Re: A year in the life of a wannabe racer- Part 4- The Comeback!
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 10:39 pm
I got to Kilkivan only a few minutes after my planned 6:30 arrival, leaving plenty of time to swear about the cold while getting the bike ready. Seriously it was ridiculous. Singlespeedscott's dash was showing 3 at Kilkivan and 1 at Fat Hen Creek about 10km east, Kingaroy was -2.5 at about 5:50 and not a whole lot warmer by 7. There were a few little spots of frost at the station, and it persisted in the shadows along the trail until at least 8am.
As a consequence, I was wearing quite literally every item of warm cycling gear I own. Even so, as soon as we started moving the air bit into exposed skin (in my case my temples) like little knives, and as my long finger gloves aren't thermal/winter specific it cut through them very well too.
Ignoring the temperature, it was a beautiful day, and we spun along through the open plains towards Kinbombi. Neither of us had any interest in wading through the Wide Bay Creek crossing (I know I've complained about it before but I cannot overstate how pathetic it is that Gympie Council haven't done anything at all to make it more usable) so we *ahem* found a way to cross without getting wet feet. You can imagine us bunny hopping it at 50kmh if you wish .
The climb up to Kinbombi starts around the 15km mark, and was just what we needed to warm up a bit. At just 2% grade for 5kms with (mostly) a great surface, it's the highlight of the whole trail. Things get rocky again immediately after coming over the top of the range, but it's improved a lot from the near unrideable beginnings. I was spinning a bit faster cadence than I usually do, and not putting a whole lot of power down as I waited in vain for my body to warm up. Scott clearly wasn't feeling the cold so much, and I had to concentrate on pacing myself even if that meant watching him zip up ahead.
In spite of the relatively mild pace I could feel I was going through calories at a cracking rate, so paused quickly at Goomeri station for some food. Then it was time for my least favourite part of the trail, the "Manyung Minefield" (where Gympie Council tried to outdo Roubaix for terrible surfacing work) and the rather dreary stretch through the scrub and sand from Moondooner to Murgon.
We finally reached Murgon (45km) after nearly 2 and a quarter hours. It says a lot about how tough the trail surface is that we weren't too far off the record pace. However, with a fair headwind blowing it wasn't looking too likely that we'd make up the time needed. The edge was finally coming off the cold, giving me cause to hope that I would finally switch on and could make use of the aerobars.
We ticked along pretty well to Wondai but as the climbing started just outside town Scott disappeared into the distance and my legs flatly refused to follow. After a couple of kms it was obvious the cold start had my body in survival mode and nothing would convince it otherwise. The one way record was obviously off the cards, and as much as I wanted to keep going to try and improve on the double, I could already predict exactly where and how I would crack. I suggested we continue to Tingoora to surf the wind back on the nice downhill from there to Wondai, and after stopping for more food and a toilet break we set off, into a headwind. Yes the wind had managed to swing 180 degrees in a matter of a minute or two .
Still, I was going that slowly it didn't make too much a difference. I stopped at Barambah Creek a few kms from Murgon to refill my water bottles (South Burnett tap water doesn't agree with me at the best of times).
I was getting a bit drowsy (that "surviving the cold" mode in action) so nipped into a servo in Murgon for some Red Bull, chicken alfredo, hot chips, and crumbed sausage, much to Scott's amusement. Come to think of it, apart from some of my chips I can't remember seeing him eat the whole day...
It was on the downhill run from Murgon to Moondooner that things got unpleasant, while I was riding along on the aerobars I suddenly had a sharp stabbing pain. As well as muscle pain in my upper thigh there was a tremendously unpleasant sensation a bit to the side of there-
Yep, not fun at all. One of my brothers complained of similar pain during a Brisbane to Gold Coast ride many years ago, and from memory it was a torn muscle that required a very long recovery. Obviously I was rather concerned but it quickly went away, so just sat up and tried not to aggravate things. I hoped it was just a cramp and said as much to Scott who suggested dates were the fix for cramping. It was worth a shot, and seemed to help a bit.
Scott took pity on me after we went through Goomeri and we swapped bikes for a little while, mine being a very tall, very heavy Merida 29er, and his a vintage Diamondback steel hardtail with drop bars and 26x incredibly fat road tyres. The extra speed available from the Diamondback was offset for me by the limited confidence and comfort from the skinny bars and Brooks saddle. Scott wasn't overly enamoured with the Merida either so we soon swapped back.
After descending Kinbombi and making our way through the plains again, the muscle suddenly flared up and hurt like hell as we went through a gate just a couple of kms from Kilkivan. Again, it settled down quickly (and again Scott got me to eat one of his magic dates) and we finally reached the finish after 133kms and 7.5hrs. That was a long way from the 177kms in 8hrs that I was so confident of.
After getting some fuel and food at the Kilkivan General Store I headed home to do some Googling.
It seemed pretty clear from the symptoms that I was looking at a minor-moderate tear of an abductor muscle, and 5-8 weeks off the bike. That sounded pretty bad to me (with the Strade Bianche in less than 3 weeks and Brisbane-Gympie attempt in just over 4), but given there was no bruising or inflammation (and no real ongoing pain) I made an appointment for the doc. That lead to an ultrasound this afternoon, and while the doc has the final verdict on Wednesday, the radiographer confidently said that there was no sign of any tear. It makes me think that it was just cramping, though why it should be such a specific cramp of a muscle I've never had cramping in before I don't know. Food, sleep, water etc was all normal, the only thing out of the ordinary was the temperature, so maybe that was what did it. In any case, until the doc tells me what to do I'll just sit tight and rest.
