Well, as of today, I have put in 3,543 miles and 223 hours of riding for 2007. That's 343 more miles than last year. I didn't reach my goal of 4800-5000 miles due to being off the bike for 8 weeks due to the knee injury.
So, guess I will set a new goal for next year: 5000+ miles, which means I need to do at least 416 miles a month. Most likely, I will do more than that - hope to do around 600 miles per month barring injury or other things that will hinder getting those mileages.
*edit*
I've had a friend tell me that measurement of miles ridden in the year is not that great of a metric. One should, if they are using a PowerTap, should measure the amount of work done. So, this year, I will still keep track of miles, but will also monitor the work (kJ) I do on a monthly basis..
Monday, December 31, 2007
Cudo's to my Physical Therapist
I just want to add a little post here about all the great work my physical therapist, Matt, has done for me since May of this year. I sent him a link to the threads about the Tour de Pain and showed him the profile of the ride. He thought it was awesome that I was able to do this ride.
History:
Just a bit about why I have been seeing a physical therapist. I took a day off from work back on May 11 to do a 50+ mile ride with my riding friends, Jay & Jon. First of all, I hadn't been feeling real well that week and I didn't pre-hydrate before the ride. During the ride, I only drank 2.5 bottles of fluid and on some of the small climbs, I pushed too large of a gear. I cramped really bad on this ride and even tho, I was sore & tired the next morning, I got up and did a group ride with the Selma Cyclepaths. Not a good idea. I could hardly walk the rest of the weekend, bending the right knee was very painful. Went to see my doctor the following Monday. Bursitis/Tendonitis was the Dx. Treatment was....rest, meaning, do not ride your bike! If after 4 weeks of rest, it wasn't better then I should see a PT.
Humph! I rested for 1.5 to maybe 2 weeks. No riding at all. I missed the SE Bikeforums mountain ride. Then the 23rd or 24th, I went to see Matt. He diagnosed me with Pes Anserine Bursitis and worked a miracle on my knee. After 3 visits, I was told that I could most likely start doing very easy rides of no longer than 30 minutes. So, of course, give me an inch and I'll take a mile! I rode 30 min on 5/26, 5/27, and an hour on 5/28! A few more Saturday group rides, a few more visits with Matt and I felt all better. But, I had to do a follow-up with my doctor, who, needless to say, wasn't pleased that I still had the amount of pain I did in my knee. I had to 'fess up and tell him I had only rested 2wks. He gave me another 4 wks. I listened this time.
I still saw Matt about 1x/week until about the middle of July. Oh the exercises he had me do!! He's a real meanie when it comes to doing stretches & exercises. Tons of lunges, squats (watch that door! make sure it's closed!), other things for the hamstrings. And, no riding at all during this time:(. When I did start riding again, it was hotter than hell here and I had lost a lot of my fitness. Trying to come back to riding in late July/early August was a bitch. But, I managed to get more riding in, gradually increasing my time and distance. I was also released by Matt, but was welcome back anytime.
Now:
So, this guy has been the greatest! I come in to see him every couple of months to get a little bit of treatment after I've done too much and not been stretching. The last time I saw Matt was just prior to the TdP. They worked me in to see Matt because it was the week before Christmas and I had the TdP trip the following week. Matt just says he's my enabler:). I went in to see him today and, even tho, there was a little bit of pain, it wasn't too bad. Considering the climbing I did, I'm really happy that I don't have more pain....
Anyways....Matt - you have done a great job! I don't think I would have been able to do the mountainous rides I've done since August if it weren't for the work Matt has done. I'll try to do more stretching this coming year! I got a foam roller and dvd that I will be using to work on the hips & legs. Hopefully, I won't need to see Matt too much next year!
History:
Just a bit about why I have been seeing a physical therapist. I took a day off from work back on May 11 to do a 50+ mile ride with my riding friends, Jay & Jon. First of all, I hadn't been feeling real well that week and I didn't pre-hydrate before the ride. During the ride, I only drank 2.5 bottles of fluid and on some of the small climbs, I pushed too large of a gear. I cramped really bad on this ride and even tho, I was sore & tired the next morning, I got up and did a group ride with the Selma Cyclepaths. Not a good idea. I could hardly walk the rest of the weekend, bending the right knee was very painful. Went to see my doctor the following Monday. Bursitis/Tendonitis was the Dx. Treatment was....rest, meaning, do not ride your bike! If after 4 weeks of rest, it wasn't better then I should see a PT.
