I have a high pain tolerance. After giving birth naturally to two children through fast, furious and painful labours, I’ve learned that I can deal with a lot of pain. However, I hate admitting I’m in pain – and I hate changing my behavior to deal with pain. But now, after struggling with daily pain for the last month and a half, I’m sick of this. I’m sick of not being able to cycle the distance or speed that I want to, or with my bike loaded as heavily as it was before. I’m sick of even simply walking a few kilometers one day and nearly limping the next because I ‘over-did’ it again.
Kids resting in the trailer being pulled behind Reuben's bike - I can't handle the weight with my injury.
Discovering I had a hernia and being forced off the bikes in Wyoming? I was ready to admit that defeat to the pain in my abdomen – Wyoming didn’t seem too inviting at the time anyway. But now after being off the bikes for so long, I yearn to feel the freedom of touring again. Perhaps recently beginning to read Joe Kurmaskie’s “Mud, Sweat, and Gears,” a book about the author’s cycling adventures with his family, is also putting the fire of the open road under me again. I long for the bike touring routine; the insatiable hunger after days on the road and the ability to swoon over any food – it all tastes good! The twists and turns, the hills and valleys, the views and solitude – I miss all this, what now feels like home to me. The sound of rain sprinkling on the tent as I fall asleep, my muscles sore inside my sleeping bag. Climbing a long and steady hill with the anticipation of what is on the other side. Relishing in a long descent. Picking wild flowers on the side of the road and searching for bugs to observe. Dreaming of destinations down the road, spurring my every pedal stroke. The questions, stares and encounters of curious strangers we meet on the road.
Reuben and the kids stayed in a yurt while I was away in Ontario.
But it seems these things I seek get pushed further out of my reach around every turn. They have eluded me the past two months because we have been waiting for my scheduled hernia repair back home in Ontario. Our plan was for me to fly home, have the surgery, and fly back to the west coast to recover – getting back on our bikes within a few weeks. Yet when I finally made my way back to Ontario, I was only there for a few hours before I was told that the surgery I flew out to have done would not be needed, as I did not, in fact, have a hernia. Instead, I was told I was suffering from strained or torn muscles. For me, having surgery would have been preferable, as not only had a I flown all the way home for that exact purpose, but the recovery time for the surgery is a only few weeks instead of the two to four months of rest required to recover from strained muscles.
If only I had known that a month previously! I could have started resting and strengthening then and I would already be a month closer to recovery. We could have adjusted our plans and budget to account for more time off the bikes. We wouldn’t have needed to waste the energy and expense that it takes to make unplanned flights across the country and away from my family for unneeded surgery. Saying I am frustrated with the situation would be an understatement.
Touching sticky sea anemone at the Vancouver Aquarium.
Piggy back rides with Uncle Mike!
Story time with Uncle Steve.
Cleaning house with Uncle John.
But now, our bikes are calling for us to continue down the road, and my body is still resisting while we’re pending results from a Doctor here at the University of British Columbia on how to heal properly. So how do we continue from here? We’ve looked at lots of options: from renting a car to use as a support vehicle to simply facing the facts and settling in to life here in Vancouver for the next few months, and even as a last resort, returning home early. However, the most appealing idea so far has been to equip my bike with an electric assist motor – giving me the boost I need to continue cycling while my muscles heal. We’re in the process now of figuring out how to do just that. There are quite a few retrofit assist devices on the market, and Reuben will talk about our process for choosing a system and the retrofitting process in our next post.
Why am I tackling a Vancouver hill with a full load on Reuben's Big Dummy? It's only possible while injured with the help of the Stokemonkey electric assist! More to come soon on our new bike setup.
I am very ready to be back on the road and back to ‘normal’ life, and hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer.
You are in my extra prayers tomorrow as you see the doctor. I so hope there is a possible solution to keep you on the road AND well.
LOVE your creative thinking in coming up with a solution! I truly hope the electric assist does what you hope it will.
While the “coming home early” option is appealing for the rest of us, I hope that electric assist helps you get back on the road! Luckily you’ve stopped to heal in a beautiful part of the country! We love the west coast.
Sorry to hear that you are off the bikes for now, however the electric assist is a great idea and I hope it works for you. Vancouver would not be a bad place to be forced to recover.
you guys are so resourceful and creative! i hope that your solution works and gets you back on the road, as you have come to love it and feel that it’s like home to you (that’s awesome, by the way). miss you guys–we think of you so often. much love to you!
As English is not my mother tong, there will be a few words (medical) that I don’t know, but I hope you will understand.
I had pain in a tissu that hold the muscle (aponevrose). Traditional western medicine told that I just had to wait and it will go away. It didn’t!
I went to see an ostheopath (bones doctor) I had to pay several visits (4 in total) but the progress are amasing. He found out that a few parts of my body were not any properly aligned, perhaps because I fell while skying or doing other activities. After a few moves each time, he put me back “in place”! And with a bit of help from a physiotherapy (kinesytherapy) I’m almost cured.
There is no reason someone like you could not cycle. You should try this alternativ medical fields. It does wonder, and it’s pretty fast if the “wound” is not too old.
Oh I hope you get better soon. Maybe an electric assist will help. Vancouver is a nice city to have a rest, but I know how you feel, wanting to continue on. I’m already planning for next year’s bike tour. Get better…..:)
I’m so proud of your resourcefulness and stamina. Parents love living life with and through their children, eh!
When you live life on a bike it courts a certain uncertainty, but it doesn’t make it easier to deal with! Hope your electric booster works out; I could be quite tempted myself, for those moments when the kids stop pedalling. Wishing you a good recovery, all those things you’ve been missing while off the road and no shortage of charging points.