Sunday, April 04, 2010

Riding in the Snow - Knee Pain Update

It has been 122 days since my knee surgery, but it's been slow going getting my knee back in to riding. Not being able to get my heart rate up the past couple months have taken a toll on my spirit and my body. I rode a hand full of times in January, but had to stop because my knee wasn't ready to be loaded yet. I rode once in February and managed about 6 rides in March. It's been slow going indeed, but I'm trying to listen to my knee and not over do it. I pushed it too hard last week and have been suffering all weekend. I'm going to have to take a few days off to let it calm down.

My basic rides are about 5-15 miles of mostly soft pedaling, keeping disciplined, and not letting my ego get the best of me when someone gets on my wheel. I just let them go with a smile and keep on trucking. March is the snowiest month in Colorado and my days off have coincided with every snow laden low pressure system. Maybe it's been good because there are less people to keep my ego in check with.

The Ritchie Break-Away Cross bike is perfectly at home in the snow, allowing me to choose the route I please. The Superfly might as well be a snowmobile, its huge 29 inch tires just glide through snowdrifts as deep as 8 inches. The other day it was so deep I got off the bike and it was still standing! Here are few pics of the last storm:

Pics from my Normal Route










The Snow was so Deep I Didn't Need a Kick Stand!


At the rate I'm getting back to speed I have serious doubts about racing this year, but that's okay because I've got something else in the works. Stay tuned...

1 comment:

Airstream Basecamp said...

keep the spirits up. stay positive and be grateful for all you have on a daily basis.