Wait a minute, just need to finish a conversation with my roommate about gender reorientation.
(He is 70, is reading The Wasp Factory, and finished within 10 minutes of me today. He looks a bit like a Wurzel and is all for self determination of gender. Legend.)
Right, he's nodded off. Anyway, the fact that Chris finished so soon after me is some indication of how the day went.
All started well with 30 miles of fair whiz zing along. The Syrian question was analysed (jig/Ben you were missed) as was how to choose the right music to cycle too. (There is a tandem with on board speakers as part of the group of 71 riders).
Then, after 30 miles the left knee starting playing up again. Soon the pain spread from the quad into the side of the knee then I starting getting nasty shooting pains through the knee itself which meant I couldn't put any real pressure on it.
I'm sure these problems are happening because the injury in the other knee stopped me training properly in the run up to this ride and it's just too much for muscles grown unaccustomed to this amount of effort.
When I saw a place offering sports massage I stopped and went in but they don't have any free!
Anyway, I only had one option, which was to go very slowly, putting minimal pressure on the knee. So that's what I did. Members of the group who I would usually whizz past in the morning overtook me one by one and I could only sit and spin (cycle in low gear with high cadence) as they slipped over the horizon. We're talking grandmothers here. My main solace was that this technique seemed to be working and got me through the 89 miles of the day, and will hopefully keep me on the road. At one point I started envisaging worst case scenarios, and one guy had to picked up from the side of the road when his knees gave up.
The other thing the helped massively was music. I took earphones and plugged one in so I could still hear the traffic. Otis Redding, Lilly Allen, Flaming Lips, Robbie, Paolo all helped. Morissey (spell check just suggested 'morosely') didn't.
The route took us through pleasant countryside north of Shrewsbury, then along busier and busier roads as we passed through Warrington and Wigan before arriving in sunny Preston. The wind picked up blowing across us from the west, but the weather held for fifth day. Doing this in the rain would be really tough.
Photos coming soon...
Can I suggest you put some Sit Dog Sit on your music list if only to ensure you get the ride completed as soon as possible and to concentrate pain on your ears and away from your knee.
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