Humph! I rested for 1.5 to maybe 2 weeks. No riding at all. I missed the SE Bikeforums mountain ride. Then the 23rd or 24th, I went to see Matt. He diagnosed me with Pes Anserine Bursitis and worked a miracle on my knee. After 3 visits, I was told that I could most likely start doing very easy rides of no longer than 30 minutes. So, of course, give me an inch and I'll take a mile! I rode 30 min on 5/26, 5/27, and an hour on 5/28! A few more Saturday group rides, a few more visits with Matt and I felt all better. But, I had to do a follow-up with my doctor, who, needless to say, wasn't pleased that I still had the amount of pain I did in my knee. I had to 'fess up and tell him I had only rested 2wks. He gave me another 4 wks. I listened this time.
I still saw Matt about 1x/week until about the middle of July. Oh the exercises he had me do!! He's a real meanie when it comes to doing stretches & exercises. Tons of lunges, squats (watch that door! make sure it's closed!), other things for the hamstrings. And, no riding at all during this time:(. When I did start riding again, it was hotter than hell here and I had lost a lot of my fitness. Trying to come back to riding in late July/early August was a bitch. But, I managed to get more riding in, gradually increasing my time and distance. I was also released by Matt, but was welcome back anytime.
Now:
So, this guy has been the greatest! I come in to see him every couple of months to get a little bit of treatment after I've done too much and not been stretching. The last time I saw Matt was just prior to the TdP. They worked me in to see Matt because it was the week before Christmas and I had the TdP trip the following week. Matt just says he's my enabler:). I went in to see him today and, even tho, there was a little bit of pain, it wasn't too bad. Considering the climbing I did, I'm really happy that I don't have more pain....
Anyways....Matt - you have done a great job! I don't think I would have been able to do the mountainous rides I've done since August if it weren't for the work Matt has done. I'll try to do more stretching this coming year! I got a foam roller and dvd that I will be using to work on the hips & legs. Hopefully, I won't need to see Matt too much next year!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tour de Pain
Well, I left Clayton at 10am on Wednesday, December 26 headed to Sylva, NC. It took me way longer to get there than I anticipated, so I missed out on the ride that Jschen & BikeWNC did after lunch. Not much else to say about that day, except that I finally got to meet Jason and he is a very nice young man.
Thursday, December 27:
The three of us left Andy's house and rode over to the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) at Balsam Gap and did a short ride up to Grassy Ridge Overlook. This was at elevation 5,280' and included a continuous climb of 6 miles. The first half of the climb had grades in the 6-7% grade and the last half around 4%. The wind was blowing really hard (per Cyclemagic's phone call comment - "sounds like a tornado"). And, it was getting colder. We decided to turn around and head back down and go ride in the valley. The descent was really fun, but I was a bit cautious due to the road being wet, some ice, wet leaves, rock debris that looked like leaves and the high wind. We then went for lunch at Wendy's and over to Franklin to ride the Burningtown Loop. Motionbased data for BRP and Burningtown.
The last time I rode this loop, I think I did a lot better. That climb really took a lot out of my legs considering I set a new PR for my threshold power. I think it was harder due to the effort I put out on the BRP. That's ok tho; we all had fun and it's a social ride not a race. Later that evening, the three of us went out for beer & pizza at Nick & Nate's. That pizza was really good.
Friday, December 28:
This was a wash...rain all day long. We sat around talking, surfing BF and other sites. Roadrider arrived a little before lunch and the four of us went to lunch. Andy said we should be subjected to watch High School Musical 2 since he's watched it so many times:). It was actually better than I thought it would be. That evening, we ate at Restaurant 553, loaded up on pasta & a couple of liquid carbs.
