...is what my wife is after nearly 2 months of gimping around on crutches - today being officially cleared to resume limited weight bearing activities (light walking, swimming, and stationary cycling) to get her strength back in her atrophied left leg. She begins PT next week. Plan has her resuming her flying in another 6-8 weeks depending on her progress.
It took only was 5 seconds to put her in the situation where the hay ride for my eldest daughter took an awful turn - resulting in my wife getting clipped in her left knee (like a linebacker blindsiding a QB) when the tractor driver popped the clutch prematurely. The tibial plateau fracture was surgically repaired to offset a divot that would have had her knock need and leading to premature osteoarthritis.
Folks don't try this at home - when that little voice says something may not be quite right - stop & listen.
Shortly after wifey's injury I came down with a bout of acute bronchitis - which drained my energy (just when I needed to step it up with taking care of our zoo) - lasting about 3 1/2 weeks. I'm finally breathing normally again and trying to get some fitness on the bike. Just as most are probably ready for the racing season to be over I'm looking forward to getting my butt in shape and being burnt out by the start of next season.
Well we're both on the mend and slowly returning to normal speed. I hope everybody's summer has gone better than ours.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
RD Challenge
Gotta post something or be culled from the Pru-Dogs blog.
There are so many good bike routes that have great potential to have races on that require way too much staff to properly man - and racing suffers as a result. Many of the courses we race on year after year are plain boring. Of course my definition or interpretation of racing may differ from yours - I like a challenge, both from the individual racers & the tactics, as well as from the course itself.
Look at the recent Boston Harbor CR to pick an example. Just 4 simple corners with a few rollers, but could be expanded to utilize much more of that great portion of the northern Olympia area, but would require more corner marshals.
More corners, more hills, more variety - instead we settle for a decent course designed for safe racing for all categories making due with what's available. Of course if they'd expand the loop then we'd call it a RR instead. Ravensdale same thing - not the 4-corners race, but the simple loop (which you do enough loops and it's long enough to call it a RR); though it's just an expanded Seward Park (which requires minimal staffing).
We need more turns, more hills, on challenging roads - along the lines of races like the Independence Valley RR which is fairly simple to staff and has good variety while being quite technical. Though if it's too tough people won't show (look at what happens when they go up the S curves at PR), unless it's got a fun factor (the difference between Crystal Mtn Hill Climb & Mt Baker).
We need to break out of the mold to discover new courses or a makeover of some present ones. I think RD's get lazy and offer what's been successful in the past without thinking of how to keep things fresh. Same thing for some area Crit's. Of course attendance is maybe the bottom line and whatever gets folks to sign up & race with the minimum effort is the means to an end.
When I looked at the Glenwood RR course I could've gone for the simple 10 mile loop and settled for the 3 corner option and a boring false flattish sprint finish. It would've required 6 corner marshals. Instead I spiced it up and we have 7 corners over a 15+ mile loop which require 14 marshals and a challenging little ramp for the finish. Is it perfect? Not by any means; too much traffic on a few roads. Not a friendly course for Juniors or those who get dropped outside the confines of the rolling enclosure. And I need to find a better feed zone.
So I've been looking to tinker with it, maybe run it backwards, do a figure 8, or shorten it to a CR with the 5.5 mile loop on the east side of Glenwood keeping the same finish and all the short rollers with the one fast flattish section by the old Pt Orchard Airport. Maybe getting a couple of different west side courses set up for a new CR series.
I've got ideas - and like a lot of other RD's I just don't have a lot of manpower to staff some of the expanded courses as I'd like to really run. Is there a solution to the manpower issue? One idea I'm looking at is getting some non-profit groups and their members involved and committed for the long term for a piece of the cut and not relying on various bike racing teams themselves. Friends & family you can only tap into for so long. Without a big budget benefactor hiring manpower is not an option. If I can get the bodies I can do anything.
There are so many good bike routes that have great potential to have races on that require way too much staff to properly man - and racing suffers as a result. Many of the courses we race on year after year are plain boring. Of course my definition or interpretation of racing may differ from yours - I like a challenge, both from the individual racers & the tactics, as well as from the course itself.
Look at the recent Boston Harbor CR to pick an example. Just 4 simple corners with a few rollers, but could be expanded to utilize much more of that great portion of the northern Olympia area, but would require more corner marshals.
More corners, more hills, more variety - instead we settle for a decent course designed for safe racing for all categories making due with what's available. Of course if they'd expand the loop then we'd call it a RR instead. Ravensdale same thing - not the 4-corners race, but the simple loop (which you do enough loops and it's long enough to call it a RR); though it's just an expanded Seward Park (which requires minimal staffing).
We need more turns, more hills, on challenging roads - along the lines of races like the Independence Valley RR which is fairly simple to staff and has good variety while being quite technical. Though if it's too tough people won't show (look at what happens when they go up the S curves at PR), unless it's got a fun factor (the difference between Crystal Mtn Hill Climb & Mt Baker).
We need to break out of the mold to discover new courses or a makeover of some present ones. I think RD's get lazy and offer what's been successful in the past without thinking of how to keep things fresh. Same thing for some area Crit's. Of course attendance is maybe the bottom line and whatever gets folks to sign up & race with the minimum effort is the means to an end.
