Me duele la espalda - my back hurts .

Friday 3rd March 2023 - Day 16

It's time to write about this as it's changed the character of this trip .

Today I still have lower back problems , more when I get up , sit down for a while . If I start walking around it's fine as long as I don't reach over for anything .

The plan was that after cycling the 5 days I would return to Bariloche to rent a bike panniers tent and sleeping bag for a week. Or I could do day trip loops from Bariloche. In hindsight I could have rented daily from San Martín or Villa La Angostura.

And after visiting Bariloche and discovering what activities are available I was going to slot in horse riding and white water rafting .

Anyhow , I've had to replan but first what has happened.

On Tuesday 21st Feb I rented a bike to cycle to Llao Llao (38 km round trip ) or Lago Guitierez ( 26 km round trip ) . I'm comfortable with both those distances and both routes follow the same first 8 km.

However , as this scenery is all new , no side road path , only gravel , traffic distance take longer to travel . Is stop to take photos , the sky lift to Cerro Otto needs to be put on the list . Enjoy the blue lake . Photos of bus stops .

Also tourist information had given me enough local information to have local options for a detour . Happy .

I had my little blue rucksack , bought on my Offa Dyke trail. Water 1 litre = 1kg . Nothing untoward .

So about 4/5/6 kms ish into the ride I notice a little turning to my left , a little steepness but would take me off this busy road . As soon as I got out of the saddle ohhhh I felt it. Lower back músculos. Could turn to look behind .

Ive had it before last September Stella suggested a sports massage in Teddington which I attended probably 4 times relieved the situation then . Diagnosed as sciatica.

Since September I've done loads of activity and only early this year thought " I feel good ". Golf weekly, cycling , walking football, hikes with ELmer Kevin Heidi .

I had to make my way back to Bariloche to return the bike . I arrived early obviously but the shop was closed ( Spanish hours closed in afternoon between 1400 and 1800) .

So taking my time , there were a few hills , I stopped for beef burger van/truck/horse box. What I like is that they served it on a metal plate . No plastic containers .

Painful to remount the bike . Raising the leg was so painful . But once on slowly pushed my way back to Bariloche .

What went through my mind wax that I had to cancel the cycling . Noooo . I'll go in support vehicle .

Luckily I brought naproxen and deep heat . Nigel from sunrisers mentioned ibuprofen gel as went to buy that from the pharmacy ( Latin ) . Apothecary.

pharmacist (n.)

"a druggist, apothecary, one skilled in pharmacy," 1811; see pharmacy + -ist. Replaced obsolete pharmacian (1720). Pharmaceutist in this sense is attested from 1785. The Latin word was pharmacopola, the Greek pharmakopoles.Aug 3, 2020

The next days . I went by bus to rest and discovered Cerro Campanario. Stunning . But the back was sore . There's no way I could cycle . 4 Naproxen today plus gel,

Also had a sports massage at the hostel . Don’t know if it did any good but trying anything .

Shall I mention it to the guide ?

I didn't . Met the group (there will be 6 of us) in café blanco y negro . Now I'm off caffeine . Just agua caliente . We went to measure our bikes . This is good as I can have a little ride around the block to test my back . Yes I'm going to give it a go on Friday and not tell anyone.

For the next 4 days . In the morning I applied ibuprofen gel and took naproxen x 2 . Applied gel during day and took naproxen . The fifth day i wouldn't have been able to cycle .

So what happened . Here's is a heart rate graph on that Tuesday morning .

I could feel anxiousness because of things in uk .