Bitter Sweet

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you are enjoying a nice, relaxing break. Christmas this year is a bitter sweet one for me. Sweet because I got to see my family just before the big day, Dan and Sally’s mom came round for Christmas day and all my presents were void of tat lol. It’s been wonderful and really chilled so far. Bitter because all my plans to ride my bike over the Christmas period have been scuppered because of my back injury. I’ve had to accept it’s just a more serious problem than I thought and will take longer to fix. So frustrating!!!

My back is improving but the rate of improvement is painfully (pun intended!) slow. No more excruciating pains down my legs, just discomfort and a dull ache, most of the time, plus a torso the shape of a pringle still. I gave up riding to focus on recovery a couple of weeks ago and I’ve set myself a goal of 20mins on the turbo New Years day but that’s looking unlikely the closer we get. My days are a diet of morning stretches, then I loosen up during the day with a heat patch on with the odd ice pack for 20mins. I don’t like taking drugs but I have had co-codamol when the pain is bad but they make me woozy and play havoc with my guts so I tend to do a couple of days then ween myself of them for a bit longer. It’s just a waiting game while I’m having chiro twice a week.

Shout out to Sally. She has been amazing helping me recover over the past month. Thank you x

However I am staying sane by throwing some darts. Initially I could barely throw at all then no more than a few minutes at a time but yesterday I managed my longest session yet of an hour+. I bagged a couple of 180’s aswell so my accuracy hasn’t suffered too much and it gave me a much needed mental boost that I am getting better because sometimes it feels like it isn’t.

It’s well known cyclists can eat a lot so this with a lack of exercise, other than short walks with my stick outdoors, means the weight is piling on. It won’t be long before I look like a legit dart player LOL. I’m not too worried though as it gives me something to focus on when I can ride again. Lose the weight and build a cast-iron core so this never happens to me again.

My New Year’s resolution is to simply recover and ride ASAP. I hope you’re all having a great one and getting some miles in.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Adios