Self massage with rollers

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At the end of last year I received treatment from an osteopath for my saw hip. He felt the problem was primarily in my right gluteus muscles. A lot of the treatment involved deep massage – working on the tender muscle. He was trying to loosen the knotiness.

When he did a similar deep massage on the left glute, it wasn’t painful. So it was reassuring, in the sense that he found something which wasn’t right. The interesting thing is that when cycling, the problem manifested itself near the hip. (sacroiliac joint was mentioned a lot.)

A few years ago, I bought one of these massage foam rollers from Amazon.  Trigger Point Performance Foam Roller (£30)

roller-massage

roller-massage

Initially I bought to work on some tight hamstrings. But, it was recommended by osteopath for working on the glute as well.

It’s fairly easy to use, just roll around and work the muscles you want to give a bit of a massage.

At around £30, it is certainly much cheaper than paying for a daily massage. It was useful to use over Christmas holidays when I was abroad.

Conclusion

For those of us who do not have access to daily sports massage (like the pros) this is a good second-best solution. I feel the massage of glutes has helped to work through the problem. It is still there a little, but I will persevere with steady training and a bit of self-massage.

In retrospect, I wish I had used more massage back in June after big mileage month and the 12 hour.

First training ride of the New Year

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I rode in Greece, but it didn’t really feel like a training ride, more a leisure ride. Yesterday, I did a favourite training ride to Charlbury. 42 miles in 2 hours and a bit. For all the interruptions of recent months, I felt reasonably good and was pleased to average over 17 mph.

rainbow

This photo is actually from Wharfedale on Christmas Day 2016, but I never had time to publish.

I was out on my bike (early Christmas morning), but suffering from a little bit of stomach upset. As a consequence I was cycling slowly and not enjoying the ride; because of the stomach ache I stopped to have a look behind. I was rewarded with this view of a rainbow arching over the tree – it was the highlight of the ride – an auspicious sign for Christmas Day.

I didn’t take any photos yesterday on the road to Charlbury; it was one of those grey, gloom days of January where the only mercy is a temperature of over 5 degrees celsius. But, despite less than inspiring weather, it was good to be back on the bike – able to ride for two hours without niggling injuries and interruptions. What comes next in 2017, I’m not sure. But it is great just to be able to get on the bike and blow away a few cobwebs from the mind and body.

42 miles down, 11,958 to go.

Cycling in Kalamata Greece

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I spent 10 days in Kalamata, Greece. It is a great place for cycling, even in mid-Winter.

For various reasons, I ended up not taking my own bike. It was awkward to hire a car which would carry four people, four cases and a big bicycle bag. I thought an VW estate may cope, but when I measured a friends boot, I knew it wouldn’t work and I had to leave the bike at home.

In other years, I may have paid some ridiculous money to hire a people carrier (or my own car), but since I’ve been off the bike during the tail-end of 2016, I thought another 10 days off the bike wouldn’t make much difference. At the best of times it can be a hassle taking a bike on a plane.

hairpins-distance
Hairpins in the distance. Insistently calling climbers

On arriving at Kalamata, our hotel had a magnificent view of the ocean, but also had a view of some beautiful hairpins, engineered into the nearby hillside. The sight of hairpins cut into the hillside made me wistfully regret not having a bike. The next day, I drove the hire car up the hill side and went for a walk. It is not the same, and the longing for a bike grew. It felt perhaps like an alcoholic going for a week of recovery and finding he is living next to a brewery.

trek-domaine

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Starting from scratch

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I have been going out a few times this week. Wet, grey, windy and cold, but its good to be back on the bike.

road-burnsall

The great thing about cycling in Yorkshire is that you can be greeted by cyclists going the otherway with:

“Ey up”

It beats ‘hi’ anytime. There is always a bit of debate about the cycling etiquette of acknowledging fellow riders going the other way. In the days when cycling was a minority sport, the rarity of the occasion made it easier to do. Nowadays it would be hard work to greet every cyclist on the road. Maybe when I go back down south I will try greeting every cyclist with ‘Ey Up’ and see how it goes down.

