enter the off season

So, here we are again.  Last year around this time I told myself that I was going to make MTB racing my main priority.  This was due to a number of reasons, primarily I have more fun riding MTB than road, and it is easier to drive 2+ hours for a 1.5 to 2 hour race vs. a 45 minute crit or cross race.  But the season was scrapped after the broken leg in February.
I did get into ok shape towards the beginning of fall but the left leg was still underpowered and my out of the saddle climbing was non existent.  I just couldn't power over climbs and would usually have to stay seated and spin it out.  I did turn in a respectable 2:36 at Chequamegon with 1 flat tire.  The whole season wasn't a loss, but enough of it anyways.

So as winter rolls into Wisconsin I've got some planning to do.  I'm going to try to do next summer what I wanted to do this past summer.  Get really fast on the MTB.  I'll still be racing as a cat 2.  I definitely haven't had any results that stand out in the xc races and I'm going to change that.  Ultimately I'll be racing mostly WORS races with the occasional endurance race thrown in for balance.  Crits and RR mixed in the early season for fitness.  The subaru cup will be the target for the summer.  It got moved to mid July instead of late June so that is good for people who live up north and don't begin racing until early/mid May.  In addition, going for the series in cat 2 is well within reach.  If I'm going to upgrade to 1 for 2013 it will hopefully be because they forced me to due to results from 2012.

I do have a surgery date set for March 2nd for the hardware in my left knee to be removed.  Luckily that is only a day surgery and limited activity for 7-10 days while the incision site heals.  So I will need to get in a good block of training the month prior to that so the down time will be my rest.
I got a membership at the YMCA and have been hitting that up trying to get the rest of my strength back  and working on the core.  Been going to a weekly core training class.  It's pretty much all females in there with a female instructor, but it kicks my ass.  It's amazing how untrained the rest of your body becomes when cycling is your main gig.  10 years ago I used to do this stuff in my sleep.  I'm faster on a bike now, but overall strength is in the pits.  They got some good spin bikes too, complete with power meters.  Instead of riding a trainer at home, the spin bike will be a lot nicer.  Cross country skiing will play a big role this winter as well.  It will be great cross training and great for base workouts.  I am signed up for the Birkie in late February so I've got some motivation to ski quite a bit this winter.

WEMS Championships - Levis Mound

The last race of the WEMS series was this past Saturday at the epic Levis Mound trails.  I chose the 25 mile race, and lined up with about 10 other people.  Not that many people, but considering how late in the season we are and there were cross races on both sides of the state, probably appropriate.  More people lined up for the 50 mile, 100 mile and the 62 SS state championship.


Not my video but gives you a taste of the trails. All very good.
This is one of the better sections of trail. This shit is good.

 A quick survey of the competition had me figuring that I wouldn't win this race, but I knew I could podium.  The eventual winner was a pretty fast Cat 1 that has a long history of good results.  I stuck his wheel from the go and we instantly had a gap going into the singletrack.  That lasted all of 2 minutes while on the singletrack and he was just plain faster and smoother.  I kept him in sight for about 15 minutes but then he was gone.  There were about 3 good climbs on the course and after the first climb I passed the leader as he was on the other side of a switchback, about 1 minute ahead.  When I reached that same point I saw 3rd and 4th place riding together, 1 minute back of me.  I tried to keep the pressure on but was making a few mistakes here and there and generally not riding smooth.  I came through after 1 lap at 1:08.  The race director ended up taking some trail out because he thought the lap times would be too long but I think he made them way too short.  Technically it should be a 3 hour race and not 25 miles.  I can do 25 miles in a WORS XC race.
Anyway, I head out for lap 2 and have my only real crash of the day.  Bumped my bars on the right side with a tree which sent me flying into a tree on the left.  Plowed into that tree pretty good and I was down.  Smashed some fingers which left them numb for next 10 minutes but other than that it was fine.  Kept it smooth lap 2 but apparently 2 minutes slower - but I'll take it.  Rolled in at 2:18 for 2nd place.  I thought 3rd would be way behind me as I never saw anyone except for the lap traffic, but he finished only 2 minutes behind me.  Would have liked that to been more.  The winner was about 10 minutes up on me - ouch.

