I’d like some opinions from some “seasoned” tourists.

I am 64 years old and have been a moderately serious bicyclist all my life. I did some 3 – 5 day touring in my late 20’s and early 30’s in Washington State and Vancouver Island. I am now, and have always been, reasonably fit and in good health.

I can ride 60 miles at a 17mph pace with only one short stop. I can ride a MTB 25 miles a day and climb 4000’ of single track with no problem. I have been riding 100+ miles/week for many years.

I ride 4 to 7 days a week and usually get 150 or miles a week. I ride a Specialized Roubaix Elite (triple) on the street and a Stumpjumper MX2 hardtail on dirt.

My problem and the reason for this question is that my ‘past’ is catching up with me. I have always been a serious athlete/adventurist and have engaged in many sports that caused violent injury and damage to my body. (football, soccer, rock climbing, mountaineering, ski mountaineering, board sailing, racquetball, basketball…etc). I have broken and/or dislocated most bones and joints from my fingertips to my neck and down to my toes. In particular my shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers have suffered badly over the years.

I can ride for hours a day for many days in a row with no problem. Then suddenly, one morning I wake up and can hardly move because my joints are so stiff or my bones hurt so badly. That pain may last a day or several days and then suddenly, again, I can go out and do another 60 miles with no pain and actually enjoy the ride.

I have been to countless doctors; (orthopedic, arthritis, GP, internists, dieticians), before, during and after one of these spells and none of them can name the problem or determine how to prevent or alleviate the symptoms. I have kept rigorous food journals but can find no discernible trigger. Additionally, the problem does not seem to correlate with level or type of activity.

I may have several weeks of daily riding with no problem and then have an “attack.”

I know frequent and consistent exercise is good for me. I would like to start doing some long distance tours but am concerned about getting stuck somewhere.

Usually the more I ride the better I feel so the questions for you “experienced” touring riders are:

1) Have any of you suffered similar problems and if so how did you deal with them while touring?

2) Did the soreness and stiffness eventually disappear when on a multi-week tour?

3) Is there anything more I can do to prevent the occurrence of the problems?

4) How do you deal with short term disabilities while touring?

no idea buddy how to help, but man you must have been one hell of a cyclist in your day which is really not that long ago, the pains your getting could be described as happy pains , pains that come and go dont last very long couple days tops reason there called happy pains.

Did You find a 'Floater'?

may I suggest a Recumbent Tadpole trike .. like Greenspeed .
wont climb as fast, but it will be like a lounge chair
while you are working your way up the slope.

and include a hot springs to soak in, on your itinerary.


I am 63, I had to work , instead of sports partying.

I can't address your specific issues but if I was you I'd be prepared to be in one place with whatever comfort resources I need until the problem passes. Water, camp chair, comfy sleeping pad, etc. If this condition occurs with absolutely no warning I'd be inclined to stick to camp facilities or hotels and plan trips accordingly. What you're describing doesn't sound like simple exhaustion.

I am not a medical professional these are only guesses and ideas on what to try next.

If it was arthritis, you would have a specific spot that suddenly goes bad, in my case the right big toe. But, you describe a whole body problem. So, I think it is a chemical imbalance. Either too much of something or too little of something else.

- Do you take supplements? Should you take something? Do you take something that you should not?
- Are you developing a food alergy - have you been tested for alergies? I worked with someone that described all kinds of wierd problems, he got tested for allergies and found he had a food allergy, but I do not recall what it was.
- I used to work with someone that has celiac disease, what you describe sounds like she was before she cut out gluten, could that be an issue?
- My sister can't eat gluten but it is not celiac disease, maybe gluten intolerance?
- Do you take any prescription meds that occasionally cause a drug or food interaction? Maybe check what you take on web MD to see if there are any symptoms like yours listed under drug interactions or side affects.

If none of the above, I think you need to think along these lines - what are you exposed to that is bad for you?, etc.

I'm not quite in your place yet but I can see it coming. The recumbent idea is a good one; I don't ride a 'bent (yet) but I can see the advantages. I think a big factor is slowing down...touring doesn't have to be a race or competition, it's a journey. Relax and enjoy and pretend you don't have anything to prove to anyone including yourself. When my key joints start complaining on a tour I'll make the next day either easy or off, do some walking around. I also use Ibuprofin quite a bit but realize there are some negatives to long-term, high dose use.

I am prone to get bronchitis and diverticulitis, unannounced. I carry appropriate drugs for both when touring. As you've found no specific cause or remedy for your problem, 'bout all you can do is stop riding 'til it passes. Anti inflammatories should ease the symptoms. Maybe even some rx pain meds for temporary use. Maybe a dose of steroids, tho since it passes pretty quickly, that probably isn't indicated.

Does sound like some sort of weird auto immune response. Have you been to an immunologist? They deal with some far out stuff. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't progress.

Thanks for all the responses. I've been dealing with the problem for many years - it is just becoming more frequent as I get closer to MediCare. I've been poked, prodded, X-Rayed, Scanned by the best docs and quacks. Even when I am so sore I can hardly move a joint and am sitting in the internist/orthopod/arthritis/infectious disease/tropical disease (spent a lot of time in Africa and rural Mexico) specialists they find nothing to fix. I have been tested for all kinds of allergies and immune problems.

