Long Covid recovery

As a retired doctor I was very interested to read Alex Needs’s article about his experience with long Covid. The syndrome is essentially the same as that of ME, which I first encountered as a new GP in the 1970s. When I met my first patient complaining of the symptoms of mental and physical exhaustion I was sceptical and wondered if he was a malingerer, but on his repeated visits to my surgery I came to understand the mix of mental and physical effects.

Sadly there was no referral help available then. My patient, however, came in one day after a few months and told me he was better and wanted to get back to work. I didn’t see him again for years. This was a pattern I saw again many times. Almost always there was a clear history of a feverish cold or flu to begin with, and usually the patient was young or middle aged and normally physically active and fit. I would sometimes advise a low dose antidepressant at night to help muscle pain and sleep. I would always tell them that I had often seen complete resolution after a few months, sometimes very suddenly.

I strongly advise people in Alex’s situation to keep cycling but start with brief rides and then increase duration and effort slowly. An e-bike could be a solution for those cyclists unfortunate enough to suffer from prolonged long Covid.

Stephen Taylor

The letter of the month wins a set of Trace and Tracer Mk2 DayBright lights, courtesy of Exposure Lights. These small (35g), rechargeable lights are ideal for urban riders or any cyclist wanting to be seen easily: the front emits up to 125 lumens, the rear up to 75. Conspicuity is boosted by excellent side visibility and an optional DayBright pulse pattern. The casing is durably made from CNC’d aluminium and is waterproof to IP65. For details, or to purchase Exposure lights, visit exposure-use.com/ Brands/Exposure-Lights

The development of long-distance cycle routes is to be applauded. However, many are not fully accessible to those of us who use non-standard cycles to enable us to continue to cycle despite disability. The vast majority of the routes use off-road sections, which cause accessibility problems. I use an upright trike, which struggles where the camber is too great or the cycleway is not wide enough. I would like to make a plea for more routes on metalled roads, and for alternative road routes around off-road sections.

Jim Hope

There is an alternative Rebellion Way route for trikes and/or trailers. See cyclinguk.org/route/rebellion-waytrike-and-trailer-alternative-route

Rebellion Way DIY tube recycling

I cannot be the only cyclist with an untidy pile of old punctured and patched innertubes that are no longer fit for any purpose. Does anyone know of an organisation that would be able to recycle them?

Dermot Ball

Schwalbe recycles innertubes. Bike shops can sign up to become a dropoff point for the scheme by emailing recycling@schwalbe.co.uk

I read with interest in the April/May edition of your magazine the letter from Will Priestly and the reply by Richard Hallett about the left-handed thread on left-handed pedals and cranks. While doing a bit of web surfing recently I was interested to read that the innovators of that piece of design were the Wright brothers of Dayton, Ohio, who went on to design and build the world’s first powered aircraft. I also remember reading somewhere they invented the drop handlebar, too.

Obituaries is not possible to take this on a plane. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on how to tour in Europe on an e-bike and in particular how to get your bike there and back? Are there any courier companies that will take your bike to Europe by road in advance so you can cycle home? Is it possible to send the battery home to the UK by courier and bring the bike by air? Or am I now restricted to trains/ferries when organising future trips?

Are published online at cyclinguk. org/obituaries

Contact publicity@ cyclinguk.org

I work as a tutor/mechanic at an alternative education facility, refurbishing used bikes and teaching youngsters who aren’t doing well in mainstream education. I tell them this story to illustrate that even bicycle mechanics can go on to greater things.

Michael Paice

Cycle is always a great read but the April/May issue was brilliant! The article titled ‘Beyond price’ was worth my membership fee alone. I really liked the items on touring shorts, the reports on tyre tests in Gear up were very useful, and the bargain hardtails test made me think that I should really consider buying a Voodoo Bizango.

I found the article by Alex on his ongoing battle against long Covid both humbling and inspirational. I hope that things will somehow improve over time for him. I’ve had Covid but was clearly one of the lucky ones to not be stricken with long Covid.

Mike Barlow

I have occasionally toured in Europe with a standard tourer, and have previously taken my bike on the plane. However, I now have an e-bike and it

Nick Stuart

Batteries up to 100Wh (in laptops, for example) are fine, while those up to 160Wh are typically allowed if you obtain airline approval. Most e-bike batteries are bigger than this, although some ARCC conversions use a 144Wh power-tool battery (arccbikes.com), while Swytch has one as small as 90Wh (swytchbike. com). You’re not limited to a single smaller-sized battery. See ebikeshq. com/take-electric-bike-on-plane/.

I have to take issue with Fiona Le Ny’s letter (‘Woof justice’) in the last Cycle magazine. While a good squirt with a water bottle against an errant hound is fair enough, I cannot condone striking with a long pump or other object. Leaving aside the ethical considerations, if a dog is that close to you, then attempting to strike it could unbalance you, or end up in a collision with you coming off.

Dogs are territorial and have a chase instinct. If you can’t outrun one, the best thing to do is dismount and place your bike between you and the dog. Most dogs will stop chasing at this point and give up. Then walk away slowly. Once you are out of the dog’s territory, you can safely remount and pedal away.

Robin Grimmer

I spent eight weeks in Scotland last summer. I rode my 22-year-old Brompton and took my lightweight camping gear as backup for when accommodation was unavailable. The photo was taken in Ullapool. Donald Wells

Get immediate feedback from other members at forum.cyclinguk.org. Here’s an abridged extract from a recent thread: cyclinguk.org/ gravel-off-tarmac

Sweep: What proportion of gravel bikes are ridden much off tarmac or on gravel/ strade bianche (not a lot of those last two in Britain, of course)?

rualexander: Maybe not in England, but there’s loads of ‘gravel’ in Scotland.

rareposter: There’s loads of bridleways, gravel tracks (old railway lines, canal towpaths, etc), plus all sorts of green lanes, ‘grass up the middle’ type roads and tiny farm lanes. Gravel bikes just open all that up.

PH: No point getting hung up on a name, bikes don’t have to be used for what it says on the label to be good bikes. I’ve had a few weren’t – Sportive, MTB, Expedition, and some that were –Tourer, Audax.

Nearholmer: I’ve been doing ‘gravel’ since 1991, when I bought a steel-framed hybrid with 40mm tyres. They were marketed as ‘cross country’ bikes at the time. rareposter: One of the significant enabling factors for creating the gravel bikes of today is the move away from rim brakes in general. Yes, we all managed fine on cantis 20-odd years ago. But no-one would go back to them! mattheus: Your closing statement is so erroneous that you only have to look back a few posts before yours to see it! peetee: Oh, dear. This has turned into Brake Wars again!

TrevA: Gravel riding is what we used to call rough-stuff. I remember doing it as far back as the ’70s locally.

Bmblbzzz: At the dawn of the bicycle, roads outside towns and cities had been largely neglected. So all early bikes were gravel bikes by necessity.

Details

Where: North

Wales

Start/finish:

Llanarmon Dyffryn

Ceiriog

Distance: 67km

Photos: Robert

Spanring