Red letter day. We've been for a 66 miler to Dunham Massey. Big headwind all the way there but no matter. Today is the first time this year and possibly several months I have felt good on my bike. Yes, I was working to keep pace with my buddy (he's got 1200+ more miles in the bag this year than me) but it felt good. It was not a slog.
This is a BIG moment for me after months of disillusionment and wondering if I should pack up.
I'm glad that you had a good day out, Paul.
I understand how you have been feeling because I feel the same. You want to feel really good on your bike, like your fit mates on a good day. TBH though, I would like to feel like you even on one of your
bad days!
I was looking back at some of my ride reports on the forum and found one from late 2013, which was when I was recovering from my second pulmonary embolism. I said that I was starting to feel better on the bike, that my right lung felt perfect, but my left one didn't. I wondered if it would ever recover. It is pretty clear now, 9 years on, that it
WON'T! I basically have the equivalent of 1.5 lungs. That is enough to do some decent rides as long as I don't try to go too fast.
That 50% dead lung makes itself felt when I push hard though. If I am lucky, I just get short of breath and have to slow down. Sometimes though my body really reacts badly to it.
It is a bit sobering having to face the fact that I will
never be really fit again. '
Pretty fit' is doable and that is what I have to aim for.