Well I am still sick, but have finally managed to get back on the bike. I came down with a bad cold 3 weeks ago, and it triggered asthma symptoms from the very beginning so I knew I'd have to manage things to prevent it from turning into a serious lung problem. So I took it easy, with very little activity for more than two weeks. I went for a walk a few times to gauge my recovery, but even when I felt good while I was out walking I had problems with congestion and coughing afterwards. I suppose the high tree pollen levels contributed to the problem.
At any rate, by last Monday I was mostly better except for a hair-trigger coughing reflex (merely drinking water was enough to get me going) and a mild sore throat that caused my voice to be hoarse. I planned to go for a ride on Wednesday evening. Then it rained on Wednesday so I rescheduled for Friday. I think the two-day delay actually helped, because the laryngitis continued through the week and in fact has still not gone away. Friday's ride went pretty well, all things considered. My pace was a bit slow but I expected that. I also found that the laryngitis affected my breathing -- air has to pass through your larynx to get to your lungs, and when the larynx is inflamed the air passage is smaller. I used my asthma inhaler, and that helped. So overall I was happy to be back out on the bike.
I did have two incidents with idiot drivers on Friday, unfortunately. Virginia has passed a 3-foot passing law and has also passed a law allowing motorists to cross a solid yellow line in order to pass cyclists. However I don't think these laws have been publicized, even in the supposedly bike-friendly area where I was riding. Both incidents were on roads in residential areas with a 25 mph speed limit. Both are narrow with cars parked along the sides so it's legal and safer to take the lane. One of them is marked with sharrows. On that one, the idiot driver drove in the parking lane and passed on my right, way too close to me. On the other one the driver passed on the left but also came way too close. I tried to tell them both what I thought of them but the laryngitis prevented me from being heard.
On Sunday I joined some friends for a club ride. The planned route was 46 miles, which was longer than I wanted to ride given the lingering cold (I think this particular strain is the Rasputin virus). But on Saturday night someone sent out an email saying that he planned to ride a shortened version of the route due to some knee problems, so I decided I would ride with him. Five people came out for the ride, and as it turned out all but the ride leader wanted to do the shorter version. So we came up with a compromise route that was shorter than the leader's planned route but was about 5 miles longer than the originally-planned shortcut. The total distance was 34 miles.
I had more laryngitis-related breathing problems on this ride, and the asthma inhaler didn't help as much this time. But the route was mostly flat and I was able to get through it okay. Toward the end my sit bones were hurting. Who would have thought that I'd be having that problem on the second weekend in May.
So now it's three days later and I STILL have the laryngitis. In fact it was worse on Monday, due to many phone calls and in-person conversations related to getting my car fixed after being involved in a crash several weeks ago. I've been resting my voice yesterday and today, and will go out for a short ride this evening to see how things are.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles