Digital Gee

As opposed to riding IN the cold.

I have a cold. It feels like the Mother Of All Colds, but then, they always do. So I tried a short ride this morning to clear my head.

I got in about two miles, maybe three. I was exhausted.

Do bicycles count as heavy machinery (as in "do not operate")?

Anyway, what a drag. Having a cold. Or a code, as it sounds when I say it out loud.

Bummer. Just in time for the holiday!

SaiKaiTai

I've made myself ride with a cold on a couple of occasions.
Didn't get a lot out of it and an hour after I got home I felt worse than before I went out.
Forget that... I like to wallow in it.

So, how come DD doesn't come around anymore?

Digital Gee

I'll ask her.

Louis

I've done it. It's not much fun and it involves a lot of mouth breathing but you can still get in your workout. A long ride, like a century, would be extremely miserable.

Yen

I haven't had a cold in 2+ years and the ones I got before that were beaten down by immediate use of Cold-Eeze. I swear by that stuff! If I did get a cold it was much milder and lasted about half the time as a typical cold.

Hope you're feeling better soon! IMHO it's probably OK to go for gentle rides that don't require a lot of huffing and puffing, just to get out and keep moving. But if you're lungs are congested, I'd recommend waiting until they're clear.

cranky old dude

They are when I'm on them.

There's acure for the common cold now!!
Drink plenty of fluids, get lots of rest and you'll feel better in 7 to 10 days.

I would continue riding errands and such but at an easy pace untill your body fight this off.

Happy Trails

Jet Travis

My life in a nutshell.

Jim from Boston

When I get a cold, or especially the flu with the body aches, I eat lots of soothing comfort foods that I don't eat when healthy, and particularly in training for centuries, and I lay off riding. I almost regret getting better, they're so good. Then however, the recovery time on the bike is longer and harder because I've indulged too much ;-(

For the past few years, my illnesses only last up to three days and occur less than about one per year.

Retro Grouch 

You'll get no sympathy from me, Deege.

I ride all summer with a drippy nose and sometimes sneezing spells. A magic allergy pill every day (sometimes two pills) helps but doesn't completely eliminate the problem.

Besides, how can you possibly catch a cold in San Diego?

stringbreaker

I can't imagine riding the last 2 weeks since it was all I could do to breathe when I wasn't riding. I'm finally getting over a miserable cold. I haven't had one for 2 years and then this one hit and it was a doozy. I'm feeling much better and my head and chest is clearing so the Thanksgiving turkey is on my hit list today.

stapfam

Just drink a bottle of Bordeaux or a Good shot of Cognac before you ride.

Doesn't help the cold- but you won't care.

And a tip from the Doc. You can buy and take all the medication that is available in the chemists and you will be fully recovered in about a fortnight. Without the meds- it will take 14 days.

alfie43

Here’s my two cents, for what its worth. I haven’t ridden my bike with a cold yet, because I usually catch a cold once every 2-3 years and I haven’t been riding that long.

However, as a former runner for over 30+ years, I have ran in the winter with a cold several times and found it to be beneficial. I must add that I never ran during the fever stage of my colds. I ran during the chest and upper respiratory system congestion stage and found that the deep breathing from exercise helped clear up the passage ways. I can honestly say that I felt better afterward. Also, I was careful to run a little easier and slower than I normally would.

65 years old and waiting for the first cold as a cyclist,
Alfie

robtown

DG - in my 4th week of a sinus infection and 6th day of antibiotics and I'm at 50% capacity. I was able to commute a couple times using my electric assist. Depression is setting in, days are shorter, and I've gained over 5 lbs of fat.
On the good side I have three very recent builds in my stable so there I shouldn't get bored in the near future.
Get well soon - but don't over tire yourself.

Wanderer

Sure makes for good snot rockets!!!!!

doctor j

I feel your pain. I'm just now over my second sinus infection of the year. This one included antibiotics and 2 weeks off the bike. Just rode yesterday for the first time in a while. Fortunately, I'm at the permanent residence in LA, and the weather has been much nicer here than in NW Ark. Don't push too hard, or you may end up being down longer than you would if you allow some healing time.

Digital Gee

I've stayed off the bike for a couple of days. Did a bit of walking, and found that the first half of the walk was amazingly refreshing (we've had rain and cool weather). Then, I start sweating like a stuck pig during the second half, and when I get home I'm exhausted.

So I'm taking it easy. It's now been three days, and I feel (knock wood) like the worst may be behind me. Having said that, and angered the Head Cold Gods, I may be in for another rocky period.

JanMM

Two questions:
1. DG, you said you got cold in SD? How can that be? Maybe I wasn't paying attention...........

2. Stepfam, what's a fortnight? I think I heard that word in Mel Brooks' cycling film "Men in Tights".

cranky old dude

I think it rained there once last week......

stapfam

Fortnight----two weeks.

JanMM

Oh.....thanks......I think that's one of the words that got thrown overboard on the boat ride over this way.

Digital Gee

I got the cold from my GF. She had it, it lasted nearly two weeks, and I had no symptoms of it whatsoever. Then, a week later, after she was healed, I caught a cold. I can't prove she gave it to me, but I'm pretty suspicious.

And yes people get colds and catch flu and all that good stuff even here in San Diego. The only thing we don't get is backaches from shoveling snow!

Retro Grouch 

Grreat! The problem that I know how to help you with the only one that you don't have.

The solution for snow shoveling backaches is spelled C-O-N-D-O.

Yen

+100 -- Colds are caught from a virus, not cold weather!

JanMM

Timely Public Service Announcement:
Go forth and get an influenza vaccination today or next week!

alfie43

Never! No way! Not me! I'm probably gonna get hammered by some health care professional, but I don't believe in injecting influenza micro-organisms into a healthy body, even if they are dead....the germs, that is.

By my non-scientific observations, people that get those shots still get colds and the flu; amazingly, sometimes it seems that they get sick right after they get their immunization. I have never received a flu shot, and I rarely get a cold or the flu.

I agree, regardless of what our mothers told us, we don't get sick from being exposed to cold/wet temperatures; we get sick from germs and viruses.
Alfie