As a consequence, I was wearing quite literally every item of warm cycling gear I own. Even so, as soon as we started moving the air bit into exposed skin (in my case my temples) like little knives, and as my long finger gloves aren't thermal/winter specific it cut through them very well too.
Ignoring the temperature, it was a beautiful day, and we spun along through the open plains towards Kinbombi. Neither of us had any interest in wading through the Wide Bay Creek crossing (I know I've complained about it before but I cannot overstate how pathetic it is that Gympie Council haven't done anything at all to make it more usable) so we *ahem* found a way to cross without getting wet feet. You can imagine us bunny hopping it at 50kmh if you wish .
The climb up to Kinbombi starts around the 15km mark, and was just what we needed to warm up a bit. At just 2% grade for 5kms with (mostly) a great surface, it's the highlight of the whole trail. Things get rocky again immediately after coming over the top of the range, but it's improved a lot from the near unrideable beginnings. I was spinning a bit faster cadence than I usually do, and not putting a whole lot of power down as I waited in vain for my body to warm up. Scott clearly wasn't feeling the cold so much, and I had to concentrate on pacing myself even if that meant watching him zip up ahead.
In spite of the relatively mild pace I could feel I was going through calories at a cracking rate, so paused quickly at Goomeri station for some food. Then it was time for my least favourite part of the trail, the "Manyung Minefield" (where Gympie Council tried to outdo Roubaix for terrible surfacing work) and the rather dreary stretch through the scrub and sand from Moondooner to Murgon.
We finally reached Murgon (45km) after nearly 2 and a quarter hours. It says a lot about how tough the trail surface is that we weren't too far off the record pace. However, with a fair headwind blowing it wasn't looking too likely that we'd make up the time needed. The edge was finally coming off the cold, giving me cause to hope that I would finally switch on and could make use of the aerobars.
We ticked along pretty well to Wondai but as the climbing started just outside town Scott disappeared into the distance and my legs flatly refused to follow. After a couple of kms it was obvious the cold start had my body in survival mode and nothing would convince it otherwise. The one way record was obviously off the cards, and as much as I wanted to keep going to try and improve on the double, I could already predict exactly where and how I would crack. I suggested we continue to Tingoora to surf the wind back on the nice downhill from there to Wondai, and after stopping for more food and a toilet break we set off, into a headwind. Yes the wind had managed to swing 180 degrees in a matter of a minute or two .
Still, I was going that slowly it didn't make too much a difference. I stopped at Barambah Creek a few kms from Murgon to refill my water bottles (South Burnett tap water doesn't agree with me at the best of times).
I was getting a bit drowsy (that "surviving the cold" mode in action) so nipped into a servo in Murgon for some Red Bull, chicken alfredo, hot chips, and crumbed sausage, much to Scott's amusement. Come to think of it, apart from some of my chips I can't remember seeing him eat the whole day...
It was on the downhill run from Murgon to Moondooner that things got unpleasant, while I was riding along on the aerobars I suddenly had a sharp stabbing pain. As well as muscle pain in my upper thigh there was a tremendously unpleasant sensation a bit to the side of there-
Yep, not fun at all. One of my brothers complained of similar pain during a Brisbane to Gold Coast ride many years ago, and from memory it was a torn muscle that required a very long recovery. Obviously I was rather concerned but it quickly went away, so just sat up and tried not to aggravate things. I hoped it was just a cramp and said as much to Scott who suggested dates were the fix for cramping. It was worth a shot, and seemed to help a bit.
Scott took pity on me after we went through Goomeri and we swapped bikes for a little while, mine being a very tall, very heavy Merida 29er, and his a vintage Diamondback steel hardtail with drop bars and 26x incredibly fat road tyres. The extra speed available from the Diamondback was offset for me by the limited confidence and comfort from the skinny bars and Brooks saddle. Scott wasn't overly enamoured with the Merida either so we soon swapped back.
After descending Kinbombi and making our way through the plains again, the muscle suddenly flared up and hurt like hell as we went through a gate just a couple of kms from Kilkivan. Again, it settled down quickly (and again Scott got me to eat one of his magic dates) and we finally reached the finish after 133kms and 7.5hrs. That was a long way from the 177kms in 8hrs that I was so confident of.
After getting some fuel and food at the Kilkivan General Store I headed home to do some Googling.
It seemed pretty clear from the symptoms that I was looking at a minor-moderate tear of an abductor muscle, and 5-8 weeks off the bike. That sounded pretty bad to me (with the Strade Bianche in less than 3 weeks and Brisbane-Gympie attempt in just over 4), but given there was no bruising or inflammation (and no real ongoing pain) I made an appointment for the doc. That lead to an ultrasound this afternoon, and while the doc has the final verdict on Wednesday, the radiographer confidently said that there was no sign of any tear. It makes me think that it was just cramping, though why it should be such a specific cramp of a muscle I've never had cramping in before I don't know. Food, sleep, water etc was all normal, the only thing out of the ordinary was the temperature, so maybe that was what did it. In any case, until the doc tells me what to do I'll just sit tight and rest.