Not much in the way of Island hopping but neither is the GGW…. This is screaming West Highland Way to me. You could add in some Munro days on route if you want to stretch it out for the full time you have available. Leave the car at Milngavie, walk the route, train or bus back to Glasgow, train back to your car in Milngavie.

Mountain Equipment Kenisis is excellent if you can find one. I think they discontinued them this year – new one in the works.

I also have LC and had something similar quite early on in the illness. I think it was literally my body being extremely ill and fighting it through the night. I’d wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed. I think time was really the answer, but further into LC, when I had recovered a bit, I also found a short easy stroll each day really useful to help get better sleep quality. I also did vagus nerve breathing exercises when I was unable to walk without crashing – I think these also helped.

It could also be connected to dysautonomia – something I still suffer from post exercise – where my heart rate stays quite high for something like 10 hours post exercise. I always have terrible quality sleep because of this after any evening exercise.

I also agree that the Garmin numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt, especially when your ill as it’s more designed as a sports watch rather than a medical one.

Have a look on the Long Covid Support for Endurance Atheletes Facebook group – some good stuff on there and lots of knowledgeable people.

Surely one of the gravel suspension forks would help?

Jimmy – it really was a perfect day for it – felt like there was no rush at all. Was that Crowberry Ridge indirect you were on? Recommended?

First time out in 2 year, due to long covid, on Saturday. We ended up doing Curved Ridge and Crowberry Tower in sublime conditions. There was even a plentiful supply of blaeberries all the way up the route. Wonderful day – 10/10 rating.

Couldn’t have said it better myself – completely agree.

Edit

There seems to be a lot of cross over from post viral and LC – they’re maybe not the exact same but certainly some similarities. Similar with ME/CFS.

The hard thing with LC is i could always cycle or run and feel okay during the activity but then would crash massively 24 hours later. It makes extremely hard to judge when you’re doing too much.

PEM is way more than simply being tired/fatigued – it’s quite hard explain but you sort of go into a crash / black hole where your body doesn’t have enough energy for anything but breathing. Even your mind shuts down and you quite often can’t remember what happened during the crash but your not asleep. It’s a pretty horrible experience. I also tended to get pressure behind my eyes and in my head at the same time – I think this is related to dysauthonomia.

The long Covid clinic through the NHS was useful but took 18 months to access.

PEM is a classic sign of long covid – something I’ve been battling with myself for a couple of years. Worth having a look into it – lots of good stuff out there including threads on here. You basically need to avoid triggering PEM at all costs – if I was in your position I would take 4 months off all exercise then try build up extremely slowly again if you can manage with no PEM afterwards. PEM is normally delayed by 24 or 48 hours, sometimes even more so it can be hard to work out what’s caused it at first. Pacing, sleeping well and eating well were they keys for me but still an ongoing process and has taken years already.

I kept training as i didn’t realise I had LC and made myself super ill. Ended up off work for 7 months and off the bike for 2 years. Worth trying to take what feels like drastic steps now to avoid doing something similar.

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I’m on a 2018 alloy with a mix of 105 and GRX. 700×40 Cinturatos. Absolutely love it!

I use Pirelli’s Cinturato M for the exact conditions you describe – really like them. They also do more slick versions of the same for extra speed. Fairly good grip for singletrack but roll well on the road. Decent side wall strength for puncture protection.

I don’t think it’s as simple as Ali Express = fake anymore. It depends on the individual seller and product.

I’ve had a full Shimano SLX groupset of Ali Express and it was genuine. Still going strong 4 years down the line.

I’ve had a fake Shimano chain off of UK ebay that melted my first road ride.

I’ve also had fake Addidas trainers off of UK Amazon.

This  article came out last week – perfect timing!

Exclusive: Tour riders are inhaling carbon monoxide to optimise altitude training – Escape Collective

Recommend what you ride: an alloy Cannondale Topstone is pretty good for winter bike duties plus, obviously, a bit of gravelling. Wide tyre clearance, takes 40’s with full guards. Cables look internal but there is a big slot on the bottom of the down tube so it’s extremely easy to change cables – I have even done it at the side of the road. Has a screw in BB. Available with road or gravel groupsets – mine is 105 and it works great off road too. Geo isn’t too slack / relaxed, works real well on the road.

Having been to Vietnam in July – i’d be surprised if you needed a bag that warm unless he’s planning on going into the mountains or similar? It was 40C and 100% humidity when we were there (Saigon, Danang, Hoi An, Cat Ba, Hanoi).

Is he tenting? Could be pretty miserable without AC. I think staying cool would be a bigger problem than staying warm. I slept on the deck of a boat at one point with not even a sheet and was pretty comfortable hah.

I’ve got some real Oakleys plus some chinese glasses that look very much like Jawbreakers.

Find myself wearing the Fawbreakers more than the real deal.

