Peter Sorvag

Hi guys,

my name is Peter, and I live in Sweden.

In the beginning of this summer, I found myself with a severe muscle inflammation in my legs. I had it for ten years, but now I could only walk 200 yards, and then had to stop and rest. I had all kinds or excercises from my doctor, but nothing have helped. One hopeless evening, after too much wine, I thought "f* this". How about finding training that is right for me, and I thought that I am practically born on a bicycle. And I own a Peugeot races that I bought 20 years ago becauce it was beautiful.....

So in June, I took my bike to the repair shop. New Rigid rims, and new tires. New wires to the shifting gear and brakes.

The first two miles almost killed me :-) When I came back, my heart skipped beats, my legs were numb from under the knees, and in my lounges, it began to build up a lot of fluids.

On the border to heart failure. I thougt, either I take the challenge, or I get scared of dying, and remain in the downslope, which means I will not regain my agility.

I am sixtyone, and I thought it was a little early to give up.

I went on . One day cycling, and one day rest.

Now I'm going 20 miles every two days, and I'm fine :-) I can even keep up with my girl who loves to run around shopping at Ikea without a problem :-)


One thing is that I started with shoes. That didn't work at all.My legs just shut down after 5 kilometers. I broke up my cycling, and walked 200 meters, no gain.

So I tried to walk the 200 meters without shoes on very nasty asphalt, and that worked. 50 meters walking on nothing, 50 more where it starts to hurt, and the next hundred, circulation is coming back again. And with this scheeme, the numbness is slowly getting better.


The last weeks I have been cycling barefoot, but my goal is to build up my chops so that I can use shoes with clips. Hopefully before it gets colder :-)

To increase the torque, and build up the muscles on the back of the legs.


But this is what I really want to share: The difference in blood circulation in the legs, when you go with shoes or barefoot.

I don't know if anyone else have something to say about that :-)


All the best

Peter

pnoft88

I'm 64, and have numbness in my feet, but its an overuse injury. Back in 2014 I did a 2100+ mile hike in 5 months (Appalachian Trail). Lost the feeling in my feet. Its come back slowly. But biking in toe clips or clipless makes it worse. I use platform pedals and loose shoes, so that I can move my feet around and use different pressure points. Works fine - I've done over 2400 miles this year.

Sam

Wildwood 

obrentharris 

@Peter Sorvag Your next step might be to try loose-fitting sandals. There are even sandals made with cleats for Shimano SPD pedals. Many of the long-distance touring cyclist are very fond of those sandals.
Brent

Aubergine 

KraneXL

I don't get it. First, you havn't told us what the ailment was? And second, how does walking/riding barefoot help the condition?

Dudelsack 

If I do that I'll get plantar fasciitis.

KraneXL

This thread made me dream I was in the locker room and everyone was walking around barefoot. All I could think about was the transmission of fungal infections. It was terrifying.

sevenmag

Good job finding things that work for you and not giving up. Keep up the good work.

BlazingPedals

Fungal infections are easy to get rid of; plantar warts not so much.

It sounds like Peter discovered a version of homeopathy, where introducing a small amount of irritant stimulates a desired body reaction; in this case, actual physical stress increasing blood flow. I've done something similar in the past, and had it similarly work.

Peter Sorvag

High bloodpreassure and inflammation in the muscles round the hips. Result is that my feet gets very numb after some kilometers, I felt that the extra excercise of walking barefoot on rough asphalt took the numbness away pretty fast. It's also getting better. I can be on the bike longer without walking, and it will be great to begin with clip shoes.

Colnago Mixte

It's amazing that just as the human body is always trying the best it can to heal itself, the person who starts riding a bike always want to do more and more of it. Keep up the good work, I really think you are on the right track, dude. Thank you for posting your story here.