Have been feeling really good lately.  My fitness is coming along and I've been riding my epic better than I ever have.  Just switched out my S Works Renegade front tire for a bontrager 29.2 but just on the front.  Thought I'd test it out. - that thing hooks up nice - way more confidence inspiring than the Renegade - the 29.2 is pretty light also.  under 600 grams.  I still like the renegades as they roll so fast but keep them for select races.  Contemplating racing the last WORS race in Sheboygan next sunday.  Earlier I would have said no way but with as good as I've been riding, I might have to.

Chequamegon 40 recap and picture dump

So this race is sort of a big deal up here in the north woods.  People literally spend their whole summer to "get ready" for this event.  The Chequamegon is a point to point 40 mile mtb race that takes place on gravel/dirt roads, snowmobile trails, and the famous Birkebeiner ski trail.  The latter is essentially a 30 foot wide grass path with a singletrack path down the middle.  My GPS had about 3000 feet of climbing at the end of the race.
Earlier in the year I was moderately motivated for this race.  But leading up to it and spending lots of time on some sweet singletrack, a road race on MTB didn't seem interesting.  However, I was committed and going to see what the hell was going on up there.
Jane and I traveled up with another couple who was doing the race.  We had a cabin rented that was 1 mile from the start line so that was nice.  We hung out friday eve and settled in for our 10 am start time the next morning.  This year there were about 1900 racers and probably 1000 of them had their bike saving their start position by 6am.  Literally hundred of MTB upside down filling the street.  I wasn't too stressed about the race and wasn't concerned about my start position.  My game plan was just to ride and see how I felt.
In retrospect, if I get into the race next year, my bike will be on the start line at 5am to preserve a good spot.
We went out for our warm up and I was so-so.  We rode the 3 miles to where the trail picked up and back. With 10 minutes to race I snuck in the middle of the 1900 and waited. Every other person I knew was much closer and Jack, the guy I traveled with was about 200 spots up the road.  Looking around I got the sense that I needed to be futher up in the field.  Hairy legs and older equipment do tell a story of the type of rider.  As well as the guys who wear baggy MTB shorts.  Nothing against those shorts, I own a pair and like them, just not in this type of race.  They fired the canon to signal the start and we were off.  I started passing people left and right. I was time trialing it and it was hard to find a consistently clear path.  Several others had the same idea and I tried to recover on the wheels of people who were moving quick.