Saturday, December 29:
Official Tour de Pain ride (Ring of Fire). We started out in Cullowhee, NC and had a 15-20min warm-up over flatish to rolling terrain before starting to climb Cullowhee Mountain Road. I think we had discussed riding something like 60 miles, but this was later changed. OMG. This ride was hard. It was sustained climbing for, like, 4.5 miles. I think the average grade was like 8% with some sections in the 12-16% range. Roadrider was wishing for different gearing...39/26 made it extremely hard. I had to stop a few times - my legs were hurting so bad. But, I finally made it!! Jason came back down a very short distance and rode back up with me & roadrider! I have never been so glad to see the summit!!
The descent was absolutely amazing! I followed Jason down and had a max speed of 51.2mhp!!!! I tried to follow Jason's line the best I could as he is a great descender! We made a stop at a gas station on Hwy 64 for "lunch" and decided then to shorten the ride. I didn't feel like I could do much more climbing and neither did roadrider. Our choices were 3000' or 1500' more climbing. We chose the 1500' option...I really wish that we could have done the 3000' (Ring of Scott) but I was not sure that I would have been able to complete that ride:(.
Anyway, we headed on towards Elijay Creek Road and more serious climbing. This climb wasn't as hard as Cullowhee Mountain, but it did offer up several steep sections of 10% plus grades. I did ok on this climb, with several regroupings and rest periods, but still it wasn't easy. Finally, with all the hard work completed, we had another fast descent! This one was a little trickier due to some debris on the road and sections of the road in not too good shape. Then it was just a little flat/rolling ride back to the cars. Motionbased data for Tour de Pain.
Roadrider left for Winston-Salem and Jason, Andy, and I went back to Andy's house. Jason packed up and headed to Charlotte to meet VegaVixen and get some riding in down there. I stayed one more night, as I was really tired and didn't feel up to a 5-5.5hr drive back to Clayton. I got up around 8AM today, loaded my stuff up and headed home. Rain all the way. Even with the rain, I made it home in record time --> 312 miles, 4hr 40min.
We also discussed, briefly, about getting together again in May for a SEBF mountain ride. Thinking about starting at the Pisgah Inn and doing the Pigeon Loop.
Pictures & other reports can be found in Jschen's Visit thread and some in Go For a Ride Bring Back a Photo thread on Bike Forums.
Thursday, December 27:
The three of us left Andy's house and rode over to the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) at Balsam Gap and did a short ride up to Grassy Ridge Overlook. This was at elevation 5,280' and included a continuous climb of 6 miles. The first half of the climb had grades in the 6-7% grade and the last half around 4%. The wind was blowing really hard (per Cyclemagic's phone call comment - "sounds like a tornado"). And, it was getting colder. We decided to turn around and head back down and go ride in the valley. The descent was really fun, but I was a bit cautious due to the road being wet, some ice, wet leaves, rock debris that looked like leaves and the high wind. We then went for lunch at Wendy's and over to Franklin to ride the Burningtown Loop. Motionbased data for BRP and Burningtown.
The last time I rode this loop, I think I did a lot better. That climb really took a lot out of my legs considering I set a new PR for my threshold power. I think it was harder due to the effort I put out on the BRP. That's ok tho; we all had fun and it's a social ride not a race. Later that evening, the three of us went out for beer & pizza at Nick & Nate's. That pizza was really good.
Friday, December 28:
This was a wash...rain all day long. We sat around talking, surfing BF and other sites. Roadrider arrived a little before lunch and the four of us went to lunch. Andy said we should be subjected to watch High School Musical 2 since he's watched it so many times:). It was actually better than I thought it would be. That evening, we ate at Restaurant 553, loaded up on pasta & a couple of liquid carbs.
Saturday, December 29:
Official Tour de Pain ride (Ring of Fire). We started out in Cullowhee, NC and had a 15-20min warm-up over flatish to rolling terrain before starting to climb Cullowhee Mountain Road. I think we had discussed riding something like 60 miles, but this was later changed. OMG. This ride was hard. It was sustained climbing for, like, 4.5 miles. I think the average grade was like 8% with some sections in the 12-16% range. Roadrider was wishing for different gearing...39/26 made it extremely hard. I had to stop a few times - my legs were hurting so bad. But, I finally made it!! Jason came back down a very short distance and rode back up with me & roadrider! I have never been so glad to see the summit!!
