MSers in Training 2015

[Veronica]

Hi all: Steph! Go get'em girl! Have a great run and enjoy the glory of it all...Woohoo...

Marina.....I would LOVE you to ride with me....and now that I am back upright, I could keep up with you and that trike of yours....

Been working out the kinks with the training wheels. Been out three more times since those photos, very small rides, but needed to focus on how to get the wheels on more efficiently, since I did not have a need for a bike rack before, and just put my bike inside my Saturn ION. Now to do so, means I have to take the trainers off...quick release lever helps, but still a bit cumbersome to also make sure they are level and don't have me listing to one side or another from the start, or, as I learned today, don't sit lower than my rear bike wheel! Took me 20 minutes to get everything in order, I stood up, stretched, packed my folder seat away, locked the car, and stepped thru the bike, put one foot on a pedal, and the rear bike wheel just spun! Truly a GRRRR moment. Words were said out loud which I will not repeat here..... Finally got it all together and went around the circumference of a park a few times...nice rolling hills, but also saw again the difficulty in turning. Was at a T intersection, and I wanted to turn left...uphill.... Hard as I tried, I just kept going across the road. Of course I could stop without worry and didn't need to put a foot down, but I felt as if I was really not in control, and then I laughed as a car went by, and the driver looked at me three times as I must have really looked weird...just sitting on the bike, listing downhill and facing the ditch at the side of the road. I was able to Have Faith, and steer it downhill, and then life was normal again. Really need to rethink where I will ride.

It is, however, "All Good" as they say, as I know that at this point, whatever I do to stay riding will be some type of compromise...and wanting to be back upright may just mean that I will have to really judge my routes ahead of time, and remember to be very respectful of the limitations of the trainers.... And I realize that the answer to the problem of setting up of the wheels before each ride is to get a bike rack...Then I can just leave the wheels on....I ordered it as soon as I got home this evening... Gotta laugh it out....it's another adventure, for sure.....

[teena marie]

Go, Steph, go!

I have dreamt of us meeting up!

Teena Marie

[Marinadca]

Steph - we totally should! That would be so much fun! I think I would love to meet all the people here I have this dream of one day riding the Bike MS in NYC with Veronica actually.

Veronica - I have that same thought about riding an upright 3 (or 4) wheeler. It seems it would be strange to go down hill or to turn the thing. I am wonder what the nuances are. She gave me lots of warm and fuzzies though.

[Steph]

I love seeing how everyone is doing!! Thanks to those who have wished me luck on my 10k this Saturday!! I bought a cooling towel in case it us too sunny, and I've found it to help a lot with my overheating!

Marina, you and I should ride together sometime, because your trike pace is my road bike pace!!

[teena marie]

Hi all,

Love all the bike stuff!

Larry, I know what you mean about getting back on your bike. My bike was more important to me than my car.

Veronica, the bike looks fabulous (and so do you!). I looked in to doing the same with my last bike. I believe in being upright. Your muscles will remember.

Marina, I'm glad you're acknowledging your amazing abilities.

Suebee, sounds like you're paying attention to your body and making appropriate adaptations.

Swim training is great. I have found increasing the intensity of kicking at the ladder is helping to balance the strength at my hips.

Take care all, hope everyone else is moving and shaking.

Teena Marie

[Veronica]

Hi my buddies: SO.....adult training wheels.... I've attached some photos from trying them out on Saturday. We went for a very short ride down the west side of Manhattan on a bike/walk trail....Lots of cyclists zipping in and out, walkers, joggers, kids, tourists....the works. And it felt SO GOOD to be saying " On your left" again! I said it more on that 5 mile ride than I have in over a year.... The training wheels do add weight, but I felt that my speed, when the coast was clear of obstacles, was around where it was when I last trained on the two wheeler.( About what you are doing on that trike, Marina!) I know I need to really train now as those muscles haven't had this type of workout in too long a time, that little ride really woke up my quads.... I brought my old Terry bike inside and am swapping out the trike on the trainer for it, and sending the dear trike to the garage for now. The ride was just a joy for me....so happy to have a bike between my legs again

Now there are serious issues with these that I have to address and correct. I was warned about it being a different ride, and difficult to turn. You can't lean into a turn as the trainers are stabilizing the rear of the bike...they are on the ground..... So when I am riding on a slight slope such as for rain water to run off, I find I have to not only lean way to the uphill side, but turn the handlebars almost as one does a steering wheel. Very scarey and unnatural feeling...and the bike ends up feeling like it is fighting against the turn. On straight flats it is really great, as is getting on and off independently and without fear of falling. But this is an issue that could hold me back if I don't get it figured out, or learn how to compensate for it. I went to a park today that isn't yet open for the season and just rode around, trying out other ways to get used to turning, and turning when traversing a slope( such as crossing a road and turning left...) Suebee, I appreciated your mentioning Carol Cooke as I googled her, and watched a video of her riding. She has a trike upright , and mine in an unofficial "quad", but I wonder if she had the same problem, if so, how she dealt with it, and if not, why...
Still I am very happy...it was really such a freeing feeling to be back on the bike, and standing to pump a bit...I'll keep you all posted as to the progress, for sure...