We hit rosie's field (the first trail section) and I get boxed in really quick.  I soon found that riding way off the trail in the taller grass was much quicker than trying to snake through the middle of the trail with the faster surface.  The first 5 miles was a real blur.  I was just passing so many and trying to come over the tops of the climbs pedaling hard.  The epic was allowing me to get on the far edge of the trail and just bomb the descents.  I was flying by people who were on their brakes for traffic and the 29er full suspension was soaking up all the bumps due to my poor line.  It was great.  I was having a ton of fun in the beginning.  Riding great and feeling good.  I passed a La Crosse local at 12.5 miles in and at soon after I passed old man ralph heath.  He's in his 60's and rides crazy strong for his age.  He had great times from previous years and is always fast, so at this point I knew I was going good having just passed him 15 miles in - who knows where he started.  At 20 miles I ride up on Jack.  He sounded excited and surprised to see me.  He is a great rider as well.  We did a 50 mile gravel race together a few weekends prior and he dropped me with 10 miles to go.  The two of us rode together for the next 10 miles.  At times he looked stronger and at times I would ride away but he bridged up.
At 30 miles we hit the firetower climb.  It's basically 4 pitches in elevation and several minutes long.  It's steep, rocky and loose.  Many people walk this section.  I rode it good, not super fast, but good enough.  I crested in front of Jack and OTF of the group we were riding with.  The downhill involved high speeds and big sharp rocks.  I was taking advantage of open trail and let the Epic rip that shit up.  Unfortunately, my thin casing S-Works tires took a pretty good gash to my rear.  I felt the familiar feel of a loose back end and quickly pulled over. Surprisingly, this is the first time I've flatted riding tubeless.  I pulled out the CO2 and gave it hell.  it took about 1 minute of me fussing around trying to get it sealed.  It finally seemed good enough and I figured I'll just continue riding and see what happens.  All told I think I was stopped for maybe 2 minutes.  But realistically, it's hard to say how much time I lost.  I rode up on and passed Catherine Walberg a few miles previous yet she finished about 3 minutes up on me.  Who knows.
I mounted up and began picking off the people who I had passed nearly 30-45 minutes previous.  I remember thinking "you again" several times.  I stayed within myself with only 8 miles to go and no food.  I could feel the cramps coming on and I needed to finish strong.  A few miles down the road, I see the familiar jersey of Jack on the side of the trail.  Flat.  So I pass him back never to see him to the finish.  With 2 miles to go I was bonking.  I couldn't wait to reach the finish line.  I always seem to run out of food or wish I had 1 more GU left in these types of races.
Down the ski hill I flew and crossed the line at 2:36:33. Based upon times from previous years my goal was to be around 2:45 so I nailed that one including a flat tire.  Next year with a better start position and not coming off a broken leg 6 months previous I should break 2:30.  My time this year was good for about 260th overall.  19th in the age group.  I should crack top 200 if all goes well next year.

 Heading out to ride IMBA epic Levis Mound trail

 after the Chequamegon.  Eating lots of donut holes and bananas.

Riding more Hayward singletrack the day after Chequamegon.  We got rained on and had to turn around after 25 minutes or so.

I won.

Me stalking in the background

Now that i have your attention, I will say that there were not that many people in the race. It was a 3 hour endurance race in the "northwoods" of wisconsin. Jane and I were at a friends cabin with several couples (which was awesome), and this race on the WEMS series was only 45 minutes from the cabin. It was the Wasburn Rock and Root, just outside of Rhinelander, WI. Myself and co-conspirator Jack Zabrowski lined up for the 3 hour tour. I hadn't really ridden since the previous race as my bruised/broken ribs have been giving me a bunch of trouble. I wasn't actually sure that I would line up for this one, but after some pre-medding with tylenol, it was doable. I told myself that if I was in pain I was going to shut it down, but at the start I knew I had a chance to win so it was on and I was ready.

My main competition was going to be Jack and some Australian named Owen. I am well aware that you can never trust an Australian as Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, so I made sure to keep a close eye on him. Add in the fact that he is a Cat 1 road racer and lived and raced in Belgium, and his legs were huge......it was going to be a good race. He was however, riding an 26" aluminum hardtail. I knew in a 3 hour race I had the mechanical advantage riding the epic 29, especially because we soon found out the trails were bumpy as shit.

It all started with a 2 mile double track leadout before we came through the start/finish and into the single track. Thank god it wasn't a LeMans start as I still can't run on my leg since I broke it last February. Owen takes off at the gun and I manage to hold his wheel the entire time. We opened up a huge gap right away and my friend Jack later told me that there was no way he was going to go that fast that quick. We empty into the singletrack which was all pretty technical. 100% singletrack the rest of the lap until you come through the double track at the end of the lap (that we started with). Right away I could tell Owen's tech skills were lacking but he had more horsepower for sure. I sat behind the first half of the lap and eventually told him I would lead. As soon as I took over I tried to gap him but it only ever got up to about 10 seconds. We came through the double track at the end of the first lap with him basically on my wheel and he put the hammer down. He immediately opened up 30 second gap. I tried to chase a bit but had to slow it down.

