Moving Along

Well yesterday I got the ok from my doctor to start riding the trainer. I thought this day would never come. Last night I went out to set up the bike and get it ready for this morning to get out there and try it out before I hobbled my way into the shower for work.
It was nice to put on a kit, even though I really didn't need to, but old habits die hard. I used my Felt cross bike that my buddy Q loaned to me. It has Crank Brother Candy pedals, which are super easy in and out, so easy that it didn't cause any pain to use them. Morgan was out there to help me get on and off the bike, which wasn't too awkward. I had to swing my leg over and behind the saddle to get on, but I managed.
Once I was on, I sat there for a second, not believing that I was on a bike again! I started to pedal, very slowly. I've done enough PT to get my leg comfortable to bend sitting down like it normally would, but the motion of pedaling proved that I still have some work to do on that. I was on the bike for maybe ten minutes, and was able to make a dozen revolutions before it started to get uncomfortable, but it was 10 minutes more than the prior month and a half. So I'll take it. More to come as this progression keeps moving along.

Moving Day

Well, today Morgan and I are moving into a new place. Luckily we have great friends and got some help with the move. But on our way to get some coffee I had Morgan shoot a picture of the scar. Seems weird the they could do such gnarly things, with a relatively small incision.
Again, I'm lucky to have the friends I do, my good friend Matt from Saris was kind enough to lend me a powertap wheel to track my progress with power, which will be a very tangible thing to see, and keep me motivated. My other good friend Q from Felt is loaning me a mountain bike long term to help get me back on the dirt for a different type of workout for the leg, once I get strong enough to pedal up hill.

From The Beginning

So I decided to give this Blogger thing another run, this time with the thought of going through the process of recovering from my racing accident, which was fracturing my femur. I ended up injuring myself on February 10th, 2013. I was so excited to be racing a road race with my new team One Way Cycling that day, which turned out to be more than a mere cycling team. We had a tentative plan for the race depending how it unfolded.
 The race was a pretty flat 10 mile loop that we were doing 5 laps around. The only real elevation change was a real short dog leg left sweeper into a sharp right hand, almost 180 degree turn. The started out like we expected, guys taking ridiculous diggers off the front, trying to get away. In the Masters racing, there's not too many times that would work. Everyone was back in the fold by the end of the first lap.
 Now this is where things are kind of fuzzy for me, because I don't remember what lap I ended up crashing on, either the second or third. But this is how it unfolded before the crash. The group was pretty small at this point, I think around 20 riders out of 40 or so. About three quarters through the lap I remember we were single file, fighting to stay on the wheel of the guy in front of you, because the wind was whipping from a headwind to one that was coming at an angle. As we turned right, onto what was the front stretch, it turned to a tailwind, and I ended up at the back. I sat there and tried to recover from all the efforts I made to stay with the lead group.
 The pace started to increase even more at this point to shake off all the tired guys. Which is when my unfortunate accident happened. As the pace started to get faster, I had to pass a few guys that let small gaps form. I managed to get by a few guys, but after a few hard efforts, it was time to conserve energy and just ride my own pace. By this time I was dangling off the back with a few guys chasing me as we came to the dog leg turn. Then you make pretty hard right hander, which I was executing when my rear wheel washed out from underneath me. It happened so fast that I couldn't get my foot out of my pedal and landed on my hip. As soon as I hit the ground, I felt my leg snap. Here's where my faith in humanity was restored and was glad that I am a part of the One Way Cycling team.
 I was fortunate enough to go down in front of a guy who was/is an EMT. He immediately stopped and and knew what had happened, just by seeing my leg in such a way. He grabbed my leg and said "dude, this going to hurt, but it's good for the long run." and proceeded to put my leg in traction. I screamed with more pain than when I hit the ground. By this time, few more guys that were behind me, stopped and were somehow able to get word back to the start area and my girlfriend, Morgan, what had happened. By the time Morgan arrived, all my team had stopped and either gave me reassurance or was holding my hand and letting me squeeze to help with the ebb and flow of the pain that was coming and going. At some point Morgan arrived, and took over on the hand holding. I felt bad, because I think she was freaked out more than I was.But I so glad she was there.
After about what I think was thirty minutes, the local fire dept arrived and was able to get my leg in a traction board. But they really couldn't do anything else, so we waited a bit longer for an ambulance to arrive, so I could finally get some relief from the pain.
After a some what short ride, we arrived to the hospital in Santa Maria, I was grateful to see my teammate Shayne and friend Tyler there too. They sat with us all the way until I was able to get into surgery. While I was out under the knife, Shane and Tyler took Morgan back to SLO to get things for my overnights at the hospital and for her, because she ended up staying with Shayne and his awesome family down there. We were fortunate enough that their house was only a few blocks from the hospital.
I went into surgery, in the evening, and woke up, I think, around 10:30. There was Morgan, Tyler, and Shayne waiting for me to wake up. I have to say that it felt good to have these people there, since my family is all back in Minnesota. I was thankful that Morgan had someone else to lean on at that moment too.
So with out making this longer than it needs to be, the first week and a half were very difficult. Not only on me, but Morgan. She was so fantastic at taking care of me. Up at all hours of the morning, making sure I was taking my medication and helping me to the bathroom, not mention preparing food for me. As the time went on, I was able to get up and start moving around the house, with the help of a walker. With the little bit of PT moves I had to do, it helped get some decent flexibility back.
Now at just over a month out, I'm back at work and can get around with some relative ease on my crutches. In the last week I have been able to get in and out of the shower without help and also the car.  After my follow up visit for x rays this last week, the Doc said I can start putting a little weight on my leg, which has been a real boost for me. It means I'm healing better than expected. In three weeks I go back for another x ray, and if it's all good, I can actually start the real therapy on the leg, full weight bearing.
Stay tuned in for updates, I have little victories everyday. That keeps me motivated to get better and get out on the bike again. I have a goal to do 100 miles on the 6th of July. I know with my support system that I can achieve this goal.

