For those that dont know, I was suffering from Patella Tendonitis earlier in the summer, initially caused from misaligned cleats on my Sidi road shoes. Being the stubborn sod that I am, I thought I could cycle it off. I couldnt. I made it worse and it was agony. Thankfully I was still able to run but cycling was so uncomfortable, almost unbearable, so I stayed off the bike. Until today.
Had to pop into Lloyds Bank on my way out, about half a mile down the road but then I was able to open the legs up a bit after that. Down to Danson Park, through Blendon down to Bexley Village, out on the North Cray Road, up Maidstone Road, down through Swanley Village to Green Street Green before heading back home via Dartford, Belvedere and Abbey Wood
The plan was to take it relatively easy, keep my cadence above 80rpm and to try to ignore my average speed but as most cyclists will know, thats one of the first stats to look at when analysing a ride. I was touching 18mph at Bexley Village on the way out and I was averaging 17.9mph by the time I got back to Abbey Wood but I decided to take my feet off the gas and reel it back in otherwise I would have been seriously blowing in the last mile.
30 miles at an average speed of 17.6mph for a first ride in almost three months is good. I'm pleased with that. I'll need to start increasing my mileage again once I'm happy with the position of my cleats and I'll start increasing the amount of climbing I do as well. The ride was relatively flat today considering the usual climbing I would do on a ride but this was a gentle reintroduction. I'm very pleased to just get out on the bike again and not feel the previous knee niggle. Happy days.
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