Cycling pain ... but, hey, it's not chemo

Two and a half hours into my ride, I was contemplating what was more annoying – my sore neck, freezing feet, or numb butt.
I decided on the sore neck. The inability to move it into a comfortable position reminded me of the pain I had following one of my doses of chemotherapy five years ago. I was half way through my chemo cycle and had a drug change, which gave me flu-like aches for about a week. It didn't matter how I contorted myself; I could not get comfortable.

It was good my sore neck reminded me of that, because it also reminded me of how far I'd come. Five years ago this month I was moving from chemo treatment to radiotherapy. I was pretty damn tired and about to get even more tired.
Fast forward to the present: I was out cycling with my husband, in a beautiful city and yes, it was cold, I had a sore neck and couldn't feel my feet or my butt, but as people like to say on Twitter, #firstworldproblems. So I told the pain to f*** off (see Telling pain where to get off) and, although it didn’t disappear, I stopped letting myself be bothered by it.

The ride was also significant because it was my first proper hill ride. I'm now riding up to 80km at a time, but I didn't feel like an actual cyclist until this ride, when I finally did some proper hills. Whether I actually am a proper cyclist is a matter of perspective of course. My non-riding friends might be a little bit impressed by the fact I climbed several hundred metres; to my cyclist friends that’s no biggie. They do double that elevation gain (and probably double the distance) before breakfast.

My time on the bike over recent months.

But I’m pleased with where I’ve got to in less than five months. This chart, from my Garmin watch data, shows the increase in my time on the bike each month. We decided in December we would do the cycle tour in the French Alps in July. However, it took until February for it to sink in enough to actually get on my bike. The increases showing on the chart have come about from a mix of fear of what is to come in France and, increasingly, actually enjoying cycling. Although nothing but fear would have got me out yesterday, on such a miserable day. 

So, if you're battling through cancer treatment right now, know things can and do get better. The pain and fear will go ... and you can replace them with self-inflicted pain and fear instead.

• If anyone has any hints for keeping feet warm, let me know. Three pairs of socks and a pair shoe warmers aren't enough to stop my feet icing up while cycling. After I invent the emergency shoe release button (see Vicious bees, hedges and cramp) I’m going to design a heated pad for slipping inside your bike shoes.