My Most Recent Ride 2015 (Part VIII in a series)

Ahhh, the joys of old age. I had terrible lower back pain this past weekend after tearing up and down the hills around my house on my Corsa. Then I did weight training. Who do I think I was kidding.

Didn't know if I would be able to ride my bent again or not. After medication and my chiropractor rode a very easy 10.1 miles and it felt great. I think my days of "pumping pedals" is over. Just slow and steady so my back doesn't tense up.

Looks like my miles will be a lot less this year. But I don't ever want to go through that back pain again!!!

 

My knee degeneration continues but still get out for 30 miles routinely and more if not too hilly. Have found a key to not feeling the pain for a day or two after is to start out slow, loosen up, and never put more than moderate pressure on the pedals. Same goes for on the tennis court, where a quick move in the wrong direction before warming up can have me walking sideways back to the car bent over like Quasimodo. Back pain can be much more elusive to prevent and takes longer to recover. Am finding a pattern that seems to work: Go out on the Corsa for a good workout, and then on the recovery day(s) go out on the 700 trike. The latter allows for more relaxed pedaling without balance issues when muscles are less responsive from the day before.

 

Too much?

If it hurts, it's too much. I'm doing my base 10 most days (Weather). I've said for years too much causes inflammation. Ten miles a day is fun. Ken and I did 10 miles today and rode along and talked....now that was fun. I've got 136 miles this year and that is with the Sparrow with no motor assist on hills. It is going so well that I'm in no rush to add the motor.

 

My Wife has to take it relatively easy with Her bad left knee, or inflammation sets in. Pedaling actually helps it as long as it isn't really hard pedal pressures.....!!!

 

And 8+ miles today.

Jens bugged me to go out. I had my doubts about my initial plan to ride to a little town north of Uppsala called Storvreta. It was about 27 F and a bitter wind whipping adding a nasty windchill. Getting my shoes left my fingers feeling on the verge of frost bite. I sat in the car with my fingers in the vents as heated air blew to warm them up.

In spite of that, I aimed for my initial plan. Loke limped some. One of his feet has the old infection in the skin again. First time in almost a year. I almost talked myself out of pushing on from Gamla Uppsala, but Jens convinced me to go on. I agreed only because Loke had stopped limping and he was trying to bully me to get moving again.

The entire way was on cycle paths, with a decent one following the major road and right into Storvreta. The temperature dropped to 23 F at one point, but was hovering around 30 as I rolled to a stop at my destination. The wind was at my back most of the way which made the windchill seem far less brutal.

Got some photos and longest ride of the year. Maybe even since I had the stroke.

Best of all? In spite of pushing against snow and knobby studded tires, I felt normal! My legs got tired, but no more than they would have pre-hypertension medication if I'd spent 20 days without riding. None of that screaming muscle burn after 10 minutes.

Aimed to keep my cadence above 65 RPM though my speed was often in the 3.5 - 4 mph range. The important thing is Loke and I both enjoyed the outing!

Terii

 

Yesterday's ride posted on my blog! Detailed account of the ride fitted in around photos of winter scenery!

Oh! I succeeded in keeping my cadence around 67 RPM which for the times I stopped for Loke to mark his presence in new territory, brief moments of coasting down little hills or stopping for photos, is better than I'd hoped!

https://terii.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/not-the-river-loop/

Enjoy!

Terii

 

Wow, seems we are all getting old. I have been riding a good bit just not on any of my recumbents. The MTB has been getting the steed for cold weather and I have about 175 miles so far.

Jon, you need to do lots of core work to keep those back muscles strong. The easiest thing is do do planks during commercials on TV. If your shoulders are strong enough side planks are great as well.

Buddy, yo are da MaN! Terii, way to get out there. 26 degrees is the lowest I have been out in this year.

 

That is exactly what my chiropractor said to do plus a couple of other exercises.

I think my issue was I use my lower back muscles hard when I am pushing the pedals. My lower back got so tight it never relaxed. The last time I was at the chiropractor before my back incident, he couldn't believe how tight I was.

What I did was use my portable TENS unit a lot. It took several days before I could even get my back loose. Usually I had to wear it about 40 minutes in the morning and about the same in the evening.

Today was the first day I woke up and my back wasn't a knot. So I think I am making good progress there. I am also putting heat on it.

