MSers in Training 2020

[AMFADVENTURES]

Happy new year everyone!

I imagine we're all looking forward to a less tumultuous 2021, I know I certainly am. But 2020 wasn't a total bust, in fact it was the best year I've had on the bike in the last 4 years. I managed to get out 134 times for 300 hours, riding over 3,600 miles and climbing over 135,000 feet.

Karen, yes, it was also a good year to work on those culinary skills. I enjoy cooking and baking and this year definitely afforded the opportunity to expand one's repertoire of dishes and breads. Of course the best part is occasionally hearing someone at the table exclaim "Oh wow, that's really good".

Suebee, thank you for the well wishes and thank you also for being part of the group. Your input is always appreciated. Hopefully we'll see a return to normalcy in the near future.

And Dave, thanks for being a constant, steady inspiration. And nice job on the trike! Do tell what's going on with the new trike. I have visions of you having a Tesla battery or two installed in it in preparation for a cross country trip or some such. And yes, I'd also love to hear from everyone.

Again, Happy New Year all,
Larry

[ActiveMSers]

Thanks Suebee!! I ditto that. And I'm definitely looking forward to 2021. I just checked my handcycle stats for the year:

130 days cycling
200 hours on the trike
900+ miles cycled

Not too shabby. I also put in another 100+ days of exercising at home. All in all a decently fit year! How about others out there? Any achievements to chime in on???

[Suebee]

Happy holidays you all! Grateful to be part of this awesome crew. Wishing everyone a very healthy happy wonderful BRAND new year! Bring it! ❤️ Suebee

[ActiveMSers]

Karen, it sounds like you are slogging/sledding through the pandemic okay! Here in New Mexico the temperature swings are pretty big; this week we'll be in the 60s, but it'll be in the 30s this weekend. Translated into Celsius: warmish to chillyish!

With the changing temps I'm doing more exercise at home, and a decent number of exercise videos with Laura. I just modify the exercises to suit me from my wheelchair. When it's not possible to simulate, I fall back on some favorite maneuvers to get my heartrate up. If the weather is really nasty, I use my indoor fan bike, cranking on the arms from the front. I can get my heart rate into the 140s if I push it!

Looking forward to this darn vaccine....

[cl3me]

Full lock-down other than essential services here in Winterpeg, winter is here so biking is out, gyms/pools are closed, so one saving grace that horse care is considered essential so I am still able to get in some pony time, masks worn in the stables but not while riding.

I have actually pulled out, dusted off my old Wii game console and having some fun with the Wii Fit Plus and games to get off the couch lol

My job in agri-food logistics is considered essential so I am still going to the office for work, albeit masks mandatory in common areas at work and we are working split shifts in order to reduce capacity in the office.

Bizzare to say the least.

We have been using a meal kit delivery service (they deliver a meal kit with all ingredients and recipe) to the door, so we poor a glass of wine each,, divide up the recipe tasks and have fun trying new recipes every week. Lots of extra time to cook now! Ha!

Cheers
Karen

[ActiveMSers]

Happy b-day, Larry! Hard to believe I knew you when you were a pup in your 50s. As for action pics, the trike is still a work in progress and is getting tweaks back in Colorado. There were a few issues that couldn't have been foreseen without a test drive. So I am temporarily back on my regular handcycle, cranking away 3 days a week. With the virus accelerating again here in NM, we are being extra careful and avoiding trails for the most part.

Also just finished filming a video on the importance of MS and exercise. Should be coming out next month! If it goes as well as I thought it did, it should be pretty trick.

As for others exercising, is the pandemic making it harder or easier to get motivated to exercise? Curious...

[AMFADVENTURES]

Gorgeous area to ride in Veronica, super pics. Glad you've been able to get out.

Action pics Dave!

Got my birthday ride in, 70 miles plus one for luck! Most of it was on a paved over railroad track with a little climb at the end. I can see more of those old railroad trails in my future.

