Man Flu!

OK so it wasn’t really man flu, but a cold brought on a chest infection, a bad case of Asthma and the need for antibiotics. Either way it kept me off the bike for 9 days, which is the longest I’ve been out of the saddle since July 2011!!

Normally this sort of hiatus would have brought on a case of the shakes, but firstly I knew I was too ill to ride and in all honesty it provided a nice break at the end of the season. It was perhaps telling that I didn’t actually miss the bike as much as I normally would.

The worst was the throbbing pain in my legs that started after about 3 or 4 days. It was almost as if I could feel the muscle tone draining away. This slow torment however was nothing compared to when I actually got back in the saddle! In hindsight perhaps setting out on a 50 mile MTB ride with 1500m of climbing was slightly optimistic. I was completely dead on my feet by the time I staggered in through the front door, but it had been a glorious autumn day. I had headed out with a friend to tackle the man made trails over at Queen Elizabeth Country Park near Petersfield.

The QE of old used to be a nightmare of slippery off-camber chalk and roots. But the new blue trail, although not especially technical has a cambered all weather surface where the swoops and bends still provide a thrilling challenge if tackled at speed.

The next test is getting back to fitness in time for the Merida Brass Monkeys series which starts in little over a months time.