The Biking Cold

When we took our club ride Sunday morning, our area had just come off some good soaking rains that lasted much of Saturday. The forecast called for almost no rain chances Sunday, so I dressed accordingly. I wore a polyester base layer under my jersey and my lightest pair of arm warmers.

Once again, the forecasters were wrong. The temperature, which was 68 (20C) at the start of the ride, seemed to be falling as we reached our turnaround point. On top of that, the rain that was supposed to have moved out of the area paid us a visit again, in the form of mist.

After the first 15 miles, I was bathed in sweat on the inside, and wet from mist on the outside. (I suppose a treatise on the so-called “wicking” properties of base layers merits it own post at some point.) Coupled with the morning breeze, the wetness made me feel a bit chilly, arm warmers or not.

I felt good at the end of the ride, as I showered and wiped down the bikes. But by late afternoon, I could tell something was wrong. That telltale tickle formed at the back of my throat. I downed a couple of aspirin and settled back to watch football — no, Ryder Cup — no, football — no, Ryder Cup…we wound up sticking with golf, and I didn’t do my throat any favors by yelling at the American team as they blew a comfortable lead.

By bedtime, I felt lousy. It was by now a full-blown cold. My nose ran like a faucet, and I had that overall blah feeling. I got through a day of work Monday, slept poorly Monday night, and had an unpleasant day at work on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening is when I get a chance to ride during the week, because that’s the day I get home earliest. But I wasn’t in the mood for riding. I just wanted to eat that hot comfort food my wife had made for dinner, and sit back to watch TV. (I can’t believe that cement-footed Bristol Palin wasn’t voted off of “Dancing With the Stars.”)

Now my wife says she feels the tickle in her throat. And the dog has an ear infection, so she’s sleeping as much as possible. I know these seasonal colds are just things you’ve gotta put up with…but I missed my ride today. I hope I’ll be able to get out Friday evening.

The Sick Cyclist

Huh. Missed my regular Tuesday night post. There’s a reason for it. I’m sick.

Just coming off the high spirits from the birthday ride Sunday — happy to have finished almost a metric century — unsupported — feeling great — I felt it coming on late Monday morning. It started as a headache. Then my sinuses clogged. Then I got a tickle in my throat. As the day wore on, the tickle went away, and an aching rawness replaced it. I medicated myself before bed, and turned in early.

Tuesday it was worse. I slogged my way through the work day, came home and repeated the ritual from the night before. But I must have been more out of it than I thought. When I got home, taking my Tuesday after-work ride was out of the question. After eating, I flopped in front of the TV, never to move until bedtime. I forgot to post something on the blog. I never forget to blog. I worry sometimes (often) that I don’t have anything worth blogging about, but I manage to post some drivel or other.

Then I started looking ahead to the weekend. Now that I’ve broken out of my 40-mile ride limit, can I keep it up? Can I do something over 40, even if it’s not as far as a metric? What if I’m still under the weather when Friday and Saturday roll around?

It’s a question I used to wrestle with when I was a jogger. From time to time, I would do a run with a head cold, and no ill effects seemed to result. But I don’t recall ever going on a bike ride when feeling bad.

The answer is, as is often the case: “It depends.” Dr. Edward Laskowski of the Mayo Clinic says exercising with a head cold can be beneficial. It can open up clogged nasal passages. But the good doctor does qualify his remarks. First, he says, exercise is fine if the illness is “above the neck.” That is, a head cold shouldn’t prevent a person from a workout. Second, that workout should be shorter and less intense than usual. But if your malady is below the neck — chest congestion, hacking cough, upset stomach — fuhgeddaboudit. Exercising with a fever is out of the question, because it can further elevate your already heightened body temperature and make you sicker.

In my case, I feel some fatigue in my body besides my head cold symptoms, so I’m going to lie low. And I’ll take some solace from Dr. Laskowski. He says taking a few days off shouldn’t adversely affect my performance when I resume cycling. So I’m just going to kick back, take some of that codeine-laced cough syrup (yum!) and plan on being back on the roads Friday or Saturday.

The best laid plans

So today we were supposed to ride in the LBJ 100, out at the Lyndon Baines Johnson ranch about 60 miles west of Austin.  Pat planned to go 32 miles, and I would do the full 100K (62 miles).  I was really looking forward to it, because we’ve been out there before and took the National Park Service tour.  It’s in the Texas Hill Country, and is quite scenic, with quiet, hilly country roads.  For the ride, the former President’s daughter Luci opened up the ranch to the public.  The ride would start on the private air strip just north of the ranch house.

But yesterday, Pat had a bad fall dismounting from a horse after a riding lesson.  Nothing broken, but bad abrasions and bruises, and lots of soreness all over.  We even left last night’s performance of Hal Holbrook in “Mark Twain Tonight,” at intermission, because Pat was feeling so much discomfort.  By the time we got home, she had decided to skip the bike ride.

Before Hal Holbrook, we went out to dinner with friends at an Italian restaurant.  I figured it would be a nice opportunity to do some carbo-loading before the ride.  But I woke up this morning with major GI distress.  Mother Nature did not cooperate, and I decided the best thing to do was not try to tough it out, but skip the ride as well.

Too bad.  After good weather this week (and some much-needed rain), a cold front came through last night.  Temperature at ride time was only 40F, with a wicked wind gusting out of the north.  One of the guys in my club, who did do the ride, described conditions as “horrendous.”  That would have been good prep for me to ride in the MS 150 next month.  Last year’s ride was into a head wind all the way from Houston to Austin, and ride veterans say conditions were worse than they’d ever seen.  Fighting a cold wind would toughen me up for that kind of adversity.

Oh, well.  I’ll take it easy and eat some yogurt today, calm my insides, and hope I can ride tomorrow.  Maybe the weather will be difficult then, too.