Second lap it started raining a bunch and the trail was getting muddy and slick very fast. I was riding very bad at this time and was suffering. I began thinking that I was just going to have to hold on to 2nd place. However, the last part of the 2nd lap I started picking my head up and looking down the trail like you're supposed to and immediately I start riding fast again. I came through for the 3rd lap and they said Owen was only 55 seconds ahead. It was great, I started riding really fast and was just so focused. I came up on the Aussie within 5 minutes and I knew I had a good chance at getting a good gap. I was getting really anxious to move around and almost crashed. He opened 10 seconds right away but I stayed calm and just rode up to him. I must have been putting on the pressure for him to ride fast because he started making a bunch of mistakes. I think I was being too polite again. How do you handle these situations? If the leader is fumbling around and I'm soft pedaling sticking his wheel, do I ask him to move over or do you just tell him you're going to pass and then try to take it from him? Eventually he bobbled enough and let me go through when he dabbed. With 1/2 to 1/3 lap to go I was out of sight. I was just worried that he would catch me on the double track, but I soon realized he was gone and I had won. I ended up finishing 3 minutes up on him and about 20 minutes over the next closest. Granted it was a smaller race, and not that many people, but I was pretty happy with how things unfolded.

That night at the cabin I ate a shit ton of tacos and it was good. My ribs are in some trouble though. During the race it felt fine, but the second I got off the bike, I could barely move. Still today it's pretty bad. I may sit out next weekends WORS race - we'll see.

WORS - Camrock

Sunday was the latest installment of the WORS series. This time we rode in circles just outside of Madison, WI. It was a new venue to the WORS circuit and it was pretty good. Lots of climbing which is good for me and some technical stuff, also good for me. I traveled to the city of hippies with 2 other La Crosse jerks on Saturday eve to stay at some other jerks house - formerly of La Crosse. This jerk and his wife were gracious hosts and provided us with a pretty good pasta dinner and a homemade sauce that was amazing. We settled in and watched "get him to the greek" which was pretty mediocre. I brought a sleeping bag and a pad and tossed and turned on the living room floor. Awoke at 7am feeling very sleepy, breakfast at some diner at 9, at the race course by noon for our 1:30 start. It was supposed to cool down on Sunday, but it did not. The sun was blazing and it was hot. Not Missouri/Kansas hot mind you, but Wisconsin hot. This means temps in the upper 80's. Although I do miss living in KC, this summer looked pretty stupid weather wise - forget that.

The course started up a long steep grassy climb before you emptied into singletrack. Earlier in the week my legs felt great. However, I could tell I didn't have the pop from earlier in the week during warm up. Still no top end, but enough mid level power to get me through. I was excited though as this was the first race on the epic 29er. All my rides before had been impressive and I was hoping this would be no different.

Anyway, we go and I get a poor start. Not aggressive enough at the start and stuck behind some slower riders. 2 minutes into the race and I'm 45 seconds down on the leaders. This is no new scenario for me and MTB races though. I just have a hard time going 100% for the first part of the race. First lap was good enough though as I was keeping pace with some of the LaCrosse posse, I eventually faded a bit and had to take it down a notch. 2nd lap it started raining and turned everything very slick. There were lots of hike a bikes up the tech uphill stuff. I got caught up at one time, couldn't clip back in from running and lost a few spots. got going, not clipped in and fell again, and bobbled some more. I think I lost about 1 minute and probably 5 spots during this spell. I finally got going and settled down a bit. By then, the rain was tapering and things were drying up quick. I got behind a group of 4 who were apparently out for a Sunday freaking cruise. I stayed behind in the single track as they were holding conversations with each other. I should have been way more aggressive here and ran them off the trail and not waited until it opened up. But once it did open up I told them to move over and quickly dropped them as I put the newly recharged hammer down. A few tried to make the move with me but it was 1/2 lap to go of the 3rd and final lap and I was irritated with lost opportunity. I began ripping some trail on my way to bridging up to and passing 2 more. I got a brief glimpse of what I was capable of when I can ride unimpeded and I knew I was flying. I rolled in 10 minutes down on the overall cat 2 winner. Finished 35 out of seventy something finishers. 7 out of 10 in my age group - which isn't great.

