Commuting - Going on tour with sore throat.

Been training all year for next week's Nevada Oatbran tour.. Of course, my luck- Today, I came down with my wife's severe sore throat.. Throat is really hot. Usually we get sick during the tour while out camping in the cool nights..
Anybody have any ideas about how to quickly get rid of a sore throat.. My tour is already bought and paid for. Prefer not to be coughing and climbing at the same time.. If I have to do such guess my average speed will suffer.

I just came down with a cold and sore throat. I'd recommend lots of orange juice and some zinc tablets. Echinacea is supposed to cut down the amount of time that you're sick. Good luck! -Steve

Tons of water. Colloidal Silver. Garlic.

echenacia, tons o garlic and grapefruit juice it has some kind of healing power though it may hurt going down

ngateguy said...


echenacia, tons o garlic and grapefruit juice it has some kind of healing power though it may hurt going down

Hear hear. I can personally vouch for the healing power of garlic, but skip the extract pills and just munch 3 cloves straight with a grapefruit juice chaser. This is actually harder than it sounds, because you will feel like your head is exploding after the first 1st clove. My girlfriend uses echinacea with good results, but she tells me it works best when taken early. My last bit of advise is to drink quarts and quarts of fluid, get plenty of rest, and communicate with sign language until your throat heals.

Good luck, cyclezealot
BK

p.s. My grandmother, who is ALWAYS right (I'm not kidding, it's weird), and from the old country used to get us kids to gargle and swallow Stoli vodka or cognac when we had sore throats...I'm not sure I could recommend that, but grandma would.

Thanks all for the advice. Tried most of them. Am trying everything.. Did not find the garlic. Can munch of a clove in route with my bike group on the way to Lake Tahoe..
I did modify the vodka.. Gargled tonight with Napoleon.Pretty good.. I did swallow in the end...I am normally pretty resiliant.. My wife got this sore throat pretty bad.. gave it to me... Had not thought of going on a tour with a santa claus colored nose.. Two days to go. It is supposed to be sunny and warm in Western Nevada the day we take off. Maybe I can bake it out of the system. Lucky the really hard day is the second day of the tour... The first day is mostly flat...
Still looking forward to the tour..I think... Spent the whole year getting ready for this...

I sleep with a beanie on my head. (I hope the idea translates across the oceans. It's simply a knitted hat if you don't call them beanies.)

We lose most heat from our heads so keep your head warm and your body can fight the bugs better. I have been surprised at how well it's worked for me over the last couple of years.

If I feel something coming I get going on the Echinacea and start wearing the beanie. Most times I'm OK by morning.

vitamin C. Get any cheap-o formulation, and take 500mgs every hour or two. Your body can't store any significant amount, which is why the frequent dosing. It's also why you can't overdose (it just makes your urine expensive).

Feel no worse today. Hope by time we take off Monday moring from Lake Tahoe, my throat will not bother me.
I will need my reserves. Anyone here do endurance riding. The second day will be the tough one. Hope I feel top fiddle.
THe second day is a century and a mountain climb- 4,000 feet climb at the end of the century ride.. The rider going along with me thinks this might be challenging.. He is fitter than I..
I put on like 8,000 miles a year. Do 80 miles rides often. Have done a couple centurires, but not a part of last couple weeks preparatory rides. As much riding as I do, hope do not have to have a direct rehearsal of this tours toughest day. And that I feel well.!
Anyone out there think a Century capped off with a 4,000 foot climb to be tough ?

I got the flu on my last tour. I just ignored it and went on as though it wasn't there. I must say it didn't bother me in the end.

Chris. I just got back from My Nevada cycling tour.... I did my best to ignore my physical condition.....It did not go away.The nights I camped out in somewhat chilly weather- probably did not help. My perfromacne was down.
IT was such a great tour. Nothing could make a dent into my happiness at touring with 35 other avid cyclists in ideal conditions, other than my sniffling and wheezing... it was great and I refused to let my sore throat detract, even if at times I appeared miserable..