Doctor's orders - a cocktail of drugs, and get back on your bike

More attentive readers may have observed me banging on in my Twitter feed about how sick I am, how I'm now in my third week of having a cold and generally whingeing about not being on my bike.

You know how men are alleged never to visit the doctor? Well, that felt like a challenge to me, so I decided that I would buck current trends and go and see one, and at the very least have a good moan about my everlasting cold.

Drugs smorgasbord

I went to see the good doctor yesterday. He did some good work with his stethascope and quickly surmised that in spite of my fears, the infection had not spread to my chest. Relief. But was it OK to have a horrible cough and a miserably runny nose for weeks on end? Oh yes, a virus can be with you for weeks - nothing abnormal about that. So what can I do about it? Well, here was the surprising bit.

He said - don't do what a doctor says, but what he does. When he has a virus like that he takes:

- two paracetamol
- two ibuprofen
- one sudafed

Remember folks - I'm a blogger not a doctor!

all at the same time, every four hours! My God, I feel vaguely guilty about taking two paracetamol when I have a headache - God knows what this cocktail of drugs will do!

Wow. What about wine. Can I drink wine?

Oh yes - no problem there.

And (of most pertinence to this blog, of course) - should I be on my bike? And here was his best answer:

"Listen to your body". If it makes you feel tired and horrid, don't. If you feel good, go for it.

Result!

I came away from the surgery reeling a bit as I'd never have expected any of those things. I stocked up on the necessary drugs, went home, took some, drank wine. Slept better than I have for weeks. Got on my bike this morning and had a lovely, leisurely ride through London on a glorious sunny day.  Amazing how some positive advice from a doctor can transform you.

I'm sure many of you have doubts about the wisdom of this advice - but it seems to be working so far.

Any thoughts out there about when not to bike - for medical reasons - or indeed, strange things doctors have told you to do?

That London "heatwave" - part 2

Thanks to those of you who pointed out that the best way of getting over the heat is to ... wait for a day, and watch London go back to being rather cold and British. And also to those who noticed that 30 degrees hardly constitutes a proper heat wave - perhaps 40 would be more like it. Still, us British have got to dream at least that we live in the tropics every now and then.

But anyway - I'll certainly come away with one really good tip from Catherine - put your water bottle in the freezer an hour or two before setting off on your journey - and hey presto, an ice cold drink all the way home.

Happy cycling everyone.

Glory, Glory ... and talking to strangers on bikes in London

Days like today are what cycling was invented for. A perfect sunny day but not boiling hot. It was all I could do to stop myself greeting every fellow cyclist with a cheery wave and a "good morning" ... actually perhaps I should start that and see what happens. Somehow the idea that you can actually talk to a fellow cyclist seems a bit unlikely. Have you guys ever tried it? As documented in blog posts past, cyclists do occasionally exchange words with strangers - but it's normally when the weather is extreme - snow or driving rain.  But when it's sunny? Come on cyclists - did you talk to a stranger today? Confess.