Larry

[ActiveMSers]

Veronica, love the latest update and the pics! Gorgeous. And your update, Larry! As for me and my trike, it has arrived! Yesterday I took it out for its maiden voyage. I'll have more on the experience later (on deadline with other projects), but it was crazy fun. And fast. On the LOWEST boost setting I was as fast as Laura. I was a little worried the speed would mean it would be harder to get into the cardio zone, but I crested 150 bpm, no prob. And on that quick ride I hit 10 miles lickety split, so I see far longer rides in my near future. The trike is pretty trick, so there's lots more to discover.

Another bonus: being a little higher than my other trike means it's easier to get on and off. So far, aces. Pics to come...

[Veronica]

Ok, ok... time to post... Yup, Pandemic/COVID Restrictions/concerns plus political issues has just worn me down. For me, as with so many, I find myself staring at a screen for one reason or another just much, much more than I ever did before. Video conferencing is so very useful for work, and social reasons, but it poops me out! This just adds to feeling exhausted. When I don’t need to be on the computer, I am not, and I find I am not reading fun thing...like this forum ....as often as I did, since when I can, I want to go do things OUTSIDE that lets me just forget thIs national and world horror show.

So, my getting out to move and explore has been just a huge relief for me. I am having so much fun on my rides..... there are so many variations of routes I can take around here that I just play it as I feel when I get to a fork in the road. And recently I got to ride with two good friends...another MSer and her husband. We met in an area where I never biked before, so it was double the fun of riding with friends ( physically distanced!) and on new roads...nice challenging route that took us past apple orchards They just smelled so wonderful.

I have gotten abit stronger this season despite my late start complements of that bout with shingles. And that feels good... to feel the positive change in abilities when I tackle some of the more challenging inclines around here. You know, I bad mouthed the video conferencing above, but working from home, and handling my clients via phone or video, has certainly allowed me to fit in a ride between people. When I was working 90 miles away, that was obviously not possible!

I’ve attached some photos of that recent ride with friends, and from today....just a stunningly beautiful cool Fall day. And Dave...about the masks....I haven’t ridden on our really nice rail trail even once this year since it is over-run with walkers and cyclists now and I didn’t want to be dealing with constantly pulling up and down a mask. Riding directly out of my driveway on these roads I have absolutely no need for a mask... another great escape for me.......

And Larry, you continue to amaze me....great season you are having!

Dave.... your long wait for your new wheels has me antsy, too. But I can’t wait until you are rolling with it...... I wish you Happy Trails that are longer and different!

[AMFADVENTURES]

I think you nailed it there Dave. Covid fatigue is definitely hitting me, from restricting my normal physical activities like hitting the gym to visiting my favorite restaurants once in a while. Not to mention the constantly changing local Covid regulations. I even had a near Covid exposure experience! Fortunately all of the people I was immediately exposed to tested negative while I quarantined.

And Covid isn't the only one around. As you recently pointed out in The Hunker Games, the constant political bombardment seems to have reached an all time peak with new crises emerging on an almost daily basis. Too much for an MSer to try to keep up with.

In my area we're experiencing bad air and smoke fatigue due to the many forest fires resulting from the recent pronged drought conditions in the West. It has restricted my outdoor activities. High intensity exercise is out of the question on marginally bad days, of which there have been many, as are extended lighter activities.

The bottom line is that all of the competition for fatigue has the MS fatigue surging to keep up during a period where it is difficult to get enough exercise to keep it under control. Kind of a Perfect Storm of sorts. Fortunately some of these fatiguing events should begin to fade away over the next few weeks.

While it all has slowed me down considerably it hasn't stopped me. I have managed to surpass 3,000 miles and 118,000 vertical ft. (about 22.5 vertical miles) for the YTD.

And, no I don't wear a mask while I'm cycling but I do frequently take one with me, particularly if I know I will need to make a water or coffee stop along the way.

And Karen, well of course you took care of the saddle problem immediately, glad to hear it. I only mention it because I put up with saddle sores for years before I found a solution . Hope this finds you riding in Clear air up there! PS: love the new bike!

Larry

[ActiveMSers]

The training thread has been unusually quiet. I'm guessing that is part pandemic exhaustion. I hope everyone is doing their best to stay fit during this challenging time. I'm still managing to exercise most days, and getting on my bike regularly. My new one is scheduled to arrive this Monday if all goes well. It's certainly been a process!