When I looked at the Glenwood RR course I could've gone for the simple 10 mile loop and settled for the 3 corner option and a boring false flattish sprint finish. It would've required 6 corner marshals. Instead I spiced it up and we have 7 corners over a 15+ mile loop which require 14 marshals and a challenging little ramp for the finish. Is it perfect? Not by any means; too much traffic on a few roads. Not a friendly course for Juniors or those who get dropped outside the confines of the rolling enclosure. And I need to find a better feed zone.
So I've been looking to tinker with it, maybe run it backwards, do a figure 8, or shorten it to a CR with the 5.5 mile loop on the east side of Glenwood keeping the same finish and all the short rollers with the one fast flattish section by the old Pt Orchard Airport. Maybe getting a couple of different west side courses set up for a new CR series.
I've got ideas - and like a lot of other RD's I just don't have a lot of manpower to staff some of the expanded courses as I'd like to really run. Is there a solution to the manpower issue? One idea I'm looking at is getting some non-profit groups and their members involved and committed for the long term for a piece of the cut and not relying on various bike racing teams themselves. Friends & family you can only tap into for so long. Without a big budget benefactor hiring manpower is not an option. If I can get the bodies I can do anything.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Butt hard
Down in SFO early today and heading out about 1PM for my nice loop ride. I was feeling good until coming down the hill to Pacifica when I realized the wind was blowing, and hard, out of the south. This is atypical and caught me completely off guard.
So I slogged into the wind, which aided by the coastal overcast made for cool & blustery conditions; very much different from just the other side of the coast range (Santa Cruz Mountains). Turned off of the main road at Lobitos Creek cut-off for a 2 mile climb to intercept the remainder of the Tunitus Creek climb - all in all a 9.5 mile 2500' affair. This was a climb on this years TdCA and one that I frequent when I'm on a SFO layover. The TdCA must've had some influence because gone were the numerous cracks and ruts that makes this road great for climbing but a nightmare for descending. Though I swear the reasonably new asphalt was making the climb slower, albeit smoother. I'll save my review of the descent for another day, as I've been too chicken head down.
On other rides up this climb though the redwoods I've had some wonderful experiences, often passing several others on the way. Not today! Not only was it a solitary effort - but an effort that really showcased my lack of training and fitness. Either that or I can blame it on the fact that I forgot to eat anything until mid-climb and was running on empty.
On the way back toward the airport on top of Skyline Blvd the fog was rolling up and over the road in several spots with gusto, blowing me sideways and forcing me to pedal harder than I wanted on the descent when faced into the wind. Still a good day to be out and look forward to my rematch next week.
So I slogged into the wind, which aided by the coastal overcast made for cool & blustery conditions; very much different from just the other side of the coast range (Santa Cruz Mountains). Turned off of the main road at Lobitos Creek cut-off for a 2 mile climb to intercept the remainder of the Tunitus Creek climb - all in all a 9.5 mile 2500' affair. This was a climb on this years TdCA and one that I frequent when I'm on a SFO layover. The TdCA must've had some influence because gone were the numerous cracks and ruts that makes this road great for climbing but a nightmare for descending. Though I swear the reasonably new asphalt was making the climb slower, albeit smoother. I'll save my review of the descent for another day, as I've been too chicken head down.
On other rides up this climb though the redwoods I've had some wonderful experiences, often passing several others on the way. Not today! Not only was it a solitary effort - but an effort that really showcased my lack of training and fitness. Either that or I can blame it on the fact that I forgot to eat anything until mid-climb and was running on empty.
On the way back toward the airport on top of Skyline Blvd the fog was rolling up and over the road in several spots with gusto, blowing me sideways and forcing me to pedal harder than I wanted on the descent when faced into the wind. Still a good day to be out and look forward to my rematch next week.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Knee
OK so it's been 6 months since the Doc supposedly fixed my left knee - so how come it still feels weaker and less stable than previously?
I've been hesitant to do any artificial weight bearing activity at the gym - letting it fully heal and not hurrying myself back too quickly while risking further damage to the inner workings of the joint. So with my occasionally infrequent & erratic cycling schedule bringing my cardio fitness slowly back to par, I will now try to solidify and strengthen the knee to balance out my full recovery.
I should be ready for the season to begin for 2010.
OK maybe 2011.
I've been hesitant to do any artificial weight bearing activity at the gym - letting it fully heal and not hurrying myself back too quickly while risking further damage to the inner workings of the joint. So with my occasionally infrequent & erratic cycling schedule bringing my cardio fitness slowly back to par, I will now try to solidify and strengthen the knee to balance out my full recovery.
I should be ready for the season to begin for 2010.
OK maybe 2011.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
I remember
I didn't always agree with why you were put in harms way, but:
I remember your service,
I remember your dedication,
I remember your pride,
I remember your sacrifice.
I remember your service,
I remember your dedication,
I remember your pride,
I remember your sacrifice.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Best race car circuit in the world!
Hands down - the F1 race that overwhelms the Principality of Monaco.
Ya it's only 160 miles, and it only last about an hour 45, and passing is a bitch, and the required haute factor is very high - but they have to make both left AND right turns (plus a tunnel!).
Very cool.
Ya it's only 160 miles, and it only last about an hour 45, and passing is a bitch, and the required haute factor is very high - but they have to make both left AND right turns (plus a tunnel!).
Very cool.
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