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!