Today was a no-good, terrible, very bad day. On a road that I should have been cruising down at 12-14 mph, I was barely moving. My shoulder started tightening up right away and by the first SAG stop I knew I wouldn't be able to go much farther. I am disappointed, frustrated and angry. I can DO this ride, I have done this ride.
My plan is to bump the whole ride tomorrow, apply heat and stretching to the shoulder for 36 hours and see if the bike shop has any ideas. I will NOT let this spoil my trip.
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| Bridge across the Colorado River, boundary between CA and AZ |
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| The bustling metropolis of Brenda, AZ - the whooooole town. |
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| Sheffler's motel in Salome, AZ (the neon is pink)- charming owners and we met a guy planning to ride cross-country on a unicycle (you will be pleased to know I did NOT pick him up) |
6 comments:
Isn't it noxious how you can think you have everything set up Just. SO., but when you go longer/harder, if there's any vulnerability there, you find it? At the worst time. :(
Much mojo to you for shoulder healing/handlebar improvments. And just take it one day at a time.
I had a ride once where I felt so bad and was going so slowly that I was counting pedal revolutions/tenths of miles, just so I could KNOW that I was making progress. When you are creaking along, knowing that you're only 20 pedal revolutions from completing another tenth of a mile can make a difference. Especially since there were no SAG wagons where I was. It was only about 30 miles, but boy howdy, not fun.
No Worries! You're doing great.
Thank you both. I was pretty bummed out when I had to stop, but just being with this group helps enormously. I had my own personal physical therapist tonight and feel much better prepared to deal with this as I go on. It was just such a disappointment not to be able to do a ride that I KNOW I can do.
The longer handlbar stem may be the cause of your shoulder pain. You're reaching out further than you normally did before and it's making you bend your neck more to see. Try rotating your bars back a little bit. I really hope that helps. Relax your grip too. If your knuckles are white, the grips too tight!
Bummer now. Soon you will have it all figured out and you will be one buff cycling machine into the spring and all this summer!
Thanks Chris, I think this is mostly old shoulder injury reactivated by the lonnnnng, slooooow, climbs. No white knuckles here. If the stretching exercises aren't enough to solve the problem I will start trying new adjustments to the handlebars. I think it's more a matter of angle than reach.
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