So I am trying not to torture myself with thoughts of summer, that time, way back when my back felt good and my saddle was not giving me curry. Back when I was actually riding my bike. Every god damn day. Not like now. Despite my extremely active campaigning for a place on the Roobaix and the appointment of a highly qualified coach, training preparation has been seriously derailed by a stiff back and squashed fanny which has Reduced Me To Public Transport.
I shall spare you the gory details (both of my squashed intimacies and the public transport) but it’s been a source of serious winter blues that I have not been riding my bike. How the hell are you meant to even talk to those glamourous helmet types if they’ve already ridden past you when you’re standing at the tram stop preparing for the unimaginable act of paying to go work?
Change is, I believe, going to come.
Now, the cold weather is likely to continue for a few more months yet but at the very least I believe I will be back on the bike. Word.
We have Dominic at First Place Osteopathy to thank for this positive turn of events. I shall not bang on for too long about the wonderful service, because I’m going to do it elsewhere anyway for a group of people whose intimacies I also care about. That said, I believe that it was well worth getting up at early o’clock on a Saturday morning for a positive consultation, a bike fit and a slight spinal adjustment. I now have medical confirmation that I have no waist, a bike saddle that should move a bit, handlebars that should come up, toe cages that can shrink and a positive strategy for re-engagement with the world of wheels and wonder.
I have baulked regularly at discussing this issue with bike store professionals. Some of whom I have just not wanted to discuss any part of my body with, let alone my best bits. Doing so with a medical professional was considerably less embarrassing and I feel more confidence in the recommendations I received. Much better than cursory grunting of “well, I guess you can get one of these fat, cut out, gel covered things”, accompanied by pointing at a saddle the size of a small lounge suite.
Lesson learned: bike fits are not just for professionals, even your average dorky commuter with a helmet fixation deserves a little love.
eleanor j jackson 