Do any of you exercise regularly with a mask on? I cycle with one, but only pull it up when I near fellow bikers or runners. I don't find it too hard. But being in the Southwest there isn't much sweat so my mask stays dry.

[cl3me]

Dave - love how it is so much easier to add photos to the forum and I even figured out my avatar.

Larry - the stock saddle came off my new bike right away and put on my favorite Selle Italia Lady Gel saddle and some sweet Look Keo Carbon pedals.

[ActiveMSers]

Karen, love the photos! I'm glad the new forum allows that feature. And JT, keep cranking! And Larry, yeah I'm feeling you. It's been hot here too. Temps should be in the comfortable 80s, but we've been above 90 for WEEKS. So our rides have been relatively short. And with gyms still closed, our fave bike trail is usually too busy for comfort. Grr. But we are still getting out a few times a week, so that's good. In a bit of good news, it appears my new e-handcycle is FINALLY making it's way to the States from Austria. Then customs. Then the Spokes 'n Motion in Colorado. Then Paul will order the battery and get it ground-shipped (it can't fly from Austria). THEN Paul will drive the bike down here. So the wait continues, but hopefully there is light at the end of that tunnel!

NOTE FOR ALL: You finally should be able to add custom avatars to your profile. The photo limit is 2MB, but that is pretty much the only restriction. Note that the "crop box" is small, but that can be resized stretch around any photo you choose. Looking forward to see what folks choose....

[AMFADVENTURES]

JT, congrats on the 10 miles! I'll never forget my first post dx 10 mile ride. On the way back, I got about 1.5 miles from home and seriously thought I wasn't going to be able to make it. I did make it of course. Since then I've found myself in a similar situation any number of times but barring incidents or accidents, I've always made it, albeit, sometimes I cheated a little but usually I just slowed down and plodded along. As far as an E-wheel, keep in mind that the wheel and the battery will likely add at least 18 lbs to your bike, a potentially big deal if you run out of battery with any hills left to get up. Again, congrats on the 10 miles, that first 10 miles is a biggie!

Karen, fantastic, nothing like investing in a new state of the art carbon bike to keep a person in the saddle. And a built in bike buddy to boot! Speaking of staying in the saddle, sometimes the stock saddles even on a good bike aren't that good when you really start putting on the miles. If you start having saddle problems check out the Selle Anatomica saddles, something one of the members here turned me on to several years ago. Saddle sores are no fun. The longer I use it, the more comfortable it gets.


Good News - Bad News

Let's go with the bad news first. August is turning out to be one of the hottest months on record! Along with that, Colorado and much of the west, is seeing record drought which translates to forest fires of which the second largest ever to occur in the state, is less than 50% contained. The smoke from the fires along with the record heat has caused Denver's air pollution to rise to the dubious level of 3rd worst in the WORLD. Ozone rises to unhealthy levels every afternoon but lately has risen to dangerous levels even for normally healthy individuals. Add to that the Corona virus concerns and accompanying regulations and the fact that as one crosses city and county boundaries the regulations are prone to change. All in all, it's making getting out for a ride pretty challenging.

I might have found a little good news this morning as I was perusing headlines. Some healthcare party in Japan tested ozone as a disinfecting agent against the Corona virus. Turns out at levels harmless to humans, it's about 90% effective! So since Denver's ozone level is so high, we may be one of the safest places in the nation as far as potential exposure to the Corona virus goes. Yay.

I am still riding just not riding very hard or very far. For the year to date, I'm at 2,444 miles and 102,498 ft. of ascent.

Larry

[cl3me]

Been getting some biking in, boyfriend is now hooked, we just went out and bought some new road bikes....a Cannondale Synapse for me and a Specialized Roubaix for him - both carbon framed endurance road bikes, a big upgrade from our aluminum framed bikes....we rationalized it as fitness in COVID era, we did a 60km ride this past weekend. Been doing some horseback riding too. I have a few miles to go to catch up to Larry's mileage, but now that I have an awesome road bike now I have a chance! I was contemplating an ebike, but decided to go the carbon fibre route for now, the Synapse frame does an amazing job of dampening the road vibrations, when I did the same 60km ride before I had more numbness and a hand tremor ....this time no issues.