More In The Middle

Well hello. SO the last time I wrote I said I was going to start writing about my escapades in racing again and, well, life happened. After being out on the West Coast for the last 4 years, I decided to take a job at HED Cycling and move back to Minnesota. It wasn't a hard decision to make really. More money, lower cost of living equals better life. Although I guess I was homesick for SLO a few weeks ago.

So before I moved I tried racing the road bike one last time in Santa Cruz, but with the morning temps on the cool side, my asthma flared up again, taking me out of the race. I'm glad that that is over really, I never really was able to get a handle on my asthma out there for some reason. But it was cool to get up to see Santa Cruz before I left the coast for the wide open spaces of the mid west.

I got back to Mn in late April, the weather, well, it was terrible. Rain and even a few flurries, welcome back! After getting settled in at work Memorial Day weekend crept up and a nice trip home to ride the mtn. bike was exactly what I needed. Then It was back down on Monday for a crit at the Target HQ in Brooklyn Park. That didn't go well from the time I woke up. It was rainy, windy and a bit cold. I arrived to the race site wondering if I should've even bothered getting up early. After an hour, the rain moved on, but the pavement was still wet, I decided to give it go. Never raced road in Mn anyways.

So the whistle blows and I'm off with a group of about 40 other 4/5's, yes, 4/5's. The first 20 min of the 30 min crit was good, stayed at the front, didn't do too much work and was feeling comfortable. Then with 7 laps to go, the sketchy riders started trying to get position, and that's when it happened. After staying trouble free, someone went to the front and tried to drill it, but, his foot came unclipped, and down he went, taking the guy in front of me and me down. At first I didn't think anything of it, nothing was broken, but then, I realized I couldn't breath. Had the wind knocked out of me pretty good. Then after 10 min on the ground I got up and knew that the body slam I took was going to have some effect on me, and sure enough, as I'm writing this some 2 weeks later, I'm still sore and bruised.

But with all that, I'm heading to Wausau to hang out with some friends and ride my mtn. bike, sould be a good weekend of fun. Maybe I'll start checking in more too.

Top 10

First crit of the year and I got 9th. Not a bad start to the year. It was pouring rain on the way down to Goleta, and it kept up until about 20 minutes before the start. With barely a warm up, I was on the line. Really sketchy out there, and with 8 laps to go the big wreck I'd been waiting for happened. Luckily I was not taken out, but at least 10 other people were. So I think I'm getting used to this road racing, but two weeks out is the first mountain bike race of the year too. Season is on the way.

I Thought This Cali!?

Rain, rain, and more rain. That's what the last 6 days has been. I have been able to get out a few times, but today was the first time in the last 3 that it's been good enough to get out and not worry about fog. I still got wet today, but it was worth it. I was chomping at the bit to get outside. I get cabin fever so easily now that I live out here, you get used to taken the sun 350 days or so a year for granted. Then when it's rainy for a week, I go nuts.

The season for me starts January 30th, the first Crit of the year, Mothballs. I love this race, the course isn't techy at all, so it's going to come down to being patient and looking for opportunities to get away with some people. Not that that happens too much in my Cat. I'm still a lowly old 4, didn't really race enough last year to get an upgrade, but that's going to change this year. I have some good motivation to train and get my points. But it's time to show what I can do on a bike, show myself that is. A few more base rides and then it's time to get the top end going.

Rainy Days

This past weekend was the Giro di SLO, it's a birthday ride on mountain bike around the city's trails, a 50-70 mile ride and lots of climbing. I was planning on doing it, but with rain coming down at 5:45 am when I woke up, I wasn't about to get ready to make the 6:30 am start.

About 7 the rain stopped, I kitted up and hit the route I thought they would go to after the first bit in town. No such luck. I guess the first bit of trails were so wet, it was more like grease than mud. This meant that they skipped the place I thought I would be able to catch them. So I just did my own little ride, 4.5 hrs and some climbing too. I did have a few mechanicals, well a flat tire and a broken chain. All in all not a bad day.