Overall a good race though. Got a little beat up with my falls on the 2nd lap and took some knocks to both knees. The bike was flawless. There were some sections that were pretty rough and a lot of people were talking about how beat up they got. I actually felt decent at the end of my race and could have easily knocked out another lap if I had to. That bike smoothed everything out like butter.

Next weekend we're traveling to the great north woods of Wisconsin to stay at a cabin with some friends. there just so happens to be a WEMS endurance MTB race 30 minutes from where we're staying. So I'll be lining up in the 3 hour solo race on saturday. I hope my upgraded parts come in by then.

there is no going back

I'm referring to the 2011 Specialized Epic 29er that I am now the owner of. There are a few things that I have acquired in my short cycling career that represent huge jumps in performance/fun/going fast. The first would be going to my first carbon road bike from an aluminum framed specialized allez elite. Britton at Volker bicycles helped make that one happen. The Jamis Xenith Race was a great bike. Another would be getting a nice pair of carbon road shoes, again courtesy of Volker bikes. When you switch from plastic road shoes that have zero stiffness - that jump is huge. The most recent jump is riding this new MTB. The combination of big wheels and full suspension is crazy good. The bike is so much more responsive on the front end than my Gary Fisher which was a bit sluggish. Part of that may be due to the larger 2.2 tires on the Fisher. But the rear of the bike just puts power to the ground and it keeps the power there. It's a bit of a lazy mans bike because you can just ride through any obstacle and it just keeps going with momentum.

I rode the cam rock trails last saturday, it was hot and it was the first official ride on the new bike. I got things dialed in pretty good. Sunday I went out to Kettle Morain state forest and rode a shit ton of single track. 25 miles to be exact. and i never rode any section of trail twice - although it would have been nice to, there was some fast stuff. I rode the john muir section then the overgrown connector trail to emma carlin. It was hot and I was low on food. I went through 3 gels and was wishing i had some solid food. Rode back towards john muir thinking I might bonk, but the return route was a lot shorter. Packed up and hit the general store in La Grange which doubles as a bike shop. Had a good lunch and drove the 2.5 hours home. Great day of riding and I was buzzing. I haven't had this much fun on a bike in a long time.

WORS Firecracker

It was awhile ago, but better late than never. Went up to Eau Claire for a stop of the WORS tour. Several LaCrosse peeps made the trek as well - this is the closest wors race to La Crosse at 90 minutes. I raced here last year and did ok in the cat 2 comp category. Placed pretty much mid pack in my age group and top 1/3 overall. This year I wasn't gunning too much since this is my 2nd race since the whole knee ordeal. Still didn't have good power on my top end and lacking explosiveness.

Went off without a hitch, and found a nice place to settle into. Previously I've always sat in more or less at MTB races, only to find myself slowed down by other riders once we hit the singletrack. Not that I have mad skills or anything but I'm getting quicker. But obviously I just need to bury myself to get into singletrack first or top 5, where I know my legs can land me. Anyway, first lap had a lot of stopping and slowing down at the technical sections or any uphill. That part sucked. About 2/3 through the first lap, some dude tries to pass me on an open grass section and basically rides directly into my handlebars from the side. My bars take an immediate turn to the left and the 2 of us hit the ground going about 15 mph. I landed on my right hip really hard and I was in some pain. I got the worst of it as he just got up and rode away and said something to the effect of an apology. I laid on the ground for a minute or so doing a systems check and slowly got back to my bike. everything was in working order and after several minutes climbed back on and slow pedaled back on course. I was dead last as everyone in the wave behind me had already passed. I still had 2 more laps to do and figured if I could ride, I finish the race. After awhile, I loosened up a bit and was slowly picking off riders. My back was getting really sore and I could tell afterwards I would be in the hurt locker. I managed to gain back 30 or so spots in the last 2 laps, finishing 50th out of 90 starters, 80 finishers. 8 out of 10 in the age group. Had it not been for the wreck, it would have been top 5 for sure.

The following week was rough for sure, it's currently been 2 weeks and my back muscles are still tender - but it's pretty good.

