Electrolytes

As I struggled to recover from minor injuries I considered options for recovery and enhancing performance. I can barely keep hydrated so anything including getting enough fluids is an enhancement. I have not been disciplined about stretching either but I don't see this as a deal to help this situation. Hydration and electrolytes are definitely options that could help me. Here in the tropics I pour sweat like never before. For over a year it didn't impede my riding performance. I always avoided the hottest, sunniest part of the day. That seemed to work, but in combination with injury recovery I felt I needed to try some of the options I knew were low hanging fruit. So I tried electrolytes and hydrated a little better than I have in the past. Since the injuries have ceased to hinder me the only things holding me back were bad habits and the need for electrolytes since I sweat so much here. This improvement in my strategy seems to be making a difference. Two days ago I struggled and napped after the same bike ride. Today I feel stronger afterwards. I really sprinted a few times during my 22 mile bike ride. Another statistic was my elevation climb of 1890 feet for the ride. There's one stretch where the climb is 11%! Down that slope I reached 42 mph even without pedaling. I'm using a couple of phone apps to add some dimension to my portrayal of my experience. I have an app that measures my distance, elevation and various speed parameters called Runtastic. The slope measurement is done with Angle meter app. I've just begun using them and it's great to have. No need to buy a GPS or speedometer. I hope to use the history feature on the Runtastic app to see my cumulative progress.

Recovery complete

I had a great bike ride. Recovery has been really slow at my age. I had two injuries and it's really kept me out of my groove for almost 6 months. In my life of riding this is unique. I've never been off the bike a week except on a very few vacations to China, Morocco, Yellowstone, Key West and Grand Canyon. Many vacations I've brought my bicycle. So this period of recovery has been excruciating and scary. The pain from the injuries was negligible. The fear in my mind is daunting. As I age, how will my body rebound from future injuries? My bicycling as exercise keeps me young. Injuries accelerate deteriorate my body.

Today, though, was amazing. I did my BIS ride in full all the way to the airport road and back. I realize from this recovery experience that my fitness was very high indeed prior to the injuries. Climbing these 10-11 degree slopes on the back of sustained 7 degree slopes really takes a lot out of me. It's a grueling feat to achieve. But I'm back. In this assessment I also came to realize that the sun takes a lot out of me. I do not consume enough water as a bad habit, but I may want to add electrolyte supplements to the 'good idea' list. I had been really discouraged by my slow rate of recovery and was doubting my ability to even recover fully. Now I just need to learn from my experience of recovering as an older person. I know it will take longer than when I was 10 years younger.