A week from tomorrow I'll be arriving in Charleston, South Carolina to start my trip. We'll have two days of orientation, followed by a build day with Charleston Habitat for Humanity. Then next Friday we'll commence our coast-to-coast journey, starting with a wheel-dip in the Atlantic Ocean and plenty of pictures, of course. I'm hoping that while I'm in Charleston I'll be able to catch a show or two at the Spoleto USA festival. This multi-disciplinary performing arts festival has interested me for some time, so its rather serendipitous that I'll be in Charleston during it.
Preparations are going well, though I still have a lot to do. This week I'll be completing my sweat equity at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Bloomington, getting a physical to make sure I'm not going to completely fall apart on the ride, finishing up my affordable housing presentation, and riding at least 35 miles every day. I'm hoping to get in a 80 mile ride, but the days are few so we'll see!
The training has been great so far. I had some pretty profound knee pain on my spring break cycling trip which really worried me, but Oliver adjusted my pedals and that seemed to fix it. I am definitely aware of my legs lately, but I haven't had any monumental soreness yet.
My biggest concern right now is my hands. Technically when riding a bike you're not supposed to put too much weight (or really any) on your hands. But as you can imagine when you're riding for several hours that is really difficult to do! Unfortunately though, putting weight on your hands in the riding position for extended periods can pinch nerves. That's what has happened to me, especially in my right hand. Ever since spring break I've had numbness in my pinkie on my right hand (the broken one!) and reduced strength in both hands, especially the right. Since I haven't been to the rock climbing gym in awhile, you'd think I wouldn't really care about hand strength, but it actually has been very noticeable in my day to day life. My right hand is my dominant hand, and with its reduced strength it is very easily fatigued. Writing by hand is more difficult (and if you can believe it, my hand writing is even worse than usual), as is opening jars and even turning the keys in my apartment.
Apparently the official term for this problem is "cyclists' palsy" and is quite common. I do want to be careful though, because it is possible to permanently damage the nerves and then I'd end up with a strength/feeling deficit for the rest of my life. I'm in the market for some better gloves, continually adjusting my handlebars to find the right position, and working on my riding technique in hopes of solving this problem.
I also still have a long way to go on my fundraising, especially considering the trip starts in a week. I know times are tough for everyone, but if you have a few bucks to throw Bike and Build's way I would be very grateful! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far--your generosity and support mean so much to me.
www.bikeandbuild.org/donate Every little bit helps!
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