Spent the past week in Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. Did some riding, not as much as I had hoped. I will say this, I like the road riding around La Crosse, WI better than tahoe. Didn't get to MTB as my back was still acting up.

Tomorrow marks the arrival of this recent ebay purchase and new ride:

Wheelhouse Classic and CAMBA

Just over a week ago I went to Red Wing, MN for a stop on the MN MTB series. This is the first race back since I broke my leg. Last year I was racing in the Cat 2 comp category. Since the leg, I've definitely lost fitness and strength. the leg feels fine, just not that much power in it - with that in mind and taking a "just have fun" approach, I downgraded myself to the cat 2 sport category. It would be a bit slower and let me reacquaint myself to the racing - or as much racing that can happen in the sport category.

90 minute drive to the venue and I was out, registered, and warming up. the course started and finished atop a bluff in the middle of the city. There were some decent climbing sections, but not the whole 500 feet or so of the bluff. The end of the course featured a loose, rocky and very steep climb. It put you in the gutter for sure. I rode it all 3 times, and each time I passed a handful of people walking up it.

My age group was the second wave to go off. initially I was going to sit in and take it comfortably, but as we were riding the grassy lead out, instincts took over and I immediately started jumping people, especially the juniors who were in our wave. I probably settled in about 6 or 7th. We we hit the single track, a lead group of 5 had formed and were slowly riding away. During the time I was content to sit where I was, following some guy at a decent pace. After awhile, I was right on his wheel though. Had he not been there I probably would have been faster. Eventually he went down and I was alone. By this time I was coming up on riders who were in the first wave, so although I was passing people, i didn't know from where. This pretty much continued for pretty much the whole race. I would make a few passes, riders who were in front and riders that I was lapping. I think I maybe got passed by only 1 or 2 people. both of those were from the waves behind me. On the last lap, coming up the hard climb, I could see one person ahead who was walking. Because I was riding, I was gaining on him fast. I passed him at the top, completely out of breath. He was fresh from walking slow and just pedaled away from me. I finished 20 seconds behind him, he was the winner of our age group. So I came in 2nd. 2nd is good, but I only finished 16th out of 100 or so sport riders, about 5 minutes behind the overall winner. So there were some sandbaggers in there, but I'm sandbagging with a Dr.'s note.

I could probably race now and beat about half of the people who beat me as I've been getting stronger every week. I was riding the single track a little timid too and really not letting it go in the corners, too much braking. Next sunday is the firecracker in Eau Claire. I did that race last year in the comp category and did good. top 1/3 overall, middle of my age group. It was a fast race and should be fast again. Still deciding if I'll take the easy way out and race sport or get beat in the comp.

Over the 4th of July weekend, Jane and I went "up north" to camp, kayak and ride around Hayward and Cable, Wisconsin. The riding up there was amazing. It's known for some great single track and over 300 miles of trails. Albeit a lot of those are the Birkie trail, double track, dirt and gravel road, some paved road. But a lot of singletrack regardless. I was only able to do 2 days of riding, but I was pretty amped those 2 days. The first day I rode over 20 miles of the good stuff on a trail called Makwa. It was not difficult by any means, but instead an amazingly fast, roller coaster. Imagine a pump track with banked turns, gradual climbs that you can power over, uninterupted descents, an it's 12.5 miles long. Yes, 12 miles one way single track that you barely have to use your brakes on. There were so many sections that you just got "in the zone" where you're riding in a trance and your bike will literally do whatever you want it to do. You can feel your tires sliding in corners, but you're completely in control, launching off small rollers, landing exactly where you need to for the next turn. There are few trails, or even sections of trail that have these characteristics. This one was 12 miles. It was great near the end - I'm ripping the singletrack, probably better than I've ever ridden a MTB before, blowing by Fred's on the trail left and right. I'd come up behind someone and be out of sight in a matter of 10 seconds.

