Emily, at 7am this morning: "If I woke up on any other Saturday morning feeling like this there is absolutely no way I'd decide that what I really wanted to do was go on a 95 mile bike ride. In fact, if I woke up on a Saturday feeling like this I'd probably assume I'd been horrifically assaulted the night before and go straight to A&E."
Despite this, after stinking out the hotel with Deep Heat we set off in the rain and strong headwinds to cycle another 95 miles through the peaks of Cumbria and into Scotland. The first 10 miles were similar to last night's final 10, except it was a mountain climb to Kirkby Stephen, the steepest, longest hill we've encountered so far. Emily was trying to cycle using only her left leg as her right quad had totally seized up, but this didn't go so well on the mountain road and she had to get off and push for a while as she couldn't get any power into her right leg to get the pedals turning. She somehow managed to get back on and Ollie helped her get up the steep hill by cycling alongside her and giving her the odd push (what a hero!) After nearly 3 hours and only 15 miles we started seriously discussing the possibility of Emily getting on a train. However after a coffee in Kirkby Stephen and some excruciating leg massage we carried on and managed to pick up the pace a little. Unfortunately the game of 'which bit will break next' threw up some tendonitis in Ollie's left achilles and again we started to consider a Plan B involving trains or taxis. We both soldiered on though, and after an excruciating but character building 12 hours on the road we arrived in the pitch darkness at Langholm in Scotland. Scotland!!!
Can't believe we made it this far, especially after we almost had to call it a day today. Well done us!
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ReplyDeleteDear Ollie and Emily,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you guys are having the time of your lives..... NOT!!!!
Unbelievable effort but by the sounds of things I think you should seriously consider taking a day off or taking a train at some point if injuries get any worse!!!
Also I hope you have been, but if you are not already having ice baths every night, you should definitely be doing so, followed by hot bath!!
Deep Heat is also not ideal, it can be ok for some pain relieve if you properly massage it in but it causes irritation to the skin which draws blood to it and away from muscles giving you the sensation of being warm but your muscles are NOT!! You would be better off using something like ibuprofen gel and massage it in every 4 or 5 hours!! Either way it’s the massage which is the most effective thing which you should try and do every night also!
Good luck for the rest of it, I really hope you make it and your pains get easier but remember it’s not always the right thing to be stubborn and push through it!! What you have done so far is unbelievable!!!
I hope I haven’t squashed morale I am just the medical opinion and am concerned about you both!!!
Take care,
Love & regards,
(Almost) Dr Gilmore
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteYou've done amazingly well covering so many miles in just 1 week! We're all very proud.
Really enjoying reading the blogs and keeping up with your journey.
Whatever you decide to do will be the right decision..... and don't forget to take onboard the Doctor's orders!
Love Ricky and Sam x