Cyclists push past the pain
POLL: ‘While my body can still do it, I’ll keep cycling,’ bike enthusiast says
Nothing gets in the way of a dedicated cyclist and their bike. Not even pain, says a group of physiotherapists from the Courage Kenny Sports & Physical Therapy clinic in Minneapolis.
The sport medicine specialists polled 63 club cyclists, recruited from flyers posted in bike shops and sent to cycling clubs, two-thirds of whom admitted to cycling in pain. The cyclists, who averaged 41 years of age with 17.5 years of riding experience, reported cycling almost 210 kilometres a week, a routine that wasn’t altered even when hurt.
Montrealer Cheryl Walker isn’t surprised by the study’s findings. She rides 250 kilometres a week on her bike, much of which is done in pain.
“I don’t really think about it,” says Walker of the discomfort she feels on her bike. “It’s part of cycling for me.”
Walker attributes some of her aches and pains to overuse and some to an accident she had a couple of years ago when she was hit by a car. Left with a torn rotator cuff, which has since healed, the shoulder pain lingers and now joins the pain in her hip she says is from her unrelenting cycling habit.
Why doesn’t she give it all up for an activity that hurts less?
“I’m just a regular flabby girl who can climb mountains and ride fast,” she said. “So while my body can still do it, I’ll keep cycling.”
At 51, cyclist Michel Ostiguy accumulates about 10,000 training miles per cycling season and races regularly on the masters’ circuit, all of which is done in pain.
It’s cyclists like Ostiguy and Walker that the team of Minneapolis physiotherapists wanted to study. They were curious as to just how many cycle in pain and how it has affected their training habits. They also wanted to find out how severe the pain needed to be before cyclists sought medical help.
According to the cyclists they polled, 65 per cent had been dealing with their injury for more than a year. The neck, shoulder, lower back and knee were the most frequent sites of pain, with 86 per cent of the cyclists reporting being injured in two locations.
Two-thirds of the cyclists rated their pain above four on a scale of 10 and waited until that pain reached almost six-on-10 before seeking medical help.
“We found that cyclists resist admitting injury, as they want to continue uninterrupted during the short season,” said the research team in their article, The Club-Level Road Cyclist: Injury, Pain and Performance.
“We have noticed that many seek medical attention only when they can no longer keep up with their teammates.”
But Ostiguy, whose falls occurred while racing, is beginning to rethink his commitment to the race circuit.
“The incident when I fell and got up to finish the race bloody and shredded from head to toe, made me think I was nuts,” he admitted.
Bad falls can also cause a cyclist to loose confidence. Two years ago, Arthur Grynspan, 68, was leading the pack of cyclists when a twig got caught between his wheel and front brake.
“I went from 30 kilometres to zero and went right over the handlebars,” said Grynspan of his accident.
Taken off the road in an ambulance, he spent five days in the ICU letting his injured back heal and then another six weeks in a brace followed by six months in rehab. These days he’s back to his regular routine of putting in 200 to 250 kilometres a week on his bike, though he admits that he rarely rides with a group anymore.
The Minneapolis physiotherapists speculate that a cyclist’s ability to continue to ride through pain may be due to the low-impact nature of cycling and its reliance on equipment. But for Ostiguy, Walker and Grynspan, their dedication to cycling has more to do with pursuing something they love than the pain they endure.
“I plan on cycling for the rest of my life,” vowed Ostiguy.