The next day I rode the rock lake trail. it was posted as an IMBA epic trail. it did not disappoint. I was ready for some technical stuff as the day before was easy rollin. The trail is listed as being difficult but it really wasn't too bad. It had a perfect balance of rocks that you could hop and floss your way through and not loose momentum. Like the day before I was cleaning everything and really getting lost in the trail. One steep technical descent, but nothing you couldn't do on a first pass. Unfortunately time was against me as we had to pack up and head home. So after 1 12 mile lap I had to shut her down. I was buzzing the whole way home from riding that stuff. Haven't had that happen in a long time - MTB is slowing taking over.

long ride

longest of the year for me. We were taking it pretty slow. left my garmin running at a couple of the stops so it picked up some non moving time and power. It was a good day. Jane felt great at the end of the ride. She was riding really strong in the flats. Probably the strongest she's ever been.

Sunday went MTB for a bit with a friend. Trails were pretty damp with the 2 inches of rain we received the night before. Still very ridable though. Couldn't really do that in Missouri.

Minds in Motion bike tour by stully05 at Garmin Connect - Details

Still working.

4 months since surgery. Been weight bearing for almost 2 months. Have been hitting the weights more regularly, although that leaves me unable to ride for a couple days after that - my legs are just too tired to do anything but soft pedal. Made an appearance at the slower Wednesday night ride last week. I wasn't the slowest, but i wasn't fast. Last weekend Jane's sister was in town so I didn't get much riding in. I tried to ride a bit on Sunday after Jane's triathlon that she did very well in, but my legs were crap.
Monday I rode up the bluff on the MTB and hit up some trails for a short ride. It was the second time I've been on the trails since I've been riding. This attempt went much better than the first. The first time I could barely stay on the trail. Tuesday I did the "fast ride." I've said it before and I'll say it again, there are crazy fast people here. Even-though I'm still rehabbing, the hammer was dropped and I was off the back on the climb, and then the rollers after that. The pace was being pushed by a group of guys who are all cat 3's but could really be 1's with the power they put out. One guy was the runner up in the Wisconsin RR state champs to Nathan Guerra. Nathan is a pro rider on the WORS circuit who typically finishes top 3 between Brian Matter and Tristan Schouten. So basically by 30 miles I had to bail out with another guy and soft pedal home.

This saturday I'm doing a bike tour. I've only done 1 before and I'm looking forward to this one. Primarily because I still need to get base miles in and this one has cookies and snacks along the way. 62 miles with 2 climbs - I'll be riding with Jane and a couple other friends who will ride it at a pace that will be good for base miles. and it's for charity. Probably end up with 70 miles by the end of the day saturday.

The strength is coming along and I'll be racing soon enough. If not this sunday, next sunday will be my first race back. A MTB race in Red Wing, MN.

Riding and stuff

Been walking for about 4 weeks now. the PT says I still walk with a limp although I no longer have pain. My muscles have been trained to limp now which I need to break. It's weird because I don't notice I have a limp and feel I'm walking normal. Have been doing some rides trying to build a base and build my left leg at the same time. I'll have a decent ride by myself and then ride with Jane and she'll pretty much put the hurt on me in the straights. I just don't have any power, or atleast can't hold it. I need to be more consistent with PT as I've been slacking. And the fact that Jane and I were in the Virgin Islands for the last 9 days.

I need to stay motivated to workout my leg 5 times a week. 3 weight training days and 2 balance, core, small muscle stuff.

Monday, after hardly eating anything good or in good quantity over the weekend, and traveling 18 hours home on Sunday, not getting to bed until 3am Monday, and again not eating much and mowing the lawn before we rode, we set out to ride and easy 25 miles. Our plan was to ride to minnesota, do 1 climb and soft pedal home. Well the loop that we took was longer than we thought and we made a wrong turn. Ended up riding 40 miles with 1500 feet of climbing and 20mph headwinds the 2nd half. Normally that would be nothing, but considering all the above, I was completely wasted. Barely made it home after 3 hours. Tuesday and wednesday my left hip is pretty sore - Need to work on pedaling smooth and actually using my quad and stop when it's tired. I must have been compensating somehow and trashed my hip.