Larry: Keep those stories and pictures coming! I'm happy that your rests didn't get in the way of having a great time. And thanks for sharing your reunion with "Old Paint"... I can so relate..

Teena Marie: I am sending a message to the God of Warmer Weather so you can hit the outside pool soon....

Suebee: Glad you are "regrouping", bouncing back and ready to go at it again from a different approach...You'll get there.... ..yeah, just small increments..same ultimate goal....It is too easy for us to set ourselves up...

Marina: Finally you are aware of how awesome you really are doing on that trike!

and Dave, our Fearless Leader: Love your photos of you on the trail.... rollin'!!!

[Suebee]

Hi my knees and hip jts finally recovered, mostly. All Your posts keep me going. Thanks! I m going to find another way to excercise. I guess I felt that I would give it my all , my everything , that I didn't reslize how much pain I was in to be physically active. It just felt so good to be outside and moving and having the 5k goal. I felt a little like my pre ms self. I felt young too. I look good on outside and fell prey to comments that I just needed motivation. Or the silent nod of heads when I say I get tired. So I will work on gaining physical strength and restart walking program soon. Suebee

[Marinadca]

Larry - that sounds like an amazing trip! Thank you for sharing those pictures. I love that you got to experience Holland on a bike

Thank you so very much for mentioning the paralympics as I had not thought of taking a look at the people riding trikes there!! I took a look and woman named Carole Cooke, who has MS, won the 2012 London T2 Cycling....on a 3 wheeled bike. This of course led to realize that if/when I max out the speed ability and need more there are places making upright road trikes. Most important though taking a look at the average speed of her rides on Strava made me feel so much better about my speed. I get so frustrated that I am not going as fast as I could on a road bike, but when comparing myself to others riding the three wheeled version I am not lagging *as* far behind. So thank you, I am feeling better about things, as it makes tons of sense for Athletes like her to be going as fast as they are because they are working for it and deserve it. I need to compare apples to apples and not to oranges. I try to keep up with the road bikes and get frustrated.

Veronica - thanks for understanding My trike does go that fast, and on flats I can do it fine. On a downhill I love the thing, 27 was the fastest I was able to get it. But give me an incline and I slow down. I need to work on my patience...and wattage!

[AMFADVENTURES]

The Bike

For some reason the picture of the bike didn't seem to make it on the previous post so here it is again, I hope.

[AMFADVENTURES]

All is well that ends well

Hey TM, I did see some interesting bikes in Holland. About every fifth bike over there had an electric assist too and although I didn't see that many trikes, all of the ones I did see had an electric assist. Glad to see you're getting into strength training. Just from a confidence boosting perspective, I find it's great. Hope summer finds you guys up there someday.

Marina, I am absolutely amazed you can pedal that trike 12 to 14 mph! The para-Olympic guys I occasionally run across around here only push their tens of thousand dollar trikes at 18 to 20 or so. I think you're grossly underestimating your ability there girl, you're doing great! Keep it up, look for a trike club if you have to, get an electric assist, whatever it takes keep going.

Veronica, good news on the rotator cuff, glad to see it's starting to work itself out. Also, I'd love to see a picture of your bike friday after you get the training wheels on it.

Suebee, I hope the knees are improving. Don't be surprised if it takes some time to get them used to the punishment, it'll be worth it in the end.

I took a spin on the bike yesterday, first time since getting back. Getting back on that bike was like putting on a nice fitting glove. Sitting on the saddle with my hands on the grips was so comfortable it was sort of like getting a hug from an old friend. We flew down the trail and I swear that bike floated over the bumps and crevasses. I can only imagine that it must have been overjoyed to have me back and be rolling again. We'll see if tomorrow goes so well.

I think the Iceland/Netherlands trip might come in installments because it's taking me a while to get through the ten thousand or so helmet cam pictures I've got. Here's the first installment,

The Bike.

In case you're not familiar with the typical Dutch city bike, here's a picture of the one I had. This behemoth weighed in at at least 45 lbs., probably more like 50. It is totally upright. There is no place to hide in a wind on this bike. It is impossible to make yourself small and oh yeah, there wouldn't be a Holland if it wasn't for wind and windmills so there was wind and plenty of it, usually on the nose (windmill pic.)

I guess I didn't get a picture of the pedals so let me just say, they were as basic as pedals can get. We just don't have pedals that basic over here. I may not have expected quite so much wind but I did expect to have pedal problems and I prepared by bringing along a pair of toe clips and screws to attach them with. Of course, the pedals were so basic, there wasn't any way to screw the tow clips on but after a little fooling around I managed to tape them on with athletic tape and secure them pretty firmly with a couple of zip ties, at least well enough to get me by.

