Title: Riding with Injuries
Date: February 28, 2008 11:11 AM
Category: My Riding
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I’m in two minds as to whether I should be writing this. Ever since I took my Daytona around Nova Scotia last August, my right elbow has hurt. It’s one of those injuries that is an ache or a twinge in the joint, but only when you are doing certain things and almost never when your trying to figure out why it hurts. It’s call RSI but is better known tennis elbow, though I stress it’s self-diagnosed: If you have similar symptoms, don’t take anything I say seriously and go see a doctor.

Clearly, I have not done this latter part myself as
        1) I am a man and we simply do not go to the doctors unless a limb is actually hanging off or we have stopped breathing and
        2) I am worried about what he will tell me to quit

Having worked behind a desk most of my life, this is not an unknown pain to me and I know sitting in front of a keyboard all day is certainly not helping. However, it’s not really debilitating, just uncomfortable. I also know it normally goes away within a few days or weeks of rest. In this case, while it does seem to clear up from time to time, it also seems to come back. I can’t say for sure why this is. Clearly, I am not riding my bike right now so it shouldn’t be that. I have changed the desk in my office and I go to the gym three times a week. I should probably quit both for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

I won’t though. While I am not a workaholic, I like to keep busy and I also don’t want to put the pounds back on either. In fact, I think that is part of the reason this problem started in the first place. It was the Nova Scotia ride and the way I approached it. If you aren’t familiar with the Triumph Daytona 675 and you aren’t allergic to sportsbikes you really do owe it to yourself to track one down and ride it. It is fast, agile and a perfect cornering machine. However, the geometry that makes it such a joy to ride also can make it a physical pain. The riding position is high and pitched forward so the majority of your weight tends to be on the wrists, especially when you factor in the less than stellar seat. At least it is for me anyway. And given that I am 183cm tall and weighed 210lbs when I rode around Nova Scotia, it was probably too much for my elbow to take, especially on those throttle happy roads…

I know some of you would suggest that I am stupid going touring on what is basically a 600 super sport , but I decided to do it after my mate Dave in England took his around the south of france for a week. He’s lighter than me, but at least as tall and he had no problems. And besides, as I was going point to point with my family following in my truck, I didn’t have to carry luggage – just a tankbag and a camelback for the essentials such as my cellphone and Nintendo DS. In other words, it’s probably not the bike but the rider but then isn’t it always?

So this is my conundrum – I have a summer of riding ahead of me but what do I do about the elbow? Well, the first part of my plan is in place: I’ve lost about 20lbs since the last time I rode and am a fair bit stronger. Truth be told, I’m hoping that will do it, but then my elbow is hurting now (poor me). The next phase is part of my goals for this year which is to be more mobile on the bike: To lean off in the corners and get down into the tank more. When I can do that, I figure I’ll be using more of my arms, if not my entire body to support me so that should help too.

I am however a pessimist at heart and I can’t honestly believe this will fix things, though in the process I hope to improve my sports riding immeasurably so it’s not all bad. Like any forethinking person, I have a backup plan: I’ll just go buy a new bike. While I live in Toronto, I hate using the car in the summer and the Daytona is both too hot and cramped for any decent city riding, so I’ve convinced myself to go buy a Triumph Tiger. I figure the luggage it can accommodate will make it a perfect town bike, plus it’s (supposedly) comfortable enough to do decent tours on and I am hoping to do way more distance this year. Plus they look nice and it gets me one bike closer to Nick’s total. The wider bars and more upright position will certainly take the weight off the wrists and I’ll keep the sports bike for track days and “day out” rides. Am I crazy? Who knows, but I’ve always fancied at least one more bike.

I should add, I’m not 100% convinced by the Tiger. I would be, except for that oil consumption problem that seems to be all but ignored by Triumph. I’m hoping to take one out for a ride soon, but the 1200GS looks fun too. What other bikes in that vein would people recommend and are they really as all round fun as they are cracked up to be?

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