Some Kind of Wonderful

This past April - the 9th to be exact - marked 18 years since the first time I ever rode a bicycle - and what a long strange trip it's been, to borrow a phrase from the Grateful Dead.

In that time, I've made countless extraordinary friends, been to incredible places, had the opportunity to help build and maintain several local trails, and accomplished things competitively I never would have thought possible (especially for a bookworm like me who was never sports minded as a child) - I got signed to a variety of race teams and completed dozens of 24 hour, 12 hour and 6 hour solo endurance races; 24 hour, 12 hour and 6 hour duo/team endurance races; cross-country races; marathon distance races; downhill races, all while riding absolutely breathtaking trails in multiple states. During many of these events I was afforded the amazing privilege of racing alongside the highest caliber pro riders (many of whom are the coolest and nicest bike people you'd ever hope to meet) on the circuits. I even finished a biathlon and a couple of road criteriums! Along the way, I've suffered crushing defeats with more last place finishes than I care to remember, including some that were first and last as I was the only competitor in my class; had spectacular spills along with the thrill of cleaning sections of trail I didn't think I could; attended bike clinics with outstandingly talented pro instructors; was interviewed by various newspapers and other media; and even got lucky enough to get published in a handful of magazines. Most surprisingly to me, given my late start in sports in general, over the years I somehow managed to even win a few events and amass a room full of trophies, plaques and medals including the occasional National Championship title along with the honor of getting named to the US Masters MTB Team two years in a row.

But, believe it or not, this isn't a "look at me, I'm so hot right now" post. It's more a reminder of how important it is to appreciate what we have, since all of those things I just listed above now seem a lifetime away for me. I don't believe I ever really fully appreciated those truly wonderful moments in time, but then after suffering a debilitating knee issue several years ago, I honestly thought my memories, photos and those awards were the only reminders I was ever going to have of my life in mountain biking. And suddenly, they meant the world to me.

Fortunately, Dr. Greg Combs at Velosmart was able to work wonders with alleviating my crippling pain and helped me start to get my mountain biking life back. I'm pretty sure I will never again compete at the same level or intensity as before, but that might be a good thing because now I can focus on the pleasure of simply being able to ride for fun, especially without mind-numbing pain on each pedal stroke, and that's more than enough for me at this juncture in my life. I think this photo really captures the unbridled joy I feel once again when I'm on my bike...what do you think?

Getting this second chance at the sport I love and that has defined me for a good portion of my life has changed my outlook in so many ways. I used to fret and worry that I wasn't any better as a rider than I thought I should be, that I wasn't winning as much as I thought I should, that I ought to be faster, stronger, more technically skilled. I wasted so many hours, nay years, taking something that is a GIFT, a JOY, a PRIVILEGE - the ability to just RIDE MY BICYCLE - and instead spent too much time stressing about getting dropped, being scared of technical trail features and obstacles, blah, blah, blah.

Maybe it's maturity now that I'm in my fifties or more likely it's knowing what it feels like to potentially lose so much of myself when I thought I may not ever be able to ride again, but I'm not worrying about that piddly crap any more. I used to actually deny myself joining rides with other people because I was afraid of being the slowest rider there. Seriously - I sacrificed so much just for my ego. Yeah, that's right, I said it - my EGO - that's the only explanation for letting such a conceited egotistical concern lock me in isolation. Well, not any more - so what if I'm the slowest? It didn't matter 18 years ago and it doesn't matter now. What does matter is that I've been given a second glorious chance to return to what drives my spirit. How fast I ride - doesn't matter. How many technical sections I either fail to clean or just don't want to do - doesn't matter. How many climbs are a bit too much for me to make - doesn't matter. How many folks drop me on rides - doesn't matter. I've started riding with some friends again lately and yeah, I'm usually about the slowest rider there, but even so, I'm having a blast and I have no problem with faster folks passing me - riding slower means I get to spend even more time in the woods on the trail. Hahahaha.

I don't know exactly when I stopped worrying so much about my skill and speed-related deficiencies as a mountain biker. But when I did, something wonderful began happening. I started getting faster! More shocking than that, I started finding a little glowing ember of confidence buried deep inside me encouraging me to actually try some of those technical sections. And lo and behold, I started cleaning them! Oh, don't get me wrong - I am now and will likely always be a big old chicken from the word "go" and every time - every single time - I approach a log crossing, rock garden, technical climb, root tangle or sketchy descent, I feel a nervous lump rise up in my throat and I get, quite frankly, scared like a little fraidy-cat. But increasingly more often now I try those sections any way, in spite of, or maybe because of, my fear. I think at this point I'm more afraid of what I almost lost, and that would have been far worse than any so-called "failure" of not riding a technical section or being slower than someone - or everyone - else.

I remember my dear friend, Jacquie Phelan, telling me years ago "I hope nothing quashes your love of riding, pure and simple... Be aware of that glowing ember, let it glow.”

Jacquie is a brilliant woman and an icon of mountain biking, and I believe she would approve of the fact that my light of pure cycling joy is burning brighter than ever.

