21st May 2015 Last man standing!

Thursday 21st 50-53F, 10-12C, breezy and bright but with rather a lot of cloud. Odd showers possible. Lots of hares about this morning. One trotted up to within a few yards as I stood like statue. Lots of warblers again. It feels quite warm today. Which doesn't make much sense considering how windy it is. Another rest day.

Friday 22nd 50F, 10C, breezy, heavy overcast. Sunshine promised for later. You'd think that with all the cycling and walking I do, my leg muscles would be strong and fit. Yesterday was spent indoors taking down some heavy, built-in furniture. It involved lots of kneeling, dragging and lifting. Today, my leg muscles are extremely sore from the unexpected and unusual exercise. It just goes to show that completely different muscles are involved when carrying out different tasks. I don't have the patience to do deliberate, repetitive exercises so now use walking to undo the likely damage caused by cycling.

My legs haven't hurt this badly since I first started cycling seriously again a little over six years ago. In those days my legs were in constant pain. Yet I came straight from a decade of heavy daily work. With constant repetitive lifting involving stepping up and down onto a machine loading platform at frequent intervals. In between this I would sometimes have to manhandle items weighing over a hundred pounds.

The heavy, repetitive work ruined my shoulders but did not remotely prepare my muscles for cycling. It took several years for the shoulder pain to subside completely. As did the leg pain from cycling. I lost a couple of stone of "solid muscle" along the way. Even turning into a concentration camp inmate for a while. I've since put 3/4 of a stone back on again and rarely suffer from unpleasant leg pain any more. I'm obviously not trying hard enough by Obree standards! The sun has just come out so I'd better have my walk.

It was quite painful at times particularly as I climbed or descended slopes. Buzzards were soaring just behind the vertical cliff face of the forest. Skylarks filled the air with their busy songs. The forest tracks are becoming rather overgrown with wild plants, nettles and grass. Very wet too as my leaky, right, Salomon boot re-confirmed. I must get onto the dealer again. This is the second leaky pair [replaced under guarantee] well within two years from purchase.

My quadriceps remain very tender so I thought it best to take a rest from cycling until I feel stronger. My guess is that I have been lowering myself to a crouch or kneeling and straightening up again rather too often. The bodyweight load and resisting its momentum falls directly on the quads each time. 

Saturday 23rd 53F, 12C, bright and breezy. Legs still very sore. I have finished the first part of the home building project so can relax and rest now. Phase two should not involve remotely so much grovelling. The wind was stronger than expected on my walk. My legs were hurting almost constantly. I see there is another outbreak of Japanese knotweed to add to all the pretty wild  flowers. Importing soil from elsewhere for landscaping seems to be extremely risky!

I hardly noticed my legs on the trike until I jumped out of the saddle to crest a short climb. Not a good idea! It remained mostly sunny and mild with a strong headwind coming home. Lots of individual cyclists out training. I was dragging several days' worth of shopping home in a full leather bag with the pink bag stuffed to the gills resting on top. As I plodded uphill at only 9mph an elderly woman steamed past me at a considerable speed with her legs hardly moving! Another electric bike convert making me feel old and de-crapped. Only 7 miles.

Sunday 24th 54F, 12C, breezy and rather cloudy with bright sunny periods. My legs aren't nearly so painful today though the shops may be closed for the holidays. A short walk in search of fresh air with the oil seed rape in a second week of full flower. Quickly followed by yet more dizziness. I'll have to find out if I can have my ears syringed at the surgery in the hope that it helps.

A short ride in the afternoon had me chatting with an elderly lady outside a supermarket. She had hoped to meet me to talk about the trike after seeing me riding everywhere. I was as modest as usual and explained that I was merely an eccentric Englishman abroad. She left beaming, surprised and impressed with my mileages. Though only 7 miles today and probably my lowest week's mileage in a long time!

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