Thumb Strain

I had a heart stopping moment this week when the email came through to say that it’s 8 weeks until the ride. EIGHT WEEKS – aargh! I cannot believe that I can possibly cycle to Paris in 24 hours. I don’t feel in the slightest bit ready.  My longest ride to date is about 2 hours. I’ve signed up for a Dash Ride next  weekend – 100km – 4 to 5 hours (I’m pretty sure I’ll be in the 5 hour bracket). Everyone talks about toughening up your bum bones – this will be my chance.

My bike had a 6 week check up. They tightened up the gears a bit, They cleaned my disc brakes in an effort to stop them squeaking (which failed – but increasingly I think squeaky brakes are a good idea as it acts as an early warning system to any stray pedestrians). And they TIGHTENED MY CLEATS. I didn’t realise this until I cycled off and stopped at my first set of lights and had a serious wobble as I struggled to click out. I was overwhelmed with that same claustrophobic, crushing sense of fear that I had when I first got the road bike. It was awful. I returned to the shop and they showed me how to ease off the cleat a bit, so now I can adjust  then at will. And, on the new skills front, I am proud to report that I managed to eat a muesli bar while on the move!  The key to it is to cut the top off before you set off for the ride, so all you have to do is cram it into your mouth rather than try to bite through the plastic covering with your teeth.

RP and I are both struggling a little with the handlebars. We both bought women’s bikes, but it’s a real stretch reaching from the handlebars to the brakes. It would be alright if we were brave enough to hold onto the handlebars without hovering over the brakes – but that takes confidence we haven’t yet acquired. I had expected aching thighs and sore knees, but thumb strain has been an unexpected addition to the list!

ACHIEVEMENTS

Learning how to tighten/loosen cleats

AMBITIONS

To smile while cycling

To lift my eyes from the road and look around me

Wobbly Water Drinking

It’s been tough getting back into training after a week off.  The first couple of days back have been a  real slog. I feel heavy and sluggish after my cheese-heavy holiday. However, no one said this would be easy --  I have only myself to blame for signing up for the Dash.  And my own small personal sacrifice reminds me that every push of the pedal is for children and families with Duchenne who deal with much harder issues than I ever have to.

I am pleased to report that a major hurdle has been passed – I have managed to drink from my water bottle without stopping my bike. It was a nervewracking experience – particularly for the car behind watching with trepidation my wobbly and very slow progress as blindly felt for the bottle and raised it nervously to my lips. It’s a small but important step on my Dash journey! Next stop, trying to eat an energy bar on the move.

I have been on my longest ride yet – an 1 hour 40 minute going round and around a central London park with my bestie and fellow Duchenne Dash newbie RP. Apart from the windburn we received from the packs of skinny MAMILs zooming past us at speed it was a pleasant experience.  As the durations of the rides creep up, I’m discovering new aches and pains. For the first time I’m getting bum bone pain, and have been discussing the merits or not of changing to a gel saddle. I have yet to suffer the chafing that leads to the inevitable use of chamois cream, I’m clearly not cycling hard enough yet. I will keep you posted.

CP bought me a present - see through glasses. I fear this might be the first of a long list of slightly silly cycling equipment I may end up owning.  They look idiotic, but are really useful , particularly in the rain. Next stop arm skins?

 ACHIEVEMENTS

I can drink from a water bottle while moving – very slowly and wobbling a lot

AMBITIONS

Eating on the move

Standing up peddling

Using the bottom bit of the handlebars (CP says they’re called ‘the drops’)

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Training (!) in the Alps

This week I have mainly been laying down a sub-cutaneous layer of fat for the Dash by eating hearty cheese and potato based mountain food in France, swilling it back with the local wine, and occasionally sliding down slopes inelegantly on skies. 

On the plus side, it turns out thet the muscles you use for skiing are basically the same as those for cycling. My newly acquired muscle mass has paid off and I skied harder than I have in years.

On the down side, I’m two kilos heavier (but much happier) than I was at the start of the week.

The joy of padded leggings

Week 2 of my training and I’m proud to say I’ve achieved a first for me — cycling seven days in a row, one in light snow. They have mainly been my 25 minute commute, but I’ve done one ride of an hour, and another of an hour of a half. My aim is to work up to doing two rides a week of three hours, but that feels a long way off. Trying to find circuits in London with any length of riding in them is a bit challenging. Not much training in standing at red lights — although I will say it does give me cleat practice. What I have discovered is that even though I am much better at de-cleating my right foot, it is a rather pointless skill to have learnt as in London everyone de-cleats their left at lights, and waits with their foot up on the pavement. Either that or they do that silly, balancing dance thing where they refuse to de-cleat at all and get up on their pedals and wobble incrementally forward, playing what looks like a game of chicken with the lights. That is one dance I have no intention of taking part in.

My cycle partner (CP) was right about my cleats. The shop loosened my left one and it is now much easier to get it in and out. They also tightened up my gears which had been slipping. CP stopped me on a bike ride at the weekend and gave me a stern talking to about moving into the second cog (or is it the first?!) when going up steep hills so I can use more lower (or is it higher) gears. Me confused much - not at all.


The biggest news of the week is that I have bought Borat style padded leggings. I have never had leggings with a padded seat before — took me right back to the years before the invention of Always (a reference for the girls there). What with the clacky, shoes and the padded crotch - when not on my bike but kitted up I am now walking like some hybrid between a ballerina on points and a two year old with a full nappy. It’s a good look. I guess the nappy pants trousers come into their own when I start doing long distances.

Me in my nappy pants trousers

On the plus side I have bought a water bottle and fixed it to my bike. On the negative side, I’m still too wobbly to reach down and drink it while cycling. But I’m doing a good line in annoying drivers by stopping to drink at lights and missing the lights turning green. Given how much drivers, particularly taxi drivers annoy/terrify me I get a little vindictive thrill about irritating them in this manner.

What I’ve learned this week:

It’s not pleasant to cycle in the snow
padded shorts make you waddle

Achievements:

Getting out on my bike for short distances.
I am no longer actively terrified of the cleats - just a bit claustrophobic, with occasional waves of panic.

Ambitions:

Moving between the cogs on my handlebars.
Going on longer rides.
Enjoying cycling.

Me volunteering on the 2017 Dash

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