One Pedal Stroke at a Time

It's been just about three weeks since I saw Dr. Greg Combs at Velosmart to see if he could help with my knee pain and weakness. And I'm pleased to report that so far, it appears his recommendations have been even more successful than I had ever dreamed at helping me start to get my life back, one pedal stroke at a time. It's a slow process - as he had said it would be - but so far I'm seeing very definite and significant improvement.

Since my evaluation at Velosmart, I've put roughly 53 miles in on the bike and have not as yet experienced any of the previous give-way weakness I was routinely having prior. I still have some very mild occasional twinges of slight tenderness, but nowhere near the intense ride-halting severe pain like before. Biking is becoming fun for me again.

I'm much more comfortable biking without the nagging severe knee pain, feel reasonably strong considering my lack of general fitness and current excess weight (which I'm working on), and I'm getting more confident than I've been in a while now that my knee does not appear to be giving way any more.

I'm consistently doing my pre-ride stretches and my strengthening exercises as instructed by Dr. Combs, and am trying to work on getting on and off the bike from both sides, although that is definitely proving to be a challenge for me as one-sided as I apparently am. I've tested the knee on several rides over the past couple of weeks and the results have been consistently good whether I'm tooling around an easy Crabtree loop or working on tackling some of the tougher trails in the area like New Light. Speaking of Crabtree, I joined Debbie's Friday Night Social Ride there last evening and had an absolute BLAST! It was so much fun to find a group ride being held just because biking is fun, without making it a workout or some kind of training ride - thanks Debbie! And when I joined our local group of really fast guys for the very challenging Wednesday evening ride - and promptly got dropped within the first quarter-mile of the trail - I was pleasantly shocked to find at the end of the ride that they were actually only a short distance ahead of me the whole time, putting my average speed barely 3/10 of a mile slower than theirs. I'm looking forward to regaining my fitness and honing my skills a bit more now that I can actually ride without intense searing pain and weakness. See you on the trail...

Snake!

Sixty-five (yes, 65) inches of noisy goodness arrived in the mail today for Fry - I scored an incredible deal through Doggyloot for one of his all-time favorite toys: A Kygen stuffed snake. He has two of the smaller ones, with three and six squeakers respectively. But this one was special - 65 inches long with TWELVE squeakers!

 Fry could hardly wait to tear into the package...

And once the snake was out and de-tagged, well IT.WAS.ON.

Now, that is one Happy Boy!

Goodbye quiet evenings - We may never sleep again!

Mother's Day

It was a terrific Mother's Day. At my request, Steve built an adorable stone walkway around behind the deck - too bad they didn't have yellow stones though...LOL

 

We also got some new potted plants for the back deck steps...

And the front porch steps...

Look how nicely the raised garden bed is doing - nothing like fresh lettuce in a dinner salad...

Then we headed out for a mountain bike ride.

 

As always, Fry was in the lead, especially when he spied the lake up ahead!

"C'mon, Mom, throw some rocks for me to chase!!!"

"Wheeeee - I LOVE the water!!!"

Overall, what an awesome day. And now, time to kick back and relax...

Starting Over - Again

In a desperate attempt to understand and hopefully manage my increasingly debilitating knee pain during and after bicycling, this weekend I sought the assistance of Dr. Greg Combs at Velosmart. During the three-hour evaluation, he took some measurements, ran a motion analysis of my pedal stroke aboard my current mountain bike situated on a stationary trainer, and devised a rehabilitation plan for me. Reviewing the video motion capture was quite an interesting experience, as was seeing the results of his measurements.

It appears that while my so-called "leg length discrepancy" is minimal, there is a significant difference with regard to the left/right and fore/aft sections of my pelvic alignment. In other words, I am apparently twisting the core part of my body substantially, particularly when on the bike, which is putting extensive unnecessary stress on not only my knees, but also my hips, ankles, feet, back and abdominal core - yikes.

My initial video analysis showed a fairly significant discrepancy between the right and left legs and feet during the pedal stroke, along with a definitive shift in hip motion. And while riding with only one hand on the handlebar, I was also unable to balance myself without leaning disproportionately to one side or the other when pedaling - even on my own bike on the stationary trainer!

To help resolve these problems, Dr. Combs demonstrated a couple of pre-biking stretches to help realign my pelvis and legs to a more even and normal position. During Steve's observation of these stretches - they are partner assisted so he watched closely to learn his role and had a better view of the shifts in body alignment changes before and after - he noted that the improvement after just four repetitions was "astonishing". The stretches consisted of adducting (moving toward the centerline of the body) bent knees against pressure and then abducting (moving away from the centerline of the body) bent knees against pressure. I have to admit I was quite surprised at the magnitude of change generated in my hip/knee/ankle/pelvic alignment with just four repetitions of such simple stretches.

