To say that I have been dissatisfied with my riding since I started riding again would be the understatement of the year. My lines are woeful, my anticipation all over the place, my renowned smoothness on the bike a mere memory and my fixation with all the dreadful things that COULD happen to me has reached the point of almost being almost obsessive. Added to this, I have been unable to ride any more than very short distances before my injured leg became so painful that extended stops were necessary. Like I say, dissatisfaction doesn’t even start to cover it.
So, on Tuesday, with the forecast of a mild day and an absence of the screaming westerlies that we have been experiencing here on the coast, I decided that I would test myself out with a longer ride. I won’t say that it was a “make or break” ride, but it surely was intended to prove something.
When Helena left for work, I suited up and headed north. It was cool and brisk but sunny. Had the bike been equipped with heated hand grips I certainly would have used them, but I managed fine without them, just wearing my mid-season gloves. I followed my usual route; Mount Ousely, Picton Road and onto the backroad that leads you through Oakdale, Wallacia, Mulgoa and comes out on the Penrith by-pass. I made good time and was feeling pretty comfortable until I hit the 100km/h section after Mowbray Park. For reasons that are obvious, my major riding problem since the accident has been right hand corners and especially when there is someone coming towards me in the corner on the other side of the road. And so it was that, not long after hitting the 100, I peeled into a long right hand corner only to see a white truck coming towards me in the other lane. I tensed up, and slowed down. And, at that instant, my right leg issued a sharp reminder that all was not well. Pain was instant and it hadn’t been there before.
I can look back and recount this but, as any rider knows, these things happen in an instant and the brain processes a myriad of actions in just that time. Looking back on it, I remember thinking, “What’s the problem? He’s in his lane, he’s not going to hurt you; relax and concentrate on your line.” As I did, I felt the tension ease and the situation became normal. BUT, to my utter amazement, the moment I relaxed, stopped holding my breath and sat down into the bike again, the pain in my leg ceased, like it had been switched off like a light bulb! It took a few seconds for my brain to make the connection but it really was amazing. There was the secret for which I had been searching. The pain in my leg wasn’t because of the seating position; it wasn’t because of the distance I had ridden or because of any physiological factors. It was there because I was TENSE.
The logical part of my brain told me that it was just all in my head; that it couldn’t be that simple, but I rode on, minus the pain and started getting into the flow. I gassed up at Wilberforce and headed out to the Putty Road, destination, the famous Grey Gum Cafe. Those that know it will know that the sweeping corners that drop you down off the tops of the mountain and into the Colo Valley are exhilarating. I was hoping they would be, but, slightly misjudging my entry speed for one of the early right hand corners, I grabbed another gear and tensed up. BANG, the pain returned, instantly. I quickly regrouped, relaxed, sat up a bit and took a few deep breaths. Again the pain subsided. This can’t be right, surely it isn’t that easy? But it seemed like it was. So, once on the straights again I motored along, free of pain and, by now, easily exceeding 200kms in the saddle with only a short break for petrol.
Early lunch at the GGC was great, basking in the sunshine and thawing out a little. Despite the sunshine, it looked like it was going to be just as cold on the return journey so I suited up and headed home, trying to beat the onset of the winter evening cold. The leg felt fine, the “flow” in the corners was back and the smoothness was starting to return. A few “moments” were easily dispatched by the “sit up, deep breath and relax” technique and, as the kms rolled on, the idea formed that I should try to do the return leg in one go, with no stops. 241kms, well, that will be a test.
As the afternoon waned, I rolled on, easily dispatching the onset of pain by my now-established relaxation exercise and I pulled up in the driveway at home around 1630 having done the return leg in one go, as planned and substantially without pain. Not only that, but my concentration had lasted the distance as had my implementation of good riding techniques.
And, to top it all off, I was in far less discomfort from supporting my helmet than what I have been, AND I was fit and without pain the next morning.
To some this may seem trivial indeed, and, if it is, then I am glad that discoveries like this are already part of your riding routine. But as a rider who has been in the saddle for 40+ years, I am happy to learn new things and put them into practice. Total ride distance, 482kms. In a day and it was easy.
Mind over matter doesn’t always work, but, in this case, it most certainly did.
jeffb says
Gfreat to read about your ride, Phil. I hope to get out next week somewhere (when grandkids gone and Bernadette back at work) so will get in touch if you’re free. Perhaps only up to pieshop for one of Will’s ‘specials’!! Jeff
Phil Hall says
Looking forward to it, mate.