Update! The first thing I did was get an appointment with an GP. The second thing was look at my daily habits and see what may have gone unnoticed.

I realized that I drink very little water and what I do drink has been run through a filter. The water here in town is pretty bad so I have been drinking nothing at work and what is used in my food have been filtered with a system of carbon filters I installed under the sink. Besides coffee in the morning and a couple of beers at home (both diuretic?). Having to walk 150 yards to the can does not help. I thought my back was hurting in the mornings. I wonder if it was my kidneys?

So I have a couple gallons of good well water now at work and drank regularly last week. I started in with a liquid mag/calcium liquid supplement that mixes with water or juice. I didn't notice much difference right away.

I went to my appointment with a doctor in Brattleboro. She is a homeopath and regular MD. I had a very lengthy interview (2.5 hours) had all the basic tests done. I gave her my complaints and she requested the insurance company cover some blood tests.

I have what she described as "pretty severe" varicose veins and assured me they may be intimidating they certainly were not to be seen as "oversize fuel lines". My busted ones are the return lines which isn't as bad but that needed to be addressed ASAP. She said it's fine to keep riding but she issued some warnings. If I felt any odd, severe, large ares of pain, call an ambulance.

I talked about my heart rate and how I didn't feel quite right. This was about the time she got to the part in my application where I filled in the amount of exercise I get. My wife changed the number to a much greater one.

My wife makes us amazing food and lots of it but it's pretty low fat. The doctor suggested I may need more fat. I told her what I knew about carbs and sugar and she asked if I used gells and "powerbars" for food. I use gell for the last hour and almond butter/jam and cream cheese finger sandwich in a constant gradual feed. During the winter (like now still) I have been spinning pretty hard for an hour without drinking any water throughout the day.

I know to properly hydrate "on paper" but I grew up in the southwest and am sure I had become conditioned to do without at certain times and when required use a lot.

After the appointment, within a day or so, I think my mineral inventory was better stocked and I could bend my foot without a cramp. Now, several days later I feel quite normal. It will be sometime next week for the test results.

I asked about getting a stress test also. The doctor assured me that insurance would not cover that sort of test unless I had a history of heart trouble and there was risk of a heart attack.

I am still not riding outdoors but I got a really solid indoor session last night. The puddle under the bike didn't feel as oily as usual and I felt like I was making some power.

I am going to stick with two of these mineral pills a day and see how it goes. They are going to test my fluids for minerals and sugars etc so we will know soon.

Ill keep you posted. Thanks for the comments.