I can!

My fourth ride after five weeks in a cast and no bike, I pedaled nine miles up Independence Pass. I thought I could do six miles. I did nine.

My fifth ride, I went halfway up Deer Creek Canyon. Non-stop. I had gained 3,000 feet of elevation my first two trips up Deer Creek Canyon this season, before I broke my wrist, slow but non-stop. I worried I would have to start over after five weeks of no climbing and no riding. I went halfway up Deer Creek Canyon without stopping. Slow, and not pain-free, but non-stop.

I must continue to rebuild strength in my wrist and in my elbow, and I have to rebuild what little speed I am capable of maintaining, but I didn't have to start over from scratch. My 15-month streak of a 60-mile-day every month has served me well. Training through winter has paid off.

It is so tempting to try to overdo it now that I'm back on the bike. One wrong move now, and my riding season likely will be over. Even though I'm two to three weeks behind on my training right now, I'm stronger now than I have been in the past when I've been trying to get myself back in shape for summer. I could do the MS-150 this weekend if I had to, and I think I'll be ready for Ride the Rockies in three weeks. My saddle may be sore, but I'll be ready. I can do the miles. I can climb. I can.

It was a very good thing I didn't try to go further up Deer Creek Canyon. I flatted half a block from home. Brand new tires. My first pinch flat ever. If I'd gone another seven miles up the mountain, I may have flatted fourteen miles from home. That would not have been a fun walk. (I'm not so good or confident at changing or repairing skinny tires, and The Lizard was many, many miles away at work.)

But I CAN walk my bike 14 miles! When I have to.




PS: Scaled Vail Pass over the weekend, then did the full 60-mile commute to and from work yesterday. And gave blood in between. Now my total mileage count for the year so far stands at 666. YIKES!!!

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