RTL: Suffering any after-effects?

[David_Stone]

Here are some of the mild changes I've noticed since the race:

SORENESS
I have been happily surprised with how well my old body has dealt with the ride. The only pain I've experienced is this weird soreness in the area just below my left shin. Apparently this was a result of having my Schlumpf seat about 1 cm too high.

WEIGHT
I noticed that I was feeling a bit thinner -- for example, I had to pull my belt a notch tighter. The scale confirmed this: I lost 5 pounds, tho it's probable that I lost 7 pounds of fat and gained 2 pounds of muscle, for all I know. And it wasn't for lack of eating: I had full breakfasts and dinners, and during the ride I ate a LOT of trail mix, bananas, GU, and so on.

METABOLISM
...so when I got home, I could NOT stop eating. I guess I'm going to put on those 5 pounds again. I've also noticed that I'm incredibly thirsty.

EXHAUSTION
I haven't been tired from the race, but I had a really tough drive back, and it has completely knocked me out. Well, the racing probably added a bit to that.

ANTSINESS
I've been dying to go for a ride, but as noted, my shinjury is keeping me off the wheel. I may try to go for a short ride tom'w.

[kevinalexandersmith]

Since RTL, I’m really exhausted. My eyes are hurting. I’m not thinking clearly. I didn’t compete, but I stayed up all week reading about it online. Does that count?

[vanpaun]

While asleep, I begin uncontrolable pedalling. I beleive this to be RLS. the real symptom tht doesn't need any treating So I began a daily regimen of perscription Ropinirole. Ropinrole should not be taken with anything, or you may experience nausea, diahrea, uncontrolable flatulence, or death. So ask your Doctor if Ropinrole is right for you. Because you deserve a full night's sleep.

[unicyclist.ca]

My left knee is bummed because it was hyper extending on some downhills, it hurts to walk but not to uni so i have been booting around town on my 26.

[siafirede]

David - I know that exact shin/joint pain you are experiencing and posted a thread a bit earlier about it. Lowering my seat a little bit made it go away for sure, I do not get the pain anymore. It took about a week for the pain to subside for me when I had the same injury, so I am sure in due time you will be up and riding again!

My right knee is having problems. It blew out the end of the Monday (relating to a previous injury, and I was afraid it might act up), I didn't ride much on Tuesday, but started doing alright in the cold rain (which was like an ice bath for my knee) and with a lot of anti inflammatories. Now that I have stopped taking the anti-inflammatories, my knee is feeling the effects of the race.

Other than that, I wasn't too sore after the race. My skin is still peeling from the sunburn I got in Annapolis Royal on last Saturday, and I am still scratching at some of the millions of bug bites I got.

As far as the food thing goes...I also can't stop eating! I find myself hungry all the time still because my body still thinks it is in race mode.

[Eroick]

I don't really have any pain left. There was a bit after the final day, but it went away over the course of the drive home.

I was really tired driving home. Luckly I didn't do too much of the driving and I slept for most of it.

The biggest and most important after effect: I want to ride more. I'm far more excited about unicycling than I've ever been before! I'm trying to go out muning tomorow

I guess I got off easy with the bugs, they're much worse here in the capital region!

[unifreak7]

I don't believe in this witchcraft!!!!!

[flyer]

I have another side effect - I _really_ want a geared hub. I keep evaluating how much the things in my house that I don't need are worth. This is probably not a good sign. I won't be able to post on the forums anymore, but I'll be able to cruise around at 18mph

[johnfoss]

A cold/fever. Probably brought on by insufficient sleep starting last Sunday and not being sufficient all week. Legs are fine though! I used enough sunscreen when appropriate, as well as Deep Woods Off, but still have some bug bites or things I haven't experienced before, on my arms & legs.

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by johnfoss

A cold/fever. Probably brought on by insufficient sleep starting last Sunday and not being sufficient all week. Legs are fine though! I used enough sunscreen when appropriate, as well as Deep Woods Off, but still have some bug bites or things I haven't experienced before, on my arms & legs.

John -
Not sure what you mean by "things I haven't experienced before", but make sure they're not ticks or tick bites. We saw tons of ticks up there, and Lyme disease has fever as a symptom. If you have any rashes, especially shaped like a bullseye, go to the doctor right away. Lyme disease is nasty, including possible permanent organ damage.