It was fortuitous that I planned for that because between the biking and all of the walking at the attractions we biked to, I could not keep my foot on those pedals. I tried to tough it out the first day without the toe clips but was having major problems keeping my foot on the pedal after walking around the Tulip garden we visited (pic.) Fortunately, at some point on the way back to the barge, about 7 of the group decided they didn't want to pedal anymore, and so with as much reluctance as I could muster, I decided I'd accompany them in a taxi.

We had to wait on the taxi for about an hour because obviously not just any taxi can accommodate 8 bikes and 8 people, so of course we pulled into a bar for beer and wine while we waited. The taxi, when it arrived was almost the size of a small bus but still it could only manage either the 8 bikes or the 8 people so at the taxi drivers suggestion, we sent it to the barge with the bikes while we waited for its return at the bar and had a couple more drinks. When it did eventually return, the driver waited patiently for us to finish our drinks and then poured us into his bus. The Dutch people are so laid back and have such a great sense of humor that the whole ordeal turned into one of many pleasant moments on our adventure.

All is well that ends well.

[Veronica]

Larry, I join the throngs in saying "Happy you had a good trip, and happy you're back!" Yeah, photos would be cool!
Marina, I know what you are feeling about the speed. Our cycling is so personal...our machines, our gear, our rituals before, during and after a ride, and our comfort speed. So I can appreciate that you are craving for that 17 mph. Can the trike get up to 17mph?? I know yours is a lot fast than mine and has the larger than 16 " wheel on the rear.... I'm very curious about the differences between our trikes.

I'm on my way to being back on the upright. Got the adult training wheels and they and my Bike Friday are at the shop. We needed to order 12" wheels for the training wheels, as the 16" ones don't work with the 20" wheels of the BF. The bike guy had never seen these training wheels, but worked with me in ordering them, and when he actually mounted them on the bike he thought it was pretty cool looking. Different look, at the very least! I have my fingers crossed that the wheels come in tomorrow and I can pick up the bike on Saturday. I am so itching to get out there! The trike is currently on my trainer.....and I am enjoying spinning that way. Hard to get the heart rate up, but I have to say that I do not regret buying the trike. I will use it for some rides this season...probably alone, as my two wheeler friends can't go that slow.....

My rotator cuff issue is finally beginning to really heal...thanks to LOTS of PT, and a cortisone shot.... Now at least I can work harder on strength training without the pain.... and back to the planks, in time.....

Teena Marie: you so sound as if you are rocking with your exercises! Sounds like your PT really is in this journey with you, and wants progress for you almost as much as you do! A winning combination, as far as I see it!

[Marinadca]

Teeny - thanks for posting that link those are some interesting looking bikes!

One of my biggest frustrations in speed on my bike (I average 12-14 mph) and I wonder how heavy those are! I need to learn to relax and enjoy the ride when I am going slower then I want to be (17-19 in my happy ]place generally).

Larry - I am glad you enjoyed your trip, cannot wait to hear about it (and maybe see some pics)

[teena marie]

Hi all,

Welcome back, Larry. You must have seen some great bikes. I think your event is coming up soon, Steph. Good luck.

I've been increasing strength training and it feels good. Trying to balance out quads and hamstrings. Lots of glut work with kicking at the pool ladder. This also helps the hip flexor's. Also lots of hand strengthening and some fine motor exercises. Physio is great. He really thinks outside the box
and believes potential is everywhere.

Hard to believe summer will ever come. Cool and rainy and I want my outdoor pool!

Take care all,

Teena Marie

[AMFADVENTURES]

Back from the Netherlands last night. Great trip! Too much to tell right now but basically it included a great group of people, bikes and boats with plenty of walking and riding and lots of eating and drinking all tied together by strong winds. Remarkably, there were no significant incidents or accidents!

Steph, good luck on the run!

Looking forward to getting back in the routine,
Larry

[teena marie]

Hello all,

Steph, your training sounds really good. Congratulations. Ice vests are a lifesaver. Maybe you could get a prescription so it could be a medical expense for insurance or taxes. Larry posted a list of excellent cooling strategies in another thread Uthoff's and optic issues. Keep up the great work.

There was an earlier discussion about trikes. I totally agree about being upright on a regular bike versus recumbent. Not that I'm on any kind of a bike at present, but I have found I use my whole body when upright. I loved the looks of some of the bikes. Here is another amazing looking bike http://www.4wieler.nl/en/about-us

Swim training is going well. Physio is good. I'm quite overextended with work(our hospital is moving) and a huge renovation project. I'm on the verge of being too frazzeled so my goals to counteract this is get enough sleep and meditate on a regular basis. I fell at work yesterday (not hurt) and it was a clear sign that I was too flustered.

Larry, your trip sounds amazing. I look forward to some details.

Take care all,

Teena Marie