Errandonnee #7: Essential Maintenance

Errandonnee #7

Date: Thursday, 13 March 2014

Category: Personal Care (massage) 

Destination:  Breathing Space (fitness centre and spa), Harpenden

Distance:  19.2 km

Steed: Riley the Enigma

What I learned/observations:

1. This isn't a new lesson or thought, but... sometimes the part of the body experiencing the pain is not the part of the body that is causing that pain. 

For me, massage is not about aromatherapy or even relaxation. It requires a practitioner who knows anatomy, the skeleton and musculature totally, inside and out. Someone skilled in identifying and assessing even the tiniest spot of tension -- its source, its effect -- and treating it appropriately. 

For someone so injury-prone as me, regular massages are essential. There's only so much I can achieve and maintain through stretching and exercising at home. I find that a massage every 4-6 weeks is crucial to nipping little problems in the bud. 

2. Worse than having the tyres of passing cars drench you from standing water in the road? Having them raise a cloud of dust and grit that envelops you! Grit in eyes, nose, ears. Worst is mouth, especially if like me you wear lip balm. Blech. I coughed all the way home. Even after a long hot bath, sinus rinse and cleaning my teeth, I still felt as if grit lines my insides, if not my outside.

Thoughts on motorists around here, in general: 

I was asked by London friends a few months after I moved to Bedfordshire whether drivers up here are "any better behaved". I said it's chalk and cheese. In London, speeds are generally much lower but drivers give you no space at all. Here, they give you tons of space but seem unable to lift their (collective) foot off the accelerator. Even fractionally. So while they aren't actually in danger of hitting you, high speed passes are just as nerve-wracking in their own way. 

The main consequence of concern is that drivers do these high speed overtakes too close to blind corners and summits. Yes, they've pulled over into the oncoming lane, giving you lots of room, but they're driving blind at 50-70mph. 

Sometimes I 'reassure' myself with the thought that if another vehicle is coming the other way, it won't be me that they hit. Nonetheless, I remain vigilant with every overtake, prepared to hit the brakes and/or bail into the ditch at a split second's notice. 

Telling myself it's someone else's death I'll be watching doesn't calm my mind much. 

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The photo above is of the massage treatment room at Breathing Space. The decor and the quality of the afternoon sunlight are very restful. I should have asked my sports massage therapist Emma if she'd mind me taking a photo of her (or of the two of us together) but got pressed for time and kind of forgot. Also forgot to photograph the bike, which gets locked in the storage shed at Adam's place of work across the street, whenever I visit Breathing Space.