I thought I was well enough to undertake a four nights camping, 100 mile trip but I was wrong. I felt good setting off from Oban on my first day which was going to be a fairly short one. By the time I had found a campsite and managed to pitch my tent just before the rain came on., my guts were doing their familiar somersaults. The next morning the meal I had cooked and eaten in the tent evacuated itself in quick time.

I had twenty miles to ride to Fort William where I decided to curtail things and take a train home. I spent the day sitting about, then on the train followed by a 3 mile ride home. Because I could not eat all day for fear of consequences I managed on water and a single cup of coffee.

It’s not a good idea to expend energy without fuelling and I suffered the next day. So the lesson I learned? My body was trying to tell me something and in future when it does that I need to listen.

I’ve never had to consider how suffering from a chronic condition like inflammatory bowel disease affects my cycling as it never really has.  Back in 2020 when I was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis I was hospitalised for two weeks. When I was discharged on  the Thursday I was back cycling to work on the Monday. Since then I have had a few flare-ups which have stopped me getting on my bike but for no more than a day at a time. In fact when I’m feeling  not so good, cycling helps me forget that I’m not 100%. I look on it as being fit but not healthy.

So this time, just as I’ve got everything booked for a 4/5 day camping trip my IBD flaring up is so unwelcome. It could be stress with it being my first trip this year that has  caused it. Whatever, I’m determined I’m going anyway and fingers crossed 🤞 everything will go well. I tried looking up  touring cycling with IBD but could only find articles written by professional riders and they were mainly about continuing with training schedules.

The main drawback I  can foresee will be wild  camping and the lack of toilet facilities. I may have to stick to campsites and adjust my itinerary to suit. If the worst comes to the worst I can always get a train home. There are 2 or 3 points on my route where that would be feasable.

Maybe I will write about how I get on..

The weather has definately been geting warmer and with the longer days I have managed to get out on the bike more often. I am aiming to get out for at least a ten mile ride thee times a week. As I’m planning to have a first overnight soon I’m building up my mileage gradually but still haven’t decided where I will go.

One ride I’m looking at is from North Glasgow to Aberfoyle, trying to stay off main roads as much as possible. I also want to ride from Oban to Inverness with train rides at the start and finish. This is all building up to hopefully heading to the Northern Isles in late June. As with my trips last year I’ll probably just make train bookings and go.

I used the ALICE the other day to drop off some sleeping bags at a homeless charity. The bars still didn’t feel right and I just couldn’t work out what it was. I went for a short run on my mountain bike as a comparison and it felt so different. It was either the width of the bars or the grips. When I got back inside I swapped one of the grips over and that seemed to improve things. I realised that the cork grips I have on the mountain bike are size small and the rubber ones on the ALICE are regular.

So, I’ve ordered a set of small, Ergon GP1 grips. Although they are the same length the diameter is smaller. The CG1 set I bought along with the Koga bars only comes in the wider version. It’s difficult to tell if the difference in shape between the two versions will mean much for comfort but I won’t know before I try the two on the bike. Ergon have actually started selling an upgraded version but the only real difference seems to be the position of the retaining screw. As I couldn’t find a discounted upgrade set the £15 additional price decided for me. (I subsequently found a pair at nearly the same price so cancelled the first order!)

Once they arrive I’ll have hopefully sorted one of the final issues with comfort. Selling the surplus set on e-bay should mean it hasn’t cost too much.

Easter Sunday and it’s the first day of decent weather in some time so I took out the ALICE as I haven’t really ridden it much since I completed the last of the changes over the past few months. Today, I did about fifteen miles and there were a few things I noticed. The seat needs to go back a few centimeters, the handlebar controls could be moved slightly but the set-up of the bars and grips just doesn’t feel quite right.

I find my hands are unconsciously going in from the ends of the grips. The most comfortable position on the ergon grips is with my palms at the end of the flat platform but for some reason I’m gripping in towards the stem. I’m thinking I could chop about 2cm off each side of the bars and cut the grips by the same. This would bring my hands in and the short grips shoudn’t be a problem as they are wider than I use. It’s most likely that I’ve just been used to riding with narrow bars over the years. I’ve never fitted bars to a bike without cutting something off the width.

I will need to consider carefully how I go about it. Once I’ve cut things there’s no going back.

Wee update: I experimented with different positions and angles for the brakes and shifters. If I cut the bars/grips there won’t be space to have them in the positions which I find them most comfortable. So it looks like I’ll just need to get used to a slightly wider hand position when riding on the grips. It’s looking like the most comfortable for distance will be to have my hands resting on the junction between the bar and the bull-horn. The angle there provides a great grip as long as there’s nothing in the way (like my bell was – so I moved it out of the way). The bars do provide at least four alternative positions so it’s well worth taking a bit of time to get used to one of them.

“The weather out-side is frightful”, as the old song goes so I’ve spent my time indoors writing some more reviews for my gear page. None of them are sponsored and I hope anyone reading will find them helpful. I have linked the reviews to the manufacturers’ pages but this is not as an endorsement of the products apart from what I have written about my experience with them. I have considered providing links to retailers but am still debating with myself over whether I should.

The days are getting noticeably longer and the temperature is rising. So it’s time to start thinking about my cycle trips for this summer. Since my visits to the Outer Hebrides and Arran last summer I’ve had an inkling to continue with the island theme. I had considered extending my Arran cycle to take in Jura and Islay by cycling over the Kintyre peninsula but that didn’t come off so maybe I’ll condider finishing by visiting some more of the inner hebrides. I also want to visit Shetland and maybe Orkney on the same trip. So it will be a toss-up between the Northern Isles and the Western Isles.

If I decide on the Shetland trip I most likely will do that in June. That way I could probably fit in a week’s cycling/camping as a build up either in April or May. I may take the train to Oban and cycle part of the Caledonian Way to Inverness. Then I can come home by train from there.

I looked out maps today and I’m looking forward to this summer already.