Wednesday went on the "slow group" ride and had to peel off at 7 miles because I couldn't hold the pace. PT tests show my left leg is 35% deficient in strength. Next test is 2 weeks away. We'll see how much I can gain.

I'm back!

10 weeks ago I broke my leg pretty good. 1 week after I broke it I had surgery. Just had my follow up and I have the green light to start walking and more importantly getting my leg back in shape and riding the bike again. With no restrictions expect "take it easy the first few months" I plan to be racing by August. Hopefully I can hit up a MTB race in late July that is around here. I've already been checking out the race schedule and I can get a decent amount of races in before the fat tire 40.

I start PT next week and am going to hit it hard. Try to build as much muscle as I can and hopefully in 3 months be in a position to have my strength be 110% of what it was when I broke it. So essentially I've got 13 weeks to get back to race shape. Game on.

Making progress

I'm now 5 weeks post op. Got the go ahead to start bending to get to full ROM. I rode the trainer once last week and could barely get my knee around the pedal. Today it was pretty much normal on the trainer. Except I can't put too much pressure on the pedals. In addition, I got entry into the Chequamegon 40 MTB race in september. So I'm going to rehab like a madman once I can bear weight and try to get to racing shape by august and try to get a top 100 finish at the 40. Hopefully the knee responds well and the huge metal plate doesn't give me trouble.

gettin' there

One month post op. Doing fine. Rode the trainer with no resistance last night. Was a struggle to get my knee to bend that far. Going to the pool tonight to do some light kicking and laps with a float. Dr. says I can be partial weight bearing in 4 more weeks. Not as bad as 10-12. I'll be walking by the time Jane and I go sailing in the BVI.

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) LIVE from Robert Berge on Vimeo.

There goes my comeback season.

Son of a bitch. Went on a ski trip to Colorado with my wife Jane. Arrived late Wednesday night. Thursday morning, woke up and went to the mountain. Second run and I break my left leg. I've snowboarded for a long time and never ventured into skiing due to the risk of knee injuries. my right knee has been through some surgeries already and I didn't want a repeat. but last season I started skiing and really enjoyed it.
I skied a bunch locally this year at Mt. Lacrosse, - got maybe 10 days in, and I was skiing very well and having a great time. In the accident, I had an awkward slow motion fall. I lost my balance and my right ski was off the ground and I was rotating to my right around my left leg which was still on the snow. I fractured my tibial plateau on the lateral aspect of my left leg. The worse part was is that there was a bunch of depressed bone on the plateau and my lateral meniscus was torn in half.

About a week after the accident I had surgery back in La Crosse. The had to elevate the depressed fragments and sort of piece things back together. In addition, they had to graft underneath the depressed bone fragments so they could be supported by bone. I received a titanium plate and a bunch of screws to hold things together. The photo isn't of my leg but it basically is the same thing.

So now I'm just 1 week post op and doing pretty good. I won't be able to bend the knee for another 3 weeks to allow the torn cartilage to try and heal. I really have no pain at this time. It just sucks being on crutches. Maybe as soon as 10 weeks I'll be able to put partial weight on the leg. That is a long time though. I believe though I'll start PT and working out the leg as soon as I'm allowed to bend it. Also, according to the Dr. as soon as I can make a pedal stroke, I'm free to ride the trainer. Going back to work tomorrow. Luckily my job is mostly sitting down and I can prop my leg up while I work. I already tried it out with Jane - I think it will be ok.

So this means my season is pretty much shot. I'll be riding by summer, but won't have any fitness. We'll see how that goes, but likely won't be doing much racing this year. I was more focused and pumped about having an awesome season on the bike than any time before. Looks like that will get pushed back another year.

The down side to this type of injury is developing arthritis afterwards is almost 100%. Another Dr. made the comment that I will definitely need a knee replacement sometime. Hopefully long time from now. I'm advised to never run or do high impact stuff. I'll do cross again but not this fall, the jumping off the bike might be too much too soon. I can't afford any more injury. At least cycling is the best exercise for bad knees.