The descent was absolutely amazing! I followed Jason down and had a max speed of 51.2mhp!!!! I tried to follow Jason's line the best I could as he is a great descender! We made a stop at a gas station on Hwy 64 for "lunch" and decided then to shorten the ride. I didn't feel like I could do much more climbing and neither did roadrider. Our choices were 3000' or 1500' more climbing. We chose the 1500' option...I really wish that we could have done the 3000' (Ring of Scott) but I was not sure that I would have been able to complete that ride:(.
Anyway, we headed on towards Elijay Creek Road and more serious climbing. This climb wasn't as hard as Cullowhee Mountain, but it did offer up several steep sections of 10% plus grades. I did ok on this climb, with several regroupings and rest periods, but still it wasn't easy. Finally, with all the hard work completed, we had another fast descent! This one was a little trickier due to some debris on the road and sections of the road in not too good shape. Then it was just a little flat/rolling ride back to the cars. Motionbased data for Tour de Pain.
Roadrider left for Winston-Salem and Jason, Andy, and I went back to Andy's house. Jason packed up and headed to Charlotte to meet VegaVixen and get some riding in down there. I stayed one more night, as I was really tired and didn't feel up to a 5-5.5hr drive back to Clayton. I got up around 8AM today, loaded my stuff up and headed home. Rain all the way. Even with the rain, I made it home in record time --> 312 miles, 4hr 40min.
We also discussed, briefly, about getting together again in May for a SEBF mountain ride. Thinking about starting at the Pisgah Inn and doing the Pigeon Loop.
Pictures & other reports can be found in Jschen's Visit thread and some in Go For a Ride Bring Back a Photo thread on Bike Forums.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas Day
Finally!! The day has arrived! My kids are visiting with their Dad in Charlotte and won't be here until this afternoon. It's ok...as long as they are here later today, I'll be happy.
So, what have I been up to this morning?? Well, the SU and I are going to fix a Christmas dinner, so we got the turkey in the oven around 8:30, eggs were boiled & deviled eggs are made, the ham is in now...just have to fix the rice & gravy, green beans, corn on cob and anything else we think of.
Phone calls made to family members. I called my Dad and talked to him for the first time since August 24 of this year. I sent a Christmas package to him & my step-mom of several different food items that they could cook - all of it purchased at the World Market. I also wrote him a letter telling him that it was time we stopped being so damn stubborn. I don't really know what to make of the conversation we had this morning, when I called to wish him a Merry Christmas. He didn't really seem to want to talk too much to me, so we only talked about 5min! I talked to my step-mom, Gladys for a bit and she gave me the latest on how he's doing. For any BF peeps who recall my post back in August about my Dad, he's doing better since he got a stent and a pacemaker, but his short term memory is still not very good. Anyways, I guess we'll see how things progress...
After all the phone calls were completed, the SU and I opened our gifts to each other. I got a foam roller, a Craft longsleeve baselayer, Sugoi RS Flex shorts, Body fragrance by Victoria's Secret, and a new set of jammies from VS. And, no, don't think I'll post any photo's in the Foo Wimmen thread of me modeling the jammies - use your imagination!! My SU received a Peanuts box set (1963-1966), Slang Justice cd, Mack Bolen audio book, Indiana Jones Widescreen dvd set. Plus, we have to wait till the kids get here to open the gifts from them....
So, what have I been up to this morning?? Well, the SU and I are going to fix a Christmas dinner, so we got the turkey in the oven around 8:30, eggs were boiled & deviled eggs are made, the ham is in now...just have to fix the rice & gravy, green beans, corn on cob and anything else we think of.
