Day 7 – The pain of old injuries

(Posted in morning from Cann River)

Leaving Bega, sunrising over the valley

I am wondering if it just has something to do with this leg of the ride but given last year my knee flamed up (originally injured by a mishap with a bus) and this year my back (put out many years ago from a horse riding incident) I am left wondering what it could possibly end up being next year.

Unfortunately my back pain was not fun and games in the slightest and the boys got whiff of this very early on in the picture. To them it must have been clear that something was up when I was reluctant to hold conversation while riding and provided short single word answers when posed with questions (usually followed with a growl and teeth clenched). This was the case from the word go and I surprised myself when it only took 25km to give in to the wise voices in my head, which sounded scarily like my boyfriend and sister, and pulled over to reluctantly take some pain killers (ATT: Chris & Mandi – I'm learning... even if it was only because I was sure you would both hunt me down if I didn't).

Just some pretty blooms, made my day

The boys were fantastic the rest of the ride, Warwick and Jimmy listened to the earlier warning signs and sat behind leaving me be the whole way while Sri stopped regularly to ensure all was well, pass water and encourage us along as we got close.

I have to say the ride it's self was not hard, however this could have been due to my methods of dealing with pain. In order to distract my mind I pretty much put my head down and go, focusing on making each pedal stroke harder and faster. While this method works wonders unfortunately as soon as you stop or slow down the pain is back so logically you would want to keep going which is fine for me as it was causing me less pain to push harder, I do however feel a bit guilty for the boys. On the up side it was a very fun ride particularly entering towns 20km+ above the speed limit... whoops.

At the NSW-VIC boarder

As a result of the adopted “head-down pain relief” we arrived in Eden 1.5 hours ahead of schedule after leaving 10 min late and enjoying a toilet stop. This timing fitted perfectly with the arranged live catch up with ABC radio presenter Ian Campbell. Some of you may remember Ian from last year when he cycled a leg of the ride with me (Eden to Scrubby Creek). Unfortunately due to timing Ian was unable to join the ride this year however he has been an incredible help in raising the profile of the ride and most importantly awareness surrounding Parkinson's Disease.

I was in my PJ's as soon as we pulled in and enjoyed a little sun before writing todays blog

Currently we are camped in Alfred National Park and as you may have noted from the fact that the blog has been posted late we have no signal at all. Our campsite is literally an over sized pull in bay next to the Highway and we have been tooted by many a passing car (Hopefully as a result of listening to Ian this morning). The plan tonight is to eat asap, pack and crash then pack up camp and get out assoon as we can in the morning. Warwick will be heading back to Melbourne tomorrow to get a few days of work out of the way but will be back on the 2nd last day.

Jimmy is one of the most resourceful guys I know, besides we haven't needed the frypan to cook yet

I have just been called for dinner so should really sum up. Having the boys take what I was going through today in their stride, still be concerned as to how I was doing, offer massages and currently be cooking dinner and setting up camp really meant a lot. I don't know how it would ever be possible for me to thank them but I will sure try.
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