OK, some background information.
Possible Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, trapped nerve in the neck, or both.
Waiting for the full diagnosis after having the tests. Currently on Naproxen, a sort of stronger version of Ibuprofen.
3 hours/55km last Sunday = no problem.
5.5 hours/67km the Sunday before after forgetting to take my morning tablet = neck pain.
Bikes available;
Lynskey Ti 29er rigid.
Gary Fisher 29er hardtail.
I much prefer riding the Lynskey, it just feels so much lighter and faster than the Gary Fisher. Trouble is, it's a longer head tube and the only forks I've got that fit it are carbon rigids.
I'm riding 90km at SPAMBiking September Blast the following weekend, where the Lynskey is the ideal compromise between an MTB and a CX bike.
It takes me a week or more to recover from a big ride, so maybe I should just plod round slowly and enjoy the scenery on the heavy and slow (in relative terms) Gary Fisher and save myself for Salisbury Plain.