After New Years Speedplay pedal saga, I had to take a whole three days of the bicycle. Not even the chance to cycle into town on a hybrid bike to loosen up the legs. Just three days sitting on the sofa, counting the days until I could return to civilisation and get a working pedal.
On returning south, the weather was unseasonably warm – nudging an unseasonable and scarcely believable double figures. After the battering of a hard northern winter, this felt like Spring had come already. It was great to be back on the bike, and I didn’t even have to wear a ridiculous amount of layers to keep warm.
The only downside was that three days off the bike hadn’t done my legs any favours. You would expect after three days off the bike, they would be nicely rested. But, actually the opposite was true. Three days complete inaction had left slightly strange sensations in the muscles – like a feeling of small knots. It seemed the leg muscles weren’t used to doing nothing and were overly stretched or something. I would have been better off spending the three days doing some suitable leg exercises and stretches to keep on my toes, but I spent most of the three days trying to perfect the Plank (without much success, so it seems.)
Anyway, it felt like the kind of niggle you could just ignore and ride through. And once on the bike, the legs felt good. In fact, the ride was very pleasant, my theory, that Yorkshire miles count double seemed to be justified by an average speed of about 5mph more than Yorkshire rides. (14 – 19mph). I still can’t understand how I always came back from Yorkshire rides with an average speed of 14mph. When the weather warms up, I have some unfinished business in the lanes and hills of Yorkshire. Perhaps a chance to ride a future Tour de France stage will soon present itself. I hope I can do that at a higher average speed than 14mph….
Although the ride to Henley was very enjoyable, at the end I had some discomfort around the knee, which was worse the next day. Something was out of balance and there was stress on the knee. I wouldn’t call it pain, but a sign something wasn’t right. I hadn’t really changed my bike position so I don’t know what is up. I had planned a lot of miles at the weekend, but this knee needed resting, so it was more time off the bike. I’m not worried, but it’s always disconcerting to get knee trouble. I’m sure it will soon be better.
At least I can spend all day greasing my speedplay pedals.
Any persistence in knee trouble and I’ll be off to the sports physio.
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Tejvan, if you´re interested, I can recommend egoscue method for all these core/knee/posture/etc problems (www.egoscue.com).
For 99 USD I got advice better for my knees than years on different sports doctors and physios and gym workouts, and, to top off, with clear, and later on consistent results, starting in 2-3 days. They really deserve my appreciation.