#10 - Step by step towards my first tour

I’ve mentioned it before. I want to go on tours one day. And if I could, I would embark on the first one today. But I’m sure it wouldn’t be the most epic ride. I’m only riding again for about 4 months now. And that’s after a 25 year break. In those 4 months, I have lost over 10 kg, and that has an effect on my body. After every ride I make, I feel a kind of humming pain. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s there every time. It’s not a sharp pain, it’s not even very painful. It’s more of a discomfort. I believe it’s just my body adapting to its new routines. It may simply be my muscles growing again. Sometimes it’s more noticeable than others.

Besides that, I feel some of my joints are less stable. It feels like I could dislocate them by specific movements. Not that I’m scared that would happen any time soon. I’m just describing what it feels like. But it makes that I won’t be jumping around when I feel that. It’s just not worth the risk.
When I mentioned this to my physician, he advised me to start exercising to build muscles. In the end, I didn’t just loose those 10 kg. Over the past 10 years, I actually lost 40 kg. And I would love to loose some more. That will have opened up some room in my joints where fat used to be before. And not much muscle has replaced that.

I’ll keep riding of course. Because besides burning fat and being a cardio workout, It will also build up my muscles. Just not the kind I need to improve the most. For those I could go to the local gym of course. And maybe I will one day. I’m sure I could find some great advice there. But at the same time, there’s so much I can do in the comfort of

my home or my garden. These days, I’m often thinking of ways to work out at home, with the specific goal of building muscles. I’m not aiming for the sixpack. But the muscles around my lower back could do with some attention. The upper arms too. Don’t be surprised if you see some pictures popping up in the future, of me strangling myself with some rubber bands or a pully system of some kind. Maybe even of me dropping a weight on my feet, cartoon style. I’m sure my initial attempts will lead to plenty of failure and comical situations.

Today, the unstable feeling in my hips, is what seems to hold me back the most. Finding the right balance between working out on the trike, loosing even more weight, and building up that stability to avoid any real issues, is my biggest challenge. It’s what keeps me from attempting longer rides. It’s what keeps me from touring at the moment. But just like I couldn’t expect to loose weight so quick over the past months, I’m sure in a few months, I’ll be looking back at the progress I made in sleight disbelieve too. I’ll just have to keep listening to my body. I’ll have to keep picking up its signals, and holding back when my body needs it. No climbing mountains on the trike yet. No tours around the country in the next couple of weeks. But that also gives me time to prepare. To dream. To plan.