Originally Posted by flyer

I have another side effect - I _really_ want a geared hub. I keep evaluating how much the things in my house that I don't need are worth. This is probably not a good sign...

I've been thinking the same thing, Dave.

[johnfoss]

Yikes! Thanks for the warning, and let that be a notice to everyone else who had "reason" to wander in the roadside weeds.

Fortunately mine don't seem to match any of the rash descriptions found on the various Lyme Disease sites I've just been looking at, but I might get checked out anyway. Some are undoubtedly mosquito bites; they find me quite tasty!

I also want a geared hub, though not sure if I want it on a 29" or 36". Probably 29" as it's a much lighter and more versatile wheel. For a future RTL-type race however, a geared 36" might be just the ticket. Especially if the race is somewhere a little flatter...

[genbirch]

So I drove home after RTL. 2.5 days on my ass should have been therapeutic - but it wasn't.
On Sunday (basically day 1 of the drive), I took a 1 hour roll through rural Maine (it's all kind of rural) and felt good. Yesterday (Monday), I set out for an intended hour of riding in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore area near Gary Indiana. Within a hundred meters I cramped badly in my quads and painfully limped back to the van.
Because of the circumstances, I think that I've finally figured out this problem which I've been having for several years. During the race, I was loading on electrolyte beverages (G2 and reg. Gatorade), water but taking little coffee. On my drive home, especially over the latter half of the drive, this ratio of 'good' to 'bad' fluids was almost exactly reversed - I swilled coffee and drank little else. When I arrived in the Dunes I was eager, impatient, wacked-out and DEHYDRATED with probably poor electrolyte balance. Besides these things, I didn't stretch. I'm afraid I was dumb.
So now I'm suffering the after effects of a bad cramping episode. For the next couple days my thighs will burn until the lactate is flushed. I'm drinking alot now trying to speed this along.

It was a wonderful week - bliss and pain and all of that. It doesn't get much greater that RTL was . . . with the 'immortal' words of Max still in my mem. banks - ". . . lets do it again sometime."

[rolandisimo]

Originally Posted by genbirch

... I set out for an intended hour of riding in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore area near Gary Indiana. Within a hundred meters I cramped badly in my quads and painfully limped back to the van. ."

I had a very strange incident today that I will blame on RTL. Both my legs completely cramped up during a game of ultimate, after just playing a few points. I get the occasional leg (quad) cramps at the end of 2 days of ultimate, but never right at the start of a game like this, and never this bad. The cramps continued all evening, and still hurt. I was able to play 1 point, rest 1 point, play 1 point, although my playing was more like limping around the field.

I'm still not really sure why. Its 6 days since RTL. I was playing without eating dinner, but I do that all the time with no consequences. My guess is that my metabolism was still all jacked up from last week and expecting a constant flow of electrolytes that I didn't give it. I haven't had any other exercise since RTL.

Whatever the issue was, I think it shows how much the 5 days of racing affected my physiology. At least I hope it does, the alternative is that I'm just getting old!

Ro

[genbirch]

Originally Posted by rolandisimo

I had a very strange incident today that I will blame on RTL. Both my legs completely cramped up during a game of ultimate, after just playing a few points. I get the occasional leg (quad) cramps at the end of 2 days of ultimate, but never right at the start of a game like this, and never this bad. The cramps continued all evening, and still hurt. I was able to play 1 point, rest 1 point, play 1 point, although my playing was more like limping around the field.

I'm still not really sure why. Its 6 days since RTL. I was playing without eating dinner, but I do that all the time with no consequences. My guess is that my metabolism was still all jacked up from last week and expecting a constant flow of electrolytes that I didn't give it. I haven't had any other exercise since RTL.

Whatever the issue was, I think it shows how much the 5 days of racing affected my physiology. At least I hope it does, the alternative is that I'm just getting old!

Ro

Hey Ro, I'm actively pursuing this sh*tty problem - I'll let you know if I find anything really illuminating. As you probably know, there are diverse factors at play and inter-play regarding cramping. Tough to diagnose.

[phlegm]

Another side effect: 150 mm cranks are freakin' long! I'm thinking about getting some 137s for 29er MUni.

I also want to thank Personal Rollercoaster for making me ride fast. Competition keeps me from being lazy.