Me & Cycling

On the bike. CMT affects me in few different ways when cycling. Because of the muscle wastage in my legs, I have no calf muscles, so don’t have much control over my feet or balance. Therefore, over the years I have adopted the use of orthotics primarily to help with stability of my ankles but with the added benefit of helping power transfer and allowing me to use clip in pedals as the orthotics provide enough stiffness for me to be able to clip in and clip out easily. I started off using out of the box ankle supports and then progressed to some walking orthotics I got through the NHS.

 

As of the past couple years, I was in the privileged position of being supported to be able to purchase some fully custom cycling orthotics designed and made by Dorset Orthopedic which I now use when training and racing.

 

Other small adjustments I've had to make are due to my lack of hand strength/mobility. I have overcome these challenges by using electronic gears and making sure the reach on my levers is set so that I can easily reach the brakes, even when my hands are cold and at their weakest. 

 

There are a lot of other small changes and optimisations that I have made through the years, from clothing and shoe choices, easy access nutrition for training rides and even choice of tools for bike maintenance, when needing to change tires, clean my bikes or change gearing on the track.