Last week was frustrating. I got a good ride in on Saturday, was impressed with how much stronger my legs have become. Got another good 30 miles in on Tuesday, but my back started hurting on Saturday, seemed better by Tuesday, but then got a lot worse after the ride. And it's hard to tell with your back what the problem is. Muscle soreness? Muscle imbalance? Need an adjustment (anybody got a good chiropractor?)? Or something worse than that - a disk problem. I kind of think it's a combination of the first three - my abs are pathetic - but I've been hurt but good a few times, and I have a couple permanent reminders. Having a bad lower back for the rest of my life just wouldn't work for me, so I've been off the bike ever since. Stretching constantly - I can almost touch my toes. Hooray.
My last "training" ride before going to Tennessee, will be the Tour de Lake Hopatcong. For anybody that trashes New Jersey, at least driving this route should be a requirement; nothing but scenic mountain lake after scenic state park. Rural living at its best, with less rural settings just minutes away. But I haven't seen the whole ride course, so I decided to take a drive up there, and take a look for myself.
Whoa.
It's got an awful lot of climbing. In fact, most of the first 10 miles is climbing, then there's a more or less flat section for about 2 miles, then the route sheet says "Get ready to climb". What?!? And that section is pretty crazy...it might not be Alpe de Huez, but it's pretty impressive. If it weren't for the back pain, I'd be raring to go. I'm still looking forward to it...it's going to beat me up, but good.
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Good call on protecting your back... I was pretty cavalier with a bad back a few years ago that turned out to be the start of sciatica - never been the same since, and it's a bitch.
That sucks, Iain, sorry to hear it. I'm a physical guy - a back injury would really affect the rest of my life. I do think I'm past it, now...I think it was just a little too much training, a little too quick, but with the lower back, I don't like to take chances...it's hard for me to tell if it's muscle that's hurting, or a disc, or what have you...I'm trying to set up an appointment with a fairly elusive chiropractor as we speak, just to double check.
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