The problem is not so much the pain as the stiffness and fatigue. It is sometimes hard to take the next breath and the killer problem is that my hands and elbows are so sore I can't pick up my coffee cup. I've tried all kinds of Rx stuff and really dislike the side effects. In my opinion, those side effects are more debilitating than the original problem

Since I am a true believer in non-schedules (after all I am a cruising sailor and live on my boat about 1/2 the time) I guess it is no problem to sit in some small remote town/campsite and wait for the problem to pass. I love to camp but can easily afford to do credit card tours.

I am concerned about getting stuck somewhere but I guess the worse that could happen is that I have to figure out how to get to the airport and fly home.

Nice ideas. I have heard tell of celiac patients presenting as neuropathies with symptoms not unlike the OP. I have celiac disease, as do my sisters and a niece. My siblings and I get the glorious bleeding digestive tract issues with our anemia and fatigue. My niece just gets the fatigue.

Have you tried acupuncture?

https://mehelpinfo.users.btopenworld.com/page4.html ????

https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypothyroidism/AN00069 ????

dig a hole VERY DEEP. no shallow graves!

+1 on a body chemistry imbalance. No one here can give you a go, no-go. You are obviously fit enough to go for it with only fear of a problem holding you back. Worse case you could be hold up somewhere for a day or two until the problem clears, which, as you've told us, it always does. Many here have had to deal with medical, or weather situations that keep them in place for a few days. No biggie!

Suggestions:

Do some short 2 or 3 day circles tours and see how they go. Then go for a larger circle tour. A circle tour will limit your distance from home and from services you may want or need.

Tour to at least medium sized cities where transportation home is available. With the exception of parts of the west and Alaska you are never too far from anywhere in this country. You might have to endure one day of unpleasant riding to get to a transportation hub.

Search and/or post on the 50 plus thread. There are many very serious athletes posting reguarly to that thread. These guys do big mileage. Most of the medical problems us older guys experience are in the been there done that column on that thread. Good people with great answers.

Good luck!!!

My dad is exact same age as you and has Fibromayalga which came on after he had some serious medical conditions, this may be worth looking into. Are you against taking pain medication? I believe he takes a couple T3's when the pain really acts up. To me the side effects of meds do not outweigh being in agony!

Switching to a recumbent might ease the stress on your body, there are downsides but there is no doubt they are wayyyyy easier on your body. There are many models of high performance and touring recumbents out there. At least give it a try!

Some of those symptoms sound like Lyme Disease. Do you have a more generalized fatigue that seems odd, even for your age and activity level? I know my Dad ended up with Lyme and had weird, migrating pains and stiffness. One day he would have debilitating pain in his legs and then, bam, it was gone, or it would shift to somewhere else. He also had a lot of fatigue and ended up sleeping a lot more than was natural for him. It wasn't a debilitating fatigue, but it was certainly odd in comparison to his previous activity level. The worst part is that most of the symptoms seemed pretty innocuous. For the most part, he was OK, but he knew that something was wrong. It wasn't until he ended up with Bells Palsy that he knew what it was.

Lyme is often confused with Fibromayalga, and a girl I went to school with was misdiagnosed for years as having Fibro while Lyme took a serious toll on her body. It's worth looking into the symptoms for more information. Lyme is most common in the northeast, but it's now in every state.

It's worth looking into; many, many people never end up with the characteristic bull's eye rash and it seems like the symptoms are almost limitless.

https://arthritis.webmd.com/tc/lyme-disease-symptoms

(notice that arthritis is in the link for lyme disease....)

Drafty_jeff beat me to it. Lyme is a nasty, nasty condition and could be causing my of your symptoms.

My sister has Lyme - I've been tested as much as possible. Probably not Lyme.

None of the "experts" seem to think it is Fibromylagia - onset too sudden, duration too short

Have been thoroughly tested for most endocrine problems (thyroid...etc)

Onset almost always occurs in the middle of the night - wake up at night with headache, very sore joints and muscles...

I'm pretty convinced it is a food/local environment problem but can't isolate it. It does occur when I am at my summer home in Puget Sound and my winter home, on my boat in San Diego - but less frequently in San Diego. I've tried major changes in diet but keep having problem.

At times I can go months with no problem then begin a cycle of several days stiff/sore/achy and then couple weeks of no problems. Tuesday night/Wednesday this week I was miserable - Thursday I rode 47 miles/3200 feet of climbing and felt great and feel nice and loose and limber today.

I'm not convinced that changing the bike frame (traditional to recumbent) will make a difference. This problem occurs even in those periods (say December in Puget Sound) when I am not riding so much.

Thanks for the ideas. I will try some circular credit card tours this winter in the San Diego and dessert east of San Diego. Doing a three - five day tour on my Specialized Roubaix may help me understand what I can expect for multi-week tours.

I have a good friend with Rheumatoid Arthritis ....sounds just like what you described especially at the start ...doctors took ages to come up with a diagnosis ...good luck

Not to keep pushing the Lyme, but the blood tests are notoriously inaccurate. The only way to truly diagnose is based on symptoms.