I put a thread up in t'other place about this some time ago. I'm not doing this because I want sympathy, although of course I never turn any down, but because arthritis makes life interesting.
For almost two years I have been virtually symptom-free. Prior to that, for a six-month period from autumn 2005 to spring 2006, arthritis would attack unpredictably but most often in my hands and wrists. Some days, my hands were like inflated rubber gloves and I could not bend my fingers because of the swelling and the pain. Then, after the specialist prescribed hydroxychloroquin, things improved enormously. I have had the odd day, but mostly I've been pain free.
This last month or so has seen a return of some of the symptoms, but not as previously. My hands and wrists have been in some mild pain, but mostly it has been my knees, feet and ankles, especially my left foot. If I sit still for any length of time, I seize up, and it takes a while for things to get going again.
Having swollen, painful hands completely prevents cycling. If you can't squeeze the brake lever, that's that, really. However, sitting on a bike and pedalling puts a lot less strain on the knees than does walking, in which the entire body weight is supported by each leg in turn. I just don't know how far I would be able to cycle under those circumstances.
An upright riding position is definitely advantageous from the wrists' point of view, so I prefer the Thorn to the Mercian at that point. There is also the issue of looking over the shoulder, and that can be affected by arthritis.
This morning, the biggest problem was unclipping. Twisting my ankle joint was really quite painful, so much so that I was seriously considering ditching the clipless pedals and going back to rat-traps. Then, this afternoon, the symptoms had subsided considerably and everything was OK again.
In spite of what I have posted about time limits, I still want to do the odd audax. But what distance should I choose? I just don't know how far I can go when the arthritis strikes. I DNSed the Stevenage ride on Sunday because I have had a rotten cold, but doing a 200k linear route with no clear bail-out option is much more daunting than, say, a figure-of-8 in which the half-way point is also the arrivée.
As I say, it makes life interesting.