Wimp, or quite sensible actually?

Peddle Up!

I was down for a sixty miler recently, but came down with a stinking cold the day before. I decided not to ride, pleading tiredness, snotiness etc., but I've had some interesting reactions.

Some friends say I should have gone ahead and "ridden out the cold", while others say I did the right thing and my body will recover faster for not having ridden.

What's your experience?

anto164

If i'm ill, i don't ride.

You'll find that if you have a cold or something like that, then you'll feel down on energy when on the bike. Sense says to me wait till it's gone, then go for a ride.

Then again, a lot of people would just ride through it.

Anonymous

MTFU.

Peddle Up!

dmclite wrote:

MTFU.

M Flu F'ed Me U

Weejie54

Did a charity ride yesterday and felt a cold coming on the night before - not too great in the morning. I had organised to take my daughter in a trailer and she would have been let down if I'd cancelled. Pouring with rain for the start of the ride too.
Today, I reckon I feel no worse than if I had not ridden.
Must be some kind of moral in there.

ChrisSA

I will run only if the illness is above the neck. However, with a stinking cold I wouldn't be out doing a long run (equivalent to your 60 mile cycle). I'd limit it to probably 5 miles or so max.

Loretta Damage

Any form of physical exercise while you've got a cold will put extra strain on the heart and probably prolong the illness as well. Its a nause but staying off the bike until you're 100% is the best thing in the long run.

Anonymous

You aren't getting paid for it, I say rest.

Then I can feel superior to you when I go out for a ride with a cold myself.

crankycrank

I've gone out sick many times and sometimes I feel better, sometimes worse and sometimes the same. Experience seems to agree with ChrisSA about illness above and below the neck and for me a fever will almost always get worse after a ride. I guess you just have to be your own guinea pig to find out how your body reacts. I think for hangovers, cycling is one of the best cures.

dmch2

I've found that when I'm short on sleep and feel really dopey (and yet can't get to sleep at night because I've been dozy all day) then riding properly wakes me up and gets me back in sync.

It seems to work for slight colds as well but when you're proper ill you're best going to bed.

MrChuck

Pretty much what crankycrank says- only you know the difference between your body telling you to lay off and those times when it's just hard to get going.

If it's the former then there's no prizes for gutsing it out and you might not be doing yourself any favours, problem is you might not know which it is until you've done a bit!

danowat

ChrisSA wrote:

I will run only if the illness is above the neck. However, with a stinking cold I wouldn't be out doing a long run (equivalent to your 60 mile cycle). I'd limit it to probably 5 miles or so max.

This ^, combined with RHR, determines if I go out or not.

rolf_f

Start of cold: Last Sunday night, Monday morning.

Current status: still active (sniffles!)

Mileage for week: 258.8

i.e MTFU

(Besides, it was a really nice day today - cycled up to Wensleydale from Ilkley and tried out Fleet Moss on my new bike. Compact on light bike = harder than Triple on heavy bike!)

PS - miles are down a bit for the week and I reckon my body is used to what it gets so continuing cycling probably doesn't bother it much. Besides, I notice my cold much less when I'm cycling.....

Peddle Up!

My hero.