I've mentioned my portable TENS unit before. Here it is.



It is rechargeable and very portable and light. I bought mine at Amazon. Here is a link if interested. These work magic!!!

Live and learn!!!

 

spin...spin...spin...no mashing

 

That's a much better Tens unit than the one I have which is not very adjustable. Now that the back is unknotted....get that core built up.

Another great exercise that has helped my back is hanging upside down by my knees on my chin up bar. Now wait, don't think I am crazy just yet. Hanging upside down helps stretch the muscles and takes the pressure off the disc spaces. I have a rope tied to the bar so I can use my arms to help lower and raise me. As your core gets stronger you will no longer need the rope and then you can start doing inverted crunches which are crazy good core exercises.

Next work on just hanging by your hands from the bar, you might only be able to do this for a moment or two initially but should quickly be able to build. Remember to keep your shoulders strong, don't let them feel like they are being pulled out of the joint. This also takes strain off your lower back and as you get stronger you can begin to do leg raises pulling your knees all the way to your chest. Doing the legs raises will take your mind off of just hanging there and you will be able to stay on the bar longer.

spinning vs mashing, I completely agree. If you have the stock gearing on the Corsa it isn't low enough. On Betty's Serian I have a cyclocross double crank with 27-44 rings and The cassette is an 11-32. She finds this gearing low enough to spin up 11-12 percent grades with ease. It's remember, you are not going to catch any rabbits but maybe a tortoise or two. Unless...

You will need to train your body to spin at a higher cadence. A nice short work out for this, you will need a level road or a large parking lot. Start with an easy 15 or 20 minute warm up then you are going to do high intensity spinning intervals. Just as it sounds you put the bike in a very easy gear and spin as fast as you can for 15-30 seconds then rest until your heartbeat feels normal then do it again. Five of these and you should be ready to quit if you are trying hard enough. But don't quit yet, take a nice easy 15 or 20 minutes to cool down before you head home. Try doing this once a week for a month or so and you will find yourself spinning much faster than you used to.

I rode with a 50-60 cadence when I first started riding bents and my back suffered as well. Now I usually run between 80 and 100 rpm on a ride and it feels quite normal. Usually my back will only feel tight if I spend a lot of time chasing rabbits up steep inclines.

 

WOW! Lots of good information.

Ward!

 

It was hell I say!

Today has just been one of those days you want to go back to bed and pull the blankets over your head until next week.

Spent hours trying to find my house keys. Turns out they were in my coat pocket, but hiding in my mitten.

It was raining, but I was determined to go out for a ride. Turned the 10 inches of snow on the slope in front of our garage very difficult. Even with my studded boots, I slipped trying to get it up to the flat parking area. Almost felt like Sisyphus. Then, it was a 10 minute struggle while sitting on a plastic bag in the slush to wrestle the various foot layers on.

Finally, soggy and fairly miserable with a wind chill of 28 F, we got under way. The cycle paths were a nightmare. It would have been much easier riding in traffic. The layer of ice and snow left after the plows have gone through turned to a thick slush. It was like riding in damp churned sand. Every turn of the wheel would slip several inches. Impossible to coast and just exhausting.

I cut the ride to about 2.85 miles. Managed to get everything back in place only to then discover I'd lost the car key. It had fallen out of my handlebar bag. I couldn't face the Challenge getting everything back out, shoes, foot warmers and covers back on. So... I set off on foot eyeing every inch of the residential streets and cycle paths. Amazingly, found the key after about 0.60 of a mile.

Now, I'm home, curled up with a heating pad under a pile of blankets. First good moment of the entire day.

Terii

 

It broke 40 degrees and was sunny. My two criteria for riding. so out I went. Only rode 10.1 miles because I am being very careful not to strain my back.

Ride felt great and back did well. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

 

Natchez Trace yesterday

I rode 10 miles of the Natchez Trace yesterday. My goal for this year is 300 miles. It's a modest goal, I know, but you have to start somewhere. That will be more than I've been doing the past few years. I'm sure I can do at least 300 this year now that I'm retired.

One thing about being back in the rolling hills of Tennessee: it's going to build up my endurance. When I lived in the Coastal Plain of Georgia, all the rides were flat.