The Greater San Fransisco Area

Continuing my quest to travel the world.

It has been my quest to cycle around the world for a very long time, although I have ticked off 16 countries to date, I still haven't achieved the ultimate goal of cycling the world. I cannot wait any longer for the conditions to be perfect, age is catching up with me, so it is now or never.

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia

picture drawn by Jim my Step - Father on our trip across Australia
After our trip to Vietnam in 2012.

Monday 28 November 2011

3 things.


I don't make a good sick person. For me, it's a double edged sword. I cannot rest, do nothing, and wait to get better, that just makes me anxious about:
1] Not getting any exercise, I can almost feel the weight piling on and my fitness ebbing away.
2]  Not getting any chores done, when there's always so much to do.
3] And when you are married to someone like Niel who is super fit and never gets sick, it's intolerable when I do.
Being sick makes me very stressed and stress does not help you to get better.



I haven't been a 'happy chappy' this week. It started off with a migraine headache and hay fever last weekend, which I had to go to work with, as no one could cover me having a sick day. That left my resistance low and I got 'the flu' - fever, nausea, aching joints - the works. On top of that my knee that keeps on swelling up for some unknown reason, swelled up again and I ended up with a tennis ball sized lump on my knee and could barely walk.

I'm a firm believer in mild exercise when you're sick. Surely getting your blood moving and lungs working has got to be good for you. They don't recommend exercise to people with depression for nothing - those endorphins make you feel good. I have to get things done to relieve my stress levels - less anxiety means getting better.

So there I was, while my knee was still very swollen, in between bouts of fever and nausea, planting veges in the garden. When my knee got a little bit better, I was out on my  bike for short rides around the block, basically pushing with my good leg, and letting the other follow. This continued till my swelling had all but gone and I was able to push with both legs.

I finally got to see a doctor. Yes I had the flu. The most interesting thing, [and yes i suppose you could say a good thing] is I've finally found out what is wrong with my knee and troublesome feet, which still give me pain.

Enough of sickness. I'm over it mentally, if not physically. I've been burning the candle at each end of the day catching up on things. I have a spare hour before work so I was out cycling down to the beach and back. i was out with a torch in the evening watering the garden after a week of gale force winds.

The truly remarkable thing this week is Niel. His global bike race fellow competitors should be afraid - very afraid. He is a machine. What he can achieve on his bike never ceases to amaze me. Not only has he ridden 1,500 kms in 11 days with only a 1/2 day off, but he manages to finish the 160 km race [ over 33 demanding hills remember] on a hybrid mountain bike in just over 5 hours. We are talking bicycles here, not motorbikes!!

Niel riding along the Volcanic Plateau just south of Lake
Taupo.



You may have wondered why I called this blog entry as '3 things'. Things always happen in 3's. So how do you end a crappy week of injury and sickness? You fall off your bike of course.




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