There went another summer...looking ahead to next year.

   Fall is here bringing rain and the best riding conditions. Despite that I can't help but feel awfully jaded by the past 2 years, logging far more couch time than saddle time, and twice getting crushed by another injury just when the previous one has healed. I think I've learned a lot and really hope I can actually apply it to become better at dealing with these setbacks--and avoiding them in the first place. I've also acquired a handful of other hobbies that are good for days off the bike and may make it more motivating to have more rest days. Gardening, fishing, and canoeing have helped me hang onto the last few shreds of sanity that were trying to escape this summer and provide endless opportunities for learning; especially so for fishing and gardening.
   Currently the canoe is all dismantled for some repairs and a complete refinishing. It's a really nice fiberglass canoe that needed to be returned to its former glory, with dry splintered trim and holes in the seats, and a hideous light green spray paint job. I tried an epoxy/carbon fiber patch on some holes in the front and back and they turned out really well, but it's been sitting for a while and now that summer work has finished I'm working on motivating to sand it all out for painting. The seats need re-webbing, and all of the wood bits need a going over with fine sandpaper and several coats of marine poly finish to complete the project.
   My garden was fairly good but not quite as successful as I hoped it would be with all the work that went into it. The pepper plants took forever to start producing, and some tomato plants never even bore fruit. The tomatoes I was able to get were very tasty but it seems like a big challenge to get more production with the incredibly short season. Snap peas got eaten by rabbits, the green beans were very small, and runner beans never even got beans on them, but I had some very happy kale and chard plants when they weren't getting eaten by the chickens. My winter project is going to be mixing up some good rocket power compost for next year in hopes that might help things along. A hoop house or some other insulating structure is also imperative to stretch the growing season out here in Meyers where I think the nights above 30 degrees only lasted for a month or 2 in the summer. My big hoop house got blown away nearly every time it got windy here and I had to convert it to 3 smaller structures as a last resort to keep things happy. Perhaps a green house next year if we can collect some more old windows. Abundant sun might make a passive solar heat system possible to keep warmth circulating around the plants through the cold nights.

Peppers and tiny green beans. They only got to 3" long and stopped growing.

   Things have gone amazingly well with physical therapy; I'm still incredulous that I spent all summer being dumb before finally going to see this therapist who has pretty dang near fixed me already! I have been able to pedal for 5 to nearly 10 miles with just a bit of stiffness and have luckily enjoyed a few good "brown pow" days in the last few weeks with some rain to make the trails nice. Corral Trail in my backyard is quite a hoot but I'm hoping I work up to riding a few other trails before snow buries it all. I also did 2 days in a row on the moto last weekend and was a little bit sore after but nothing too unbearable. Motos are fun on a whole different level and yet another challenge I'm happy to tackle. Additionally, it feels like a good trip to the gym for the legs and upper body but is a heck of a lot more fun. A mountain bike feels so small and light after muscling around one of those heavy beasts--the 125 is already feeling a little bit underpowered too, wait till I get on the 230 that Kit is working on right now. Eek!
It gives me a little more hope that things are going to return to normal soon. My therapist told me to basically go do things as I would normally and call him in a couple of weeks. If it hurts again I'll go back in and get worked on some more, but things are definitely progressing incredibly well. He thinks that all the pain was from the muscles at the front of the hip being all wound up in an angry tight ball from being overworked, compensating for weak butt muscles. How did I get those? Oh, maybe a miserable winter spent on the couch, perhaps... more reason to get back on the telemark gear this winter and build them back up! Before then I have to stay diligent with my stretches and exercises and work back into normal behavior.
  I'm still hoping that there was no irreversible damage done to the hip joint and that I will be able to go back to life as usual but the MRI will tell a lot about how the joint is looking and if there is any arthritis developing (ugh...don't want to think about that!) The MRI is now scheduled for October 24th thanks to getting a cold right before the first appointment I finally succeeded in making a few weeks ago.

Cucumber!

   Getting excited for next season already, I hope to pick up my new ride from Lichen Bikes up in Washington in the next month or so during my annual pilgrimage homeward. I have plenty of fun cruising around on the 'cross bike here in the meadows, but I've taken every opportunity for snagging Kit's Yeti for a spin on Corral to smash through rocks and hit the jumps. In the apparel department it sounds like Vanderkitten has come up with some ideas to expand their MTB presence; though details have yet to be confirmed, there may be some ski-bike multi sport video fun involved with that. In addition I'm still planning to complete some kind of instructor certification so that I can coach and lead rides throughout the year. With some successful fundraising in this past year all I've got to do now is get healthy enough to sign up for the training and then find a good one to attend!
   I'm trying my hardest to get back on the horse without getting bucked off again; let's hope this time I finally have more success!

A calm evening on the river.

 

Plugging away

  Half of me wants to re-name this blog something like "the misadventures of an ex mountain bike racer" but that seems awfully pessimistic. The fact that I'm going on two seasons of not racing is definitely getting to me and though I try my best to stay involved with events, every now and then I get really frustrated and just want to disappear without a trace. Don't worry, I wouldn't actually do that--there are too many good people to miss seeing again!
   Almost 2 months after my doctor visit I still have made no progress with scheduling an MRI under the new insurance, yet they kept bugging me about making an appointment for a yearly checkup...can we take care of the more pressing issues first, please? Apparently not!
   Progress with physical therapy stalled out with continued inflammation making it hard to add any more strengthening exercises. I decided to try another PT, Ashwin at Great Basin Physical Therapy, on the strong recommendation of a friend. Although it's a 40 minute drive off the mountain it seems like a worthwhile choice because he was able to make a lot of progress. After only 3 visits I've been able to go up stairs pain-free and without using the gimp walk, pedal a bike around the block a few times, and walk around normally and for a longer distance. This actually motivated me to get up an hour earlier to fit in all of my stretches and exercises before work so I can do something fun in the afternoon. Getting out of bed before it's absolutely necessary in the morning is not exactly my strongest suit, so this is really a good thing!
   On the more fun side, Kit got tired of me moping around the house every time it has rained this summer so he found me a dirt bike: a little Yamaha TTR 125 "clown bike" since it is quite small and feels funny to stand up on. But it's absolutely loads of fun (I'm convinced I shouldn't be enjoying myself so much), and I'm perfectly happy with it right now. Even better is that I haven't had any major hip pain following the few days I've gone riding, despite a little bit of hiking now and then going up anything that's a little over my head. The whole throttle control concept is still evasive, and though some mountain bike skills transfer over it's really a whole different beast. Trying to roll through a rocky downhill section that I wouldn't blink at on a mountain bike put me on the ground in a pile twice within 3 feet; those tiny wheels like to stuff themselves into holes, and compounded by the usual rear brake being the front you've got a winning combination for confusion. Getting good at that kind of thing is probably best left for after I'm healed, but for right now, I'm quite content to rip around on jeep roads to explore and see the sights.

Yes, I am wearing mountaineering boots.

   Going fast on two wheels again and getting a little drifty in some corners puts that big silly grin back on my face where it belongs. I feel a little bit guilty for hopping on the motor-head bandwagon after being such a human powered advocate, but Kit won't have anything to do with stand-up paddle boarding, and riding motos is something we can do together and with our friends and hopefully keep me relatively sane. I sure hope that I'll be able to ski this winter, but if not there is plenty of desert to explore out there in Nevada.

And a spiffy Loeka jersey!