Additionally, the worn-out orthotics in my bike shoes were replaced with some that provided increased support and alignment assistance. My saddle position was tweaked and surprisingly to me, it was suggested to move my cleats a bit BEHIND the traditional ball of the foot position. Then it was back on my bike for a second video analysis. This time my left/right leg pedal strokes were vastly improved and much closer to ideal, and I was able to balance much better riding one-handed. Additionally, with the new - and in my opinion, improved - cleat position, I also noticed no more toe numbness/tingling, and my feet felt more solidly supported on the pedals.

A couple more tiny adjustments, and it was on the bike again for the third video analysis. This time, the alignment was improved even more, and I felt completely balanced riding one-handed. So Dr. Combs elected to leave the adjustments at this level and had me dismount the bike. Then he brought out two scary looking pieces of rubber tubing. Placing one around both legs above the knees and one around both legs at the ankles, he instructed me in several resistance exercises which he said would clearly delineate areas of weakness where the muscles were firing insufficiently or not at all. In my case, that apparently was predominately the gluteus medius (the muscle just at the top of the hip joint), as there was intense burning in that location after one - yes just ONE - set of 10 reps of the three exercises on each leg. And that was using the "beginner" lightweight straps! He prescribed doing those exercises several times a day until I was strong enough to move to the "intermediate" heavier straps and then eventually to the "advanced" heaviest straps (can you say "OUCH"?). He also prescribed doing four sets of the adduction/abduction stretching exercises before each bike ride. Finally, he suggested that I work on getting comfortable mounting and dismounting the bike from either side instead of just the left like I always have, in order to facilitate even muscular strength and development (not to mention it's just a good idea to be able to get on and off the bike from either side since you never know what trail terrain is going to be!...).

Naturally, it started raining while I was at the human performance lab and the rain has continued to the current time with even more forecast for the next few days, so I haven't yet been able to do a test ride to see what, if any, difference these changes make. But as soon as the weather breaks and the trails are sufficiently dry to ride, I'm looking forward to seeing how I feel on the bike. On the upside, all this rain is at least giving me time to get started solidly on the new exercise routine so maybe by the time I head out to the trails, my pelvis will be on its way toward realignment and my glutes will have strengthened up enough to provide some much needed support for my knees and the rest of my bicycling "engine".

Question of the Day

Does this tiramisu make my butt look big?

I "Knee"d Some Assistance

Maybe I jumped in too fast, too soon, with my return to mountain biking. Maybe I love food too much and carrying those additional pounds is too much of a strain . Or maybe my aging joints just can't handle repetitive motion any more.

Regardless of the cause, I'm finding that the more I bike, the more pain and weakness I'm experiencing once again in my post surgical right knee. Lately I'm finding that sometimes as quickly as the first couple of miles on a trail, I begin to experience a deep tender ache just below the front of the kneecap which wraps around the entire outside of the knee. With continued pedaling, and particularly the exertion of climbing or standing, the pain progresses to a searing sharp pain with associated give-way weakness.

I'm married to a bike geek/mechanic and in an effort to mitigate the knee pain and weakness we've tried adjusting my bike (the frame itself seems to fit me perfectly) with all varieties of stems, saddles, pedals, cleats, seatposts, through the whole range of positioning of said items, to no real avail yet. I had my previous bikes fitted years ago when I was being coached and that seemed to work okay, but that was prior to having my knee surgery. Following a right lateral retinacular release, I ended up basically taking a few years away from regular biking and racing. In the intervening several years, I got fat, got old, got weak and got disgusted enough with my lack of activity and ambition that I decided I wanted to come back to the sport that meant so much to me for so many years, so I started mountain biking again.

With my recent return to riding - probably too much too soon, which is likely a big part of my current issues - I'm now finding that the pain and weakness have also returned with a vengeance. It's gotten to the point where it's once again quite painful to put any real resistance to the bike pedals, climb and especially descend stairs, or sit for prolonged periods, and the knee gives way often with biking and sometimes even with routine activities like kneeling or sitting/rising to stand. I've been told (by an orthopedist who bikes) that I most likely have an ugly combination of patellofemoral syndrome, iliotibial band syndrome, degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis and a chip in the kneecap bone. To make matters worse, I also have a slight leg length discrepancy, with the post surgical leg being a tad longer than the other, which makes adjusting seat height a nightmare. Lastly, I'm now in my 50s and have gained a lot of weight over the past few years which is not helping matters at all. I've been trying all manner of stretches, exercises and anti-inflammatories to try to strengthen and loosen things up in my lower extremities but so far, the pain and weakness are tenaciously resistant to any and all attempts at mitigation.

I'm wondering now if I might need to have a professional bike fit done just to make sure I have things generally set up as well as they possibly can be to accommodate all these concerns. Unfortunately, I suspect that the fact of the matter is it's likely I am probably not ever going to be able to ride pain-free due to all the joint and bone problems. However, it would be nice to at least be able to get through more than a small handful of miles on a flat easy course before being in so much agony that I have to hobble back to the trailhead, dragging my bike behind me...

So with that in mind, I'm checking the local bike scene to see if I can locate a superior bike fitter with knowledge and experience in knee issues. Wish me luck - I have a gut feeling I'm gonna need it.