I foolishly fitted a set of the cheaper, non tubeless, wired bead, Conti Race Kings  to my MTB rims and set them up tubeless. Had to cut the tyre off the rim in the end – it was absolutely never coming back off…

Works great – 11 speed GX shifter with a XT mech here.

That’s lovely – always wanted one of these. Similar industrial vibe to my Geometron.

That’s fantastic to hear! Glad your recovered! I can feel myself dropping some coin this weekend…

Normally I would not have considered an E bike but I’ve had long covid for going on 2 years now and riding an analogue bike isn’t possible at the moment.

From my brief research, replacement motors / batteries do seem to be available for some time, however, your often looking at £900ish for a battery and £900+ish for a motor – prices seem to vary. Not a small chunk of change to keep your 2 year old bike on the trails.

I’m assuming after a good few years they’ll be superseded by newer tech / mounting standards and more difficult to get hold of.

Glad i’m not the only one thinking this!

Badlywired – Thanks for that link – very useful to know what can and can’t be fixed in the UK.

Julians – That’s an excellent resource, sounding like Bosch are the winner if they’re offering spares etc for 7 years after it’s been made obsolete.

Timely thread – I used to climb a lot in my 20s up to about E1. My full group of friends chucked it when our mate fell off an E2 in the Lakes and snapped his leg into many bits. Horrible experience!

Been getting back into bouldering the past year at TCA in Glasgow and been really enjoying it again. It’s funny how the movement comes back to you after 10 years. I have even bought a pad so hoping to get some outdoor stuff done whenever the rain stops…

ME Kensiss for me in winter. Rab VR Alpine for the other seasons.

Both are light, warmish, wind proofish, shower proofish, layer well under a shell, breathable and comfortable.

They also wick the sweat/rain away from your skin with the micropile magic so you feel conformable. A true goldilocks layer.

Also – if you like Aberfoyle for MTB then you’ll love the trails at Ardgartan. All on Trailforks too.

Plenty gravelling routes around Helensburgh – Highlandsmans Woods out to Rhu, Ben Bowie and Dutchess Woods.

I like heading west from Hillhouse, up over the hill into Glen Fruin, turn right along the Fruin tarmac road, turn left at the end of the Fruin road onto the cycle path by the A818. Turn right up the fire road onto Ben Bowie. Once at the top, turn right and down quite a rutted / techy (for gravel) decent down to Helensburgh. Back to the start via road. This is actually quite good on a MTB as well, especially if you add in some trails in Highalandmans and Ben Bowie:

Helensburgh MTB | Ride | Strava

Totally agree about pacing – I’d almost forgotten it’s a thing as I do it automatically now…

My top tips for recovery are: radical rest, super healthy diet / vitamins and good sleep hygiene / duration.

The radical rest part was the hardest for me to get my head around as a formally very active / busy person.

I had 7 months off work – wasn’t really an option as I couldn’t have worked. Similar style of job to you by the sound of it. Time off work absolutely helped!

It sounds like you’ve maybe got it quite mild at the moment if your still working – better to take time off now, get healthy and avoid getting another bout of covid and crashing into long covid severity.  That’s what happened to me on my third covid infection.

First infection was mild. Second one, I was off work for 3 weeks plus long covid symptoms started. Struggled on for around 6 months (just about managing at work at the expense of everything else in life). Covid infection 3 dropped when I was already struggling and it plunged me into the abyss and was off for 7 months. Most ill I’ve ever been in my life.

Back at work now, full time, however, my sporting life is completely gone. Hoping it comes back slowly but it’s been a year since my 3rd infection and i’m still only able to walk without consequences the next day.  Having formally been pretty fit, running and cycling 3 times a week, it’s a life changing experience.

I would prioritise your health over work – plus if you end up with severe LC then you’ll be off work for way longer.

2 weeks of savage headaches for me but the first 3-4 days was the worst! Feel better for it now.

Dog walking seems to make it happen for me – I’m lucky if I get 4 months out of a new pair of jeans. Hence I looked into the Denim Doctor as it was getting expensive! The other areas of the jeans always stay in pretty good condition so it seems like a waste to bin them.

Another suggestion for the Denim Doctor. I just had two pairs of Levi 512s fixed with a blown out crotch – happy with the quality of work and environmentally much better than a new pair.

After a bass hiatus of 15 years – this thread made me pick up a second hand Sire V3. Absolutely loving it! Youtube has been a revelation for learning – never had that back in my day!

That would have been handy about 3 years ago hahahah

I am no coffee expert, so could be wrong, but I felt like the built in grinder on the Sage Barista Express didn’t have a great range. You couldn’t go fine enough to get good pressure on a dark supermarket roast. Weirdly, it worked well with lighter roasts or speciality stuff.

I actually ended up selling up a standalone Eureka grinder and Gaggia Classic setup – no such issues anymore.