Trouble Ahead
So after four lovely days in Brisbane where I had a sweet bed to comfort me it was time to move on again. Didn’t want to be getting soft. I’d already stayed an extra day longer then planned, but there was a good reason for that and not laziness.
As I was going against traffic getting out of Brisbane was pretty easy, just had to follow one road. I stopped at a bike store on the way to adjust my Brookes saddle. Despite the plenty use it got at home it was losing shape badly and I needed to tighten it up – I was getting contact points where no contact points should be and thas not a good thing. Adjustments made, things were much better and when the road turned into motorway I ignored the no bicycle warning and kept going. The road was smooth, the shoulder wide and even though the traffic was flying by it felt much safer than the other roads I’ve been riding on.
I felt a tweak in my leg again and wanted to give it as much time as I could to recover hence the delay in leaving Brisbane, however before I’d made it 100km from the city it was starting to hurt really bad and by the time I got to Noosa I was resting my leg on the front saddle bag so I wouldn’t have to move it. I’d decided on Gagaju Bushcamp for the night and it was an interesting 10km from town, the last 2km on a dirt track. The first part seemed pretty solid so I was coasting with way too much confidence downhill when it turned to soft sand. The bike was all over the place, trying to keep control was a lottery – I’ve no idea how I stayed upright!
One of the guys at the camp, Allan, is a rugby coach and sports masseur. When he saw me limping he checked out my problem. Allan reckoned I needed a physio so he sorted out an appointment with one and drove me into town. I was worried that I’d have to stop riding or something but the physio did a little treatment, gave me some streches and excersises and sent me on my way. He told me that the left side of my lower back is tighter and weaker than the right. When I lean to one side running my hand down my leg I can get a full 3 inches lower on one side than the other! Pilates for 2 weeks would have helped but I wasn’t hanging around if I could be riding. Some suggestions to changing how I ride the bike certainly helped too. The pain was still there but lessening, and so after two days in Noosa I decided to head north for Hervey Bay where I could go to Fraser Island and relax to get more recovery time.