Injury and Time

Almost a month already since that last post? Time is going way too fast. Well in some regards it is. When you're counting the days until you can go back to the doc and see if you can ride the bike again each week can SEEM long.

Remember that skill clinic I wrote about? Seems that the last day I mistimed one of the new things I'd learned and ended up leaving the bike. It wasn't until five days later that it was confirmed that I'd broken four ribs.

Of course since I'd made this trip planning to do more riding after the clinic I still headed that way and hooked up with Hunter near Bedford. Knew I didn't want to show up at home hurting this bad and riding often hurts less than the time off the bike. Hunter took me out to ride some of the most incredible trails/routes there. Nice looooong climbs, multi-hour rides, lots of heat and humidity too. It was epic and a blast. Much of the time is a bit of a blur due to pain. But wow! I want to go ride there again when I'm 'whole'. Thanks for the tour Hunter!

Once back in Michigan I got things checked out and finally 12 days post impact got to see my favorite sports med doc. He helped out with better pain management options but ruled out biking until he saw me again. Something about the risk of puncturing a lung if I fell. It's one thing to loose a few weeks of a season, another to take that kind of a risk.

So once again...I was going to miss the Lumberjack 100. Glad to see it taking off, I might finally get to ride it next year!

Back to today: ribs are making good progress and I can ride (only on the road) and have to have company. That is exciting news for me!

More concrete critters

Remember those pink elephants from March...
These aren't quite as large but what is it with stuff like this?

Went for an epic mtb ride today. All up or down. Sure not what riding in Michigan is like.

Gene Hamilton's Mountain Bike Skills Clinic

So here I am back in Virgina, real close to D.C.
Made the 10+ hour drive yesterday along with hundreds of very loud Harleys. Did I know it was Rolling Thunder weekend? When the Harley crew descends on D.C. for Memorial Day weekend? I do now.

Lack of sleep haunts me yet today but the clinic has been great so far.
Lots of skill drills and I finally learned to do both coaster and pedal wheelies. The first pedal wheelie I surprised myself by getting three pedal rotations in before the front end came down. The second one didn't go as well so I apparently overcompensated on my third effort and promptly pulled the bike all the way over (Did I manage to hit the rear brake??? No.) So I hit the pavement real hard, backside. Ouch.

Clinic is very cool and fun. Learning sure makes one tired. Could be the sudden summer heat too! Later.

Badger Badger Badger

Badger v2 has made it! Sleek-n-slender seatstays with LOADS of clearance are the order of the day with this frame. Sneak peak here. Final build pic and ride impressions to come later.

What can I say?

Other than I'm lame? Reality is just too busy. You all know how it goes. So things like this go to the end of the list and languish. Have some fun stuff to post up but just haven't gotten it here. Like the pics and the whole experience of the Peaks Coaching Group Training Camp almost two months ago.

Or how Midland Forest and Cone races went (or didn't)

Or how I've trashed two der. hangers in less than a month after 20+ years of not having done it once.

Training Crit

Well, seems that the epic on Saturday just wasn't enough. I headed to A2 for the last of the spring training series crits. Plus I had a box full of new SpeedyChix (AAVC/SalonXL) team kit to deliver.

I felt surprisingly good after Saturday's ride. I warmed up mostly off the back of the B race. I'm hoping that for 2007 they flip the order of these races so we do the women's race first and then can burn up any remaining energy in the B race. In any case I had to make sure I kept a bit in the tank for our short race.

They split our field so we were small groups. Most of us were all on the same team making for limited dynamics. Threw down some attacks, got a pair off the front, soon we got another teammate away solo. That left us in a 3 on 1 quartet. This is where I was having trouble behaving. I kept wanting to attack but knew I shouldn't. The individual racer made a couple of really solid efforts and woke us from our slumber as we entered the final two laps. I made one last jump to draw her out and hoped to leaver her a bit tired so LJ and Wendy could sprint by for the finish. Mission accomplished.

Then to make the weekend complete once I was back home I started to work on that new pile o' mulch. Oh, the deal here...last Saturday I took care of a 10 yard pile. At least this one is smaller.