Behind every great rider, there’s a great soigneur. The right hand man, the go-to guy, who tends every whim of his rider, feeding, watering, mending and massaging. Behind the humble Velominatus Regularus, however, there’s a string of injuries, tight muscles, bad posture and aching guns. We are our own soigneurs, and if you’re like me, that’s not a great thing.
Heading towards a half century on the earth and most of that on two wheels, you’d think an old dog would pick up plenty of tricks along the way. Basics like stretching and self-massage, drinking plenty of water, and not as much beer are learned early, but virtually ignored totally. I never stretch; no matter how many times I’ve been advised to, I just seem to lack whatever disciplinary gene that encourages me to put aside half an hour after a ride or whenever I feel tight (ie always) to roll around on the floor and pull a few limbs into strange positions. After particularly long or hard rides, I might give the hammys a cursory tweak in the shower or rub the legs a bit once out. I have one of those trigger-point rollers, but it hardly sees out from under the bed. It feels good and no doubt helps, but it’s just way too easy to flop on the couch with a beer and zone out on the idiot box.
As I increasingly find it harder to get out of bed, or walk up the stairs (there’s about a hundred to my house) it seems the only time I’m comfortable is when I’m on the bike. As soon as I dismount, I’m like a foal with a hunchback trying to take its first steps. But it’s about time to get real and help prolong an injury-free riding life. I see guys my age or even younger nursing injuries and think maybe I’m just lucky, and surely my time will come if I continue my lax routine. The same care that goes into my bikes needs to go into myself. Stretching every day, maybe some core exercises, self massage after rides, might even try some yoga.
And my own swanny.
My friend Josh, a recently graduated massage therapist, has offered to try and ‘sort me out’ with a round of treatments over the next month or so. When he asked what area needed work, I replied ‘everywhere’. As he’s been gently reminding me for years that I need to stretch, he knows what sort of state I’m in and what I put myself through on the bike. It’ll be interesting to see what regular massage can do for a regular Cyclist, even if it’s once a week rather than the everyday luxury of the Pro. And if nothing else, I hear there are some pretty good looking women at the yoga place…
I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks as to my progress. What sort of self-soigneur techniques do you all employ, if any?
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FWIW I also go to Yoga once a week with my SO. It's a great preventative form of physical maintenance, though now it's winter I'm not clocking the miles I have been so there's that as well, and I'm also doing more in the weight room than on the bike. Now that I live 2 blocks from a velodrome the volume of riding I do is going right down.
For a couple of bucks you can get Brett Lancaster as your Swanny.
http://www.greenedgecycling.com/node/introducing-myocycle--an-app-by-brett-lancaster
OK for a quick squizz on a sus part of your body.
I will be spending some bucks for a physio on neck and back in the following weeks.
@minion The description of yourself is somewhat different from how I had pictured you.
@brett
Yep, depends upon your diet I suppose. I doubt people eating few vege's do much of yoga (therefore with little risk of that sort of thing). Also wanted to steer the conversation away from controversy.
@Brianold55 I wouldn't mind giving the Tai Chi a go, looks cool as a bonus.
I joined a yoga class because my self discipline for stretching was so pathetic. I needed some structure to make it happen. The rare 10 minute efforts after a ride were largely useless. Like many here (I guess) a 2 hour time opportunity results in a 2 hour ride rather than a 90 minute ride with a 30 minute stretch. It was such a good thing for me. I discovered some really big problems and learned about some strengths I'd never considered. I was very surprised how muscle sore I'd be afterwards - in the quads too! A recent schedule change has forced me the cut the class and I'm missing it!
Me like many cyclists (in the amateur area) have done nothing for my legs or whatever for ages. Then I've started 2 years ago to stretch my calves every day, every morning. No more then 5 or 6 minutes in all, but it really changed the shape of my legs...
@frank
That is @Marcus.
A few basic stretches after each ride and a single 30 minutes foam rolling session per week.
For those of you who haven't read "Breaking the Chain" by Willy Voet I can thoroughly recommend it for the insight it provides into the extent of institutionalized doping at that time. As a writer he's no Bobet but the translation represents his affable character well and the odd turn of phrase entertains nicely. The anecdotes are the real page turners. 30 years in and around pro-cycling at that time - there's not much that those soigneurs missed. Many stories of riders in big races - the preparations and results. He includes a bunch of stories of his own drug use as he bares all about what substances were used and what they did for the individual riders. He was completely dedicated to his metier - knowing the physiological effects, how to prepare properly and avoid positive tests, not to mention the knowledge of riders, parcours, tactics and sports psychology. His comments on his relationship with Virenque reveal so much. Oh and massage - he did give massages, I think.
After reading this I can't condemn anyone from that era. The jet-fuelled EPO days were the logical progression of the methods used forever. The modern swanny has it easy!