled off a little, but still warm and humid.

Back is still a little irksome.

Back still acting up a little, but still best ride in a long time. Went out with Gail. First time on her new bike. She's now a good bit faster and it's not an e-bike. Excellent. :-)

Well, the back feels better and the back feels worse. The better part is that it clearly was closer to "not so bad" than "not so good." Yesterday it just felt that my whole lower and middle back had gotten whomped, but I could still move around pretty well, still got a good night's sleep, nothing close to the agony when the back really goes bad.

Today I am feeling much less whomped. Now it's just my lower back on the right side that is complaining. That's the usual problem spot. I'd say it hurts every morning when I get up. But assuming that I haven't swung a golf club, or gone running or orienteering, or fallen off my bike, pretty soon it feels fine. The pattern seems to repeat itself each day.

So I'm hopeful that the current ache will also fade away.

Though I'm not sure going for a ride today was a good idea. Not that it was a bad idea, the back wasn't complaining much at all while I was out. But now it is a little aggravated.

Whatever. Life is still good.

And so far, no vitamin I or similar stuff. Been staying away from that for about a year now, which I figure is not a bad idea.

A ride with Walter, who is getting back to biking after back surgery. So the plan was for an easy outing.

But it turns out that what riding he has been doing has been in the woods up behind his place, and that has suited him. So he brought his mountain bike. And we headed up in the woods behind my place.

A slow and easy pace, excellent conversation. The only problem with excellent conversation on a bike ride is that you're maybe not paying 100% attention to what you're doing.

And so towards the end of the first climb, the one hard spot, I didn't pick the best line, the bike came to a sudden stop, I didn't unclip fast enough, and down I went. A pretty trivial fall actually. Except it was like if you're walking and not paying attention and you walk off a curb and now the ground is 6 or 12 inches lower than expected. Gives a good shock to the system.

In this case I landed all of a sudden on my butt, and on a rock, and I clearly wasn't prepared for it. My whole back/spine/torso didn't really appreciate it. Things hurt, but nothing seemed broken. So after little bit I got back on the bike and off we went.

Sort of the middle stage of an injury. Not so trivial that you soon forget it ever happened. Not so serious that you stop what you are doing and look for a ride home. Finished the ride, it bothered me some but not terrible.

At some point on a steep and rocky downhill Walter went over his handlebars. But it seems there was no damage done, either in general or to his spine in particular.

And at some point later we were done. :-)

So now the whole back is sore, but not terrible. Someplace between not so good and not so bad. We'll see in a day or two or three how long the mending might take. At this point I'm reasonably optimistic, because I have good range of motion. Keep my fingers crossed.

C • Yikes and double yikes! 3

Rained a lot in the morning, and then was mid-afternoon before it actually stopped, which left just enough time for the roads to get a little bit dry before I headed out.

To Montague Center and the hills just above it. Continuing my efforts this year to ride more standing up. Partly to get better at it, partly because it's a good remedy for any saddle-induced ailments. And also partly because it helps me climb a little better.

So similar goals today as many other days, even though the route always changes. Pick a hill or two or three as targets for a full effort, and then on all the other ups just keep working on riding out of the saddle -- pace, cadence, gear choice, shifting, position, etc.

It's all getting better, even if slowly. But that adds a lot of good motivation. :-)

Up to Greenfield, back via Deerfield, with the addition of a couple of short (about 3-minute hard efforts) hills that I don't often do. Other than those, a moderate effort.