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Winter training bike 2016-17

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trek-madone-winter-16

This will be my winter training bike for 2016/17 (assuming I can get out to ride it). It is an old hill climb bike  with a Trek Madone frame – 10 speed Dura Ace groupset. After buying the Emonda, I thought about selling this Trek, but with the growth of 11spd and electronic gears – 10 speed mechanical has devalued in price. The likely selling figure seemed a poor return, so I have kept as a winter training bike.  I also have an attachment to the bike as I used it in 2013 Nat hill climb.

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Cycling very slowly

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The past week or so I’ve been ill again with some kind of sickness. It left me quite ill and weak, but I had an an appointment with an osteopath I wanted to keep – to work on the bad hip. I thought I would drive the 4 miles, but at last minute couldn’t bring myself to drive through the centre of Oxford so got on bike and cycled very slowly.

cyclist-no-arm-warmers-winter
There’s always one person who cycles through mid winter in bare arms (or legs) but rarely both.

 

I’d lost a bit of weight, still recovering from virus and it probably wasn’t the most sensible thing to do. But, after sitting on settee for a few days I felt like a challenge. The main thing is that I cycled very slowly and on any downhill freewheeled. It meant I was getting overtaken by just about everybody on the road, which is quite something. It took half an hour there and half an hour bike. I was probably averaging 8mph. It was interesting experience, but not one I’m particularly keen to repeat.

coaches
Buses traffic jam

Even when still ill, I’d rather cycle than drive through traffic jams. I have some ideological opposition to spend 25 minutes driving somewhere through congested traffic when you can do same distance on a bicycle.

Cycling very slowly is harder work.

I nearly got doored by a van driver opening his car door whilst on mobile phone. I realised that because I was cycling so slowly, I was much closer to the curb than usual. You have less confidence to cycle at a distance from car doors when cycling slowly.

When I got to St Clements roundabout I tried to accelerate. You feel rather isolated cycling around there at 8mph, when everyone else is driving at much higher speed.

That was an experience of cycling very slowly, can’t say I particularly enjoy it.

bus-cyclist
Good job cars are banned from the High Street There seems more pollution around this winter or maybe when you’re ill you become more sensitive to it.

 

Welcome to old age

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Last Monday I turned 40, which is a milestone in the cycling world because it officially marks entry into the veteran category.

Late on Monday I started to come down with a virus which laid me low all week; a fitting end to a four week cold. Life seemed to be saying – in a non too subtle way – welcome to old age, mate. It’s all downhill from here.

Arnold-crimes

On the bright side, I can now look forward to 2017 with an eye on the Veteran categories.  There used to be a time when 40 was considered quite old, and hill climbs, especially, were not considered particularly suitable for those in the latter half of their life. But these days, 40 seems to be the new 30; with many cyclists admirably demonstrating there is still a lot of potential even post-40.

As a philosophy, I like to think age is in the mind, not in the heart – so I guess the next decade will provide an opportunity to test the practical reality of advancing physical years and learn what kind of difference age actually starts to make. I think the secret is not to think about it.

Targets 2017

This year I came 2nd in the national 12 hour TT, and 41st in the national hill climb.  With this kind of result, the obvious direction for a veteran would be to focus on the longer races and leave the quick twitch fibre stuff to the young ‘uns. But, at the moment, I feel more interest in concentrating on hill climbs and hilly time trials than the long distance stuff. Perhaps a prolonged hip problem has discouraged the initial burst of enthusiasm for a 24 hour time trial.

I’m still off bike, but with the weather dipping below freezing, I feel quite calm about the prospect.

Best puncture proof tyres

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No ordinary tyre guarantees to be absolute puncture free, but improvements in technology have gone a long way to reducing your chances of puncturing. For the average rider and commuter, buying a puncture resistant tyre is probably one of best upgrades to make.

