Back on the Bike

Back problems.

I’ve had them on and off for many years. The back flared up a few weeks ago. Different than before. Pain on one side of the lower back that is worse when sitting. And I cannot drive for longer than 15 to 20 minutes before the onset of pain.

Sciatica.

The term sciatica describes the symptoms of leg pain and possibly tingling, numbness or weakness that originates in the low back and travels through the buttock and down the large sciatic nerve in the back of the leg.

The vast majority of people who experience sciatica get better with time (usually a few weeks or months) and find pain relief with non-surgical sciatica treatment. For others, however, sciatic nerve pain can be severe and debilitating.

The pain has subsided significantly. And I believe it was brought on by a combination of poor fit on the bike and an overly ambitious training program.

I did a refit on the bike. I also took some time off the machine for a couple of weeks. Frankly, I was a bit afraid of making the symptoms worse. I started riding again and so far everything seems fine. I feel really good on the bike and I did a hard ride on Sunday and an aerobic ride this evening.

I will focus on core conditioning with my trainer and I will make sure that I am doing the appropriate stretching to ease the muscle imbalance that I created from cycling hard. It may take a few months to get back to normal and I guess I am learning that when you are in your fifties, you have to take a bit more care on how hard you train. Especially if you have back problems.