Phone calls made to family members. I called my Dad and talked to him for the first time since August 24 of this year. I sent a Christmas package to him & my step-mom of several different food items that they could cook - all of it purchased at the World Market. I also wrote him a letter telling him that it was time we stopped being so damn stubborn. I don't really know what to make of the conversation we had this morning, when I called to wish him a Merry Christmas. He didn't really seem to want to talk too much to me, so we only talked about 5min! I talked to my step-mom, Gladys for a bit and she gave me the latest on how he's doing. For any BF peeps who recall my post back in August about my Dad, he's doing better since he got a stent and a pacemaker, but his short term memory is still not very good. Anyways, I guess we'll see how things progress...
After all the phone calls were completed, the SU and I opened our gifts to each other. I got a foam roller, a Craft longsleeve baselayer, Sugoi RS Flex shorts, Body fragrance by Victoria's Secret, and a new set of jammies from VS. And, no, don't think I'll post any photo's in the Foo Wimmen thread of me modeling the jammies - use your imagination!! My SU received a Peanuts box set (1963-1966), Slang Justice cd, Mack Bolen audio book, Indiana Jones Widescreen dvd set. Plus, we have to wait till the kids get here to open the gifts from them....
Monday, December 24, 2007
Catch Up....
Well, the office Christmas party was fun. I fixed 300 of those wonton wrapper appetizer things, ~100 pigs 'n blanket, 40 deviled eggs, a huge pan of baked ziti, and 2 loaves of garlic bread. Not much work really happened that day. I left officially at 1:30pm for 11 days (inlcuding weekends) of vacation. I'll be heading up to the Sylva area towards the end of the week to participate in the ride(s) with Jschen & BikeWNC.
I rode on Saturday, and performed the field test again to see if my threshold power had increased. It has not, but my cadence, avg speed, and distance for the same 20min time period had. I felt decent after completing the test and headed back towards the car. About 10mi from the end, I hear ppfffftttt:(. It was coming from the front tire this time. I pulled over and changed the tube; it was hard as crap to get the tire back on, but I managed to roll it on. As I was putting the wheel back on, a group of riders came by and asked if I needed help. No, but jumped on and rode back with them. It was Lawrence & Artie and about 5 others that I didnt know. Good to ride with them!
For today, Monday, Christmas Eve, I headed out for a ride, not really having a destination or a time limit in mind. I ended up riding out towards Benson & 4Oakes, with 52mi, 3.25hr. It was a beautiful day - around 55F and just a bit of wind. Here's my motionbased data.
I may not post anymore till after my mountain ride....
I rode on Saturday, and performed the field test again to see if my threshold power had increased. It has not, but my cadence, avg speed, and distance for the same 20min time period had. I felt decent after completing the test and headed back towards the car. About 10mi from the end, I hear ppfffftttt:(. It was coming from the front tire this time. I pulled over and changed the tube; it was hard as crap to get the tire back on, but I managed to roll it on. As I was putting the wheel back on, a group of riders came by and asked if I needed help. No, but jumped on and rode back with them. It was Lawrence & Artie and about 5 others that I didnt know. Good to ride with them!
For today, Monday, Christmas Eve, I headed out for a ride, not really having a destination or a time limit in mind. I ended up riding out towards Benson & 4Oakes, with 52mi, 3.25hr. It was a beautiful day - around 55F and just a bit of wind. Here's my motionbased data.
I may not post anymore till after my mountain ride....
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Busy Week...
Well, I haven't posted since this past weekend, as I've just been kinda busy with work and stuff leading up to the Christmas Holidays. This post won't be cycling related, well, maybe I'll throw in a little bit...:)
So, just to get this out of the way...Intervals on Monday in the cold. Temps were around 40F with whine chill around 35F. Good grief, it was cold. Couldn't feel my toes and by the time I had finished my 10min warm-up, I was contemplating not even doing all 4 of the intervals. But, I thought of BikeWNC and how he'd give me shit about not doing them (most likely) and to HTFU, I went ahead and did them. 5x4min intervals. Yay for me!!
See, that was short. My car needed the oil changed before I head up to Sylva next week and I also needed the mechanic to check the left rear tire. It has had a slow leak in it for a long time and I've been using my bike floor pump to pump it up. That's not easy. Anyways, took the car to the mechanic Wednesday for those things and rode my bike back to work. Nice, easy ride.