Highly puncture resistant tyres usually have a trade off of greater weight and higher rolling resistance (i.e. slower) but the slight decline in speed is well worth the greater peace of mind that comes from having less punctures.

These are some of the puncture resistant tyres that I have used over the years.

Armadillo – Specialized All Condition
specialized armadillo

The tyre feels pretty tough – it is a very robust 60 TPI (Threads per inch) – which is very different feel to the racing tyres of 300TPI. It’s toughness makes it very resistant to small scratches and glass cuts. It gives more confidence for commuting on a rought canal path. A minor downside of its toughness is that it’s a bit awkward putting on rim with fingers, but then you rarely have to change a puncture. It claims to be designed for low rolling resistance; but, in practice it feels heavy – it is is noticeably slower than a Grand Prix 4000. But, I am quite happy using it on my commuting bike and have also added to the rear wheel on my winter training bike, at various times.

I have been using them for over seven years (5 days a week) During that period I have had three punctures and one was a 6 inch nail. Roughly speaking its a puncture rate of 3 / 9,000 miles or 1 per 3,000 miles. It’s also pretty hard wearing, I get maybe 3,000 miles on rear and 5,000 miles on front, which is a long time for a commuting bike. At £30, overall this is a very good value tyre which offers excellent puncture resistance.  It really is a good investment and one of my favourite.

Weight (approx)

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Feet in the Clouds – a tale of running up fells

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feet-in-the-cloudsReview of: Feet in the clouds – A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession

‘Feet in the clouds’ is a book about fell running by Richard Askwith, a London journalist, who gets hooked on the sport of fell running. He tells a potted history of the sport, and also his own personal endeavours as a middle of the road aspiring fell runner.

Although there is no mention of cycling, amateur cyclists will see a kinship in many of the things Askwith talks about –  the club scene, the attraction of the great outdoors, the great characters of the sport, to the physical and mental challenge of running up steep hills.

More than any other branch of cycling, it reminded me of the hill climb scene in domestic UK timetrialling. The slightly crazy idea of finding the steepest hills and running / cycling up them. The only difference with fell running, is the even more crazy run back down the mountain.

I didn’t have any recognition of the names in the book. There wasn’t a single fell runner who I recognised, apart from perhaps Ron Hill, who wasn’t really a fell runner. This is perhaps proof of the amateur nature of the sport; a sport, which more or less has avoided the trappings of commercialism.

Though, its not a completely rose-tinted view of the sport. For example, there is a chapter on the senseless amateur / professional divide of the 70s, 80s and 90s. Which to a millennial will make absolutely no sense.

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Excuses

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It’s been a difficult few weeks on the cycling front. Injury, unending cold, and the winter miles bank resolutely empty – you can’t really count the 0.6 miles up Bank Road in the steady miles club.

dales-winter-cold-mist

Apart from that, the highlight of my cycling at the moment has just been swapping the summer bike for winter bike, adjusting my mudguards in anticipation of being able to ride in the wet, and a short commute into town.

2016 has been a funny year (not so much in the humorous sense) In fact since Nov 11th, I haven’t dared look at a newspaper, just in case the tiny 5% chance of Americans electing a President with a silly hair cut came true.  This winter, I shall keep my head buried in back issues of Cycling Weekly, OS Maps 1:50,000 series and Winnie the Pooh books, it’s the only way to stay sane in this crazy world.

On a more positive note, I have been going to see people about my nagging hip injury. I have been to a physiotherapist twice and two different osteopaths. The second osteopath was quite good and seemed to find some imbalances – which hopefully will resolve themselves. He also did something to the neck as apparently there is a connection from as far a field as the neck to hip joint. It is interesting because I had a very bad neck after 12 hour time trial. I’m doing a few exercises and stretches, but it’s amazing how quickly time can pass by without turning a pedal in anger.