# Cycling with a cold be careful



## cyberknight (15 Dec 2011)

For the last 2 weeks i have had a stinking cold, the full works with mucus cough, nose running constantly yet i religiously cycle commuted to work as i was convinced that i was on the mend and 2 10 mile trips a day and a manual job where i can be in and out of a cold warehouse would not affect me .
Yesterday i got a lot worse, people at work were saying i should not have been in at all.So i struggle home and decide to wimp out and take the car tomorrow.

Last night i develop a high temperature on top of the other symptoms so i get up in the morning thinking " lets see how wee feel in a bit "
Phoned work to say i will not be in and i am off to the doctors just in case i need something a bit stronger. 

Moral of the story ..

"Don`t be a martyr to the bike "


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## Globalti (15 Dec 2011)

It's simple: the cold virus thrives in the damp conditions in your upper respiratory tract and part of your body's defence mechanism is to raise its temperature to the point where the virus can no longer reproduce. Interfere with that mechanism and you might as well give the viruses an olympic swimming pool and tell them to have fun.

Your defences will have been at a low ebb so now you have a secondary bacterial infection and you need some Amoxy.

Wash hands as soon as you get home, break the habit of rubbing your eyes and picking your nose, which transmits cold viruses into the mucosa. Get some Corsodyl and gargle with it as soon as you feel a sore throat. Take zinc as well but ignore the bollocks about vitamin C.


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## Blue (15 Dec 2011)

Obviously you had symptoms 'below the neck' and should have eased up. That said, I hope you get well very soon.


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## fossyant (15 Dec 2011)

Coughing up stuff - ease off.

Head colds - streaming nose etc - *ride* - it helps.

Muscle aches/high temp - no bike.


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## Silver Fox (16 Dec 2011)

I've tried to train through illness before and it just doesn't work. You've got to listen to your body, if its telling you to rest that's what you should do.


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## MickL (16 Dec 2011)

I had crappy chest infection this year, I went to the doc's, I told him I do a lot cycling as its my main form of transport. He you got to stop, Ive seen younger fitter men(the cheek), ride bikes and continue to exercise end up in hospital in a very bad way. So I took two weeks of work and three weeks of the bike.


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## yello (16 Dec 2011)

cyberknight said:


> Moral of the story ..
> 
> "Don`t be a martyr to the bike "


 
Wise words.

In fact, I would extend them from the bike to the work place too. Sadly, not everyone sees it that way (particularly and understandably employers!) and there are all manner of silly MTFU expectations in relation to colds and flu.

In my humble opinion, I reckon everybody is better served if you give yourself time to recover fully before getting back on the bike or going into work.


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## Nearly there (16 Dec 2011)

Sweating will get rid of a cold=myth you have to listen to ya body and rest if needed


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## ColinJ (17 Dec 2011)

I tried the MTFU approach to recuperation from illness once and ended up unconscious behind a dry stone wall! 

I rode straight up one of the steep hills surrounding Hebden Bridge and the effort nearly killed me. I felt myself blacking out and just managed to get off the road before my body's lights went out. I came round some minutes later on the other side of the wall, lying on a pile of leaves. 

It scared me so much that I've never tried anything like that again. When I'm ill now, I accept it and let my body sort itself out properly before exerting myself.


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## Noodley (17 Dec 2011)

For the past 2 or 3 days I have thought I had a cold coming on, but jept up the turbo sessions...did an hour last night and this morning I feel as if someone has hit me with a shovel...Lemsip now being consumed.


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## Crankarm (17 Dec 2011)

cyberknight said:


> For the last 2 weeks i have had a stinking cold, the full works with mucus cough, nose running constantly yet i religiously cycle commuted to work as i was convinced that i was on the mend and 2 10 mile trips a day and a manual job where i can be in and out of a cold warehouse would not affect me .
> Yesterday i got a lot worse, people at work were saying i should not have been in at all.So i struggle home and decide to wimp out and take the car tomorrow.
> 
> Last night i develop a high temperature on top of the other symptoms so i get up in the morning thinking " lets see how wee feel in a bit "
> ...


 

Forgive me if I have missed something, but ............... did you not go to your GP? You could have developed pneumnonia which can kill.


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## Titan yer tummy (17 Dec 2011)

Crankarm said:


> Forgive me if I have missed something, but ............... did you not go to your GP? You could have developed pneumnonia which can kill.


I'm rather glad you said that I thought I was the only person thinking it!!!


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## The Jogger (17 Dec 2011)

Cyber, how are you now?


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## cyberknight (17 Dec 2011)

Crankarm said:


> Forgive me if I have missed something, but ............... did you not go to your GP? You could have developed pneumnonia which can kill.


 
Yes crank in my OP i said i was off to the Doctors

Still feeling like crap but at least the medication is cutting through it now and i can breathe , sleeping a lot as well.Should be ok for work Monday but any thoughts of a weekend ride have been shelved.


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## cjb (23 Dec 2011)

In an earlier life, I had a training partner who did the London Marathon while suffering from a cold (well he'd trained 6 months for it, hadn't he!). His heartrate went right off the scale and he was hospitalised for a week. His running was never the same after that.


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## ColinJ (23 Dec 2011)

cjb said:


> In an earlier life, I had a training partner who did the London Marathon while suffering from a cold (well he'd trained 6 months for it, hadn't he!). His heartrate went right off the scale and he was hospitalised for a week. His running was never the same after that.


Apart from the blacking out on my bike incident I mentioned previously, the thing that _really_ put me off the MTFU approach was reading an article about viruses that can damage the heart if you don't rest when suffering from them!


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## Globalti (23 Dec 2011)

You have got to be seriously nutty to want to go cycling when you've got a cold, really. I just want to lie down and complain.


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## ColinJ (23 Dec 2011)

Globalti said:


> You have got to be seriously nutty to want to go cycling when you've got a cold, really. I just want to lie down and complain.


In the case I mentioned above, I'd already spent a few days doing the lying down and complaining thing, but the day after the symptoms disappeared, I thought I was ready to jump back on my bike and attack the Heptonstall Road (a 10+% climb)! I hadn't factored in time for my body to actually repair itself properly once the bug was on the way out. 

Nowadays, I give myself at least 3 or 4 days after the symptoms of a cold have gone, and even then I'll stick to relatively easy rides (25 miles/2,000 ft of climbing) until I am sure that I've fully recovered.


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## cyberknight (24 Dec 2011)

Well a week after i decided to bite the bullet after suffering for 3 weeks i am back on the bike , legs are like lead and power output is certainly down... lesson learned.


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## Mike! (28 Dec 2011)

I've been off the bike for 4 weeks due to a cold which I just can't shift. Docs appointment made as it seems to be shifting to my chest :-(

Gonna be hard work when I get back on and I've certainly put weight on!!


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## The Jogger (28 Dec 2011)

Mike! said:


> I've been off the bike for 4 weeks due to a cold which I just can't shift. Docs appointment made as it seems to be shifting to my chest :-(
> 
> Gonna be hard work when I get back on and I've certainly put weight on!!




Lots seem to have this lengthy cold that goes onto the chest and just lingers.


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