Last night, I made the shells for the wonton wrappers I will make Friday morning for a breakfast snack at work. I made 300!!! I also cooked a pound of turkey Italian sausage and one pound of ground turkey breast. This will be used for the baked ziti at Friday's lunch.
Recipe for Wonton Wrappers:
1# Bass Farms Hot Sausage, cooked & drained
1c shredded Monterey Jack/Colby cheese
1c Ranch dressing
1 small jar pimientos
1 package wonton wrappers
1-2 mini muffin pans
OK...I think that's about all for right now.....
So, just to get this out of the way...Intervals on Monday in the cold. Temps were around 40F with whine chill around 35F. Good grief, it was cold. Couldn't feel my toes and by the time I had finished my 10min warm-up, I was contemplating not even doing all 4 of the intervals. But, I thought of BikeWNC and how he'd give me shit about not doing them (most likely) and to HTFU, I went ahead and did them. 5x4min intervals. Yay for me!!
See, that was short. My car needed the oil changed before I head up to Sylva next week and I also needed the mechanic to check the left rear tire. It has had a slow leak in it for a long time and I've been using my bike floor pump to pump it up. That's not easy. Anyways, took the car to the mechanic Wednesday for those things and rode my bike back to work. Nice, easy ride.
Last night, I made the shells for the wonton wrappers I will make Friday morning for a breakfast snack at work. I made 300!!! I also cooked a pound of turkey Italian sausage and one pound of ground turkey breast. This will be used for the baked ziti at Friday's lunch.
Recipe for Wonton Wrappers:
1# Bass Farms Hot Sausage, cooked & drained
1c shredded Monterey Jack/Colby cheese
1c Ranch dressing
1 small jar pimientos
1 package wonton wrappers
1-2 mini muffin pans
- Take out 6 wonton wrappers and quarter them. (I use 6 because I have 2 mini muffin pans=24). Place one quarter in each muffin space, pressing down so that the wrappers make a little cup.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Take wrappers out & cool. The whole package makes 280+ shells.
- Mix the remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Place a "dollop" of the mixture in each little shell.
- Bake in 350 degree oven till bubbly.
- Enjoy!!
OK...I think that's about all for right now.....
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Cold, Windy, and Rainy/Sleety Ride
Wow! Starting temps for this ride was in the low 40's and windy. I had planned on doing a 39mi route, but when I got there, changed my mind. Then changed my mind again. I wasn't too cold on this ride despite the temperatures & wind. Around 10mi or so into the ride, it starts to mist rain. Everyone I was riding with wanted to push on because it wasn't supposed to really start raining till after lunch.
The route we rode was a bit hilly, but nothing too hard. The route had around 1700' of elevation change over 39.4mi. Around 10-13mi before we got back from the ride, the misty rain turned to sleet and then a hard rain. I actually wasn't too uncomfortable. Guess I had the correct amount of clothing on this time. Tho, my Craft & Hammer jersey were totally wet, as were my shorts, when I finished, it wasn't because of the rain. It was just from sweating. The Gavia jacket really kept me warm and dry.
I also got to ride with 3MTA3 (Ryan) for the first time since the Southeastern BikeForums Mountain ride. He's such a sweet guy! But, he droped the hamer on me the last half of the ride! He's a very strong rider and made the ride look so easy. He's moving back to Michigan next week tho:(. Gonna go to grad school. He'll be missed!
The route we rode was a bit hilly, but nothing too hard. The route had around 1700' of elevation change over 39.4mi. Around 10-13mi before we got back from the ride, the misty rain turned to sleet and then a hard rain. I actually wasn't too uncomfortable. Guess I had the correct amount of clothing on this time. Tho, my Craft & Hammer jersey were totally wet, as were my shorts, when I finished, it wasn't because of the rain. It was just from sweating. The Gavia jacket really kept me warm and dry.
I also got to ride with 3MTA3 (Ryan) for the first time since the Southeastern BikeForums Mountain ride. He's such a sweet guy! But, he droped the hamer on me the last half of the ride! He's a very strong rider and made the ride look so easy. He's moving back to Michigan next week tho:(. Gonna go to grad school. He'll be missed!
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