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June 2008

6.27.08 What a busy week! Non-stop issues at work. I did an easy bike ride Monday (18 miles), but couldn't ride the rest of the week. I made three round trips to Detroit between Wednesday morning at 6am and Thursday night. Down and back Wednesday to sort parts, repeated this Thursday and got back to Grandville at 5pm and was getting ready to go riding when I got a call and needed to go BACK to Detroit again. I drove back down and did the containment and drove back to Grandville, arriving home at about 5am. I slept late and worked from home in the afternoon on Friday- I was just too tired to go in to the office. I did go for an early evening ride though- about 16 miles.

We saw this building in Detroit, just wondered what it was. It is near Lacombe, Vernon and 15th just off the Rosa Parks Drive.

6.20.08 I am heartened by the physical therapy session today. Yes it HURT- man, did it hurt. But Jason Ross pushed the right spots, stretching my leg and back muscles. He also prescribed some other activities (side step exersize with a workout band, lunges, etc) and we set up a follow up for next Tuesday. He said the iliotibial issue can usually be resolved in 5-6 weeks. I can do easy spin road rides, avoid hard gearing on climbs and hard mountain bike trails for this period of time. I will plan to do the 12 Hours of Ithaca as that trail is fairly flat with few hard climbs which will allow me to spin many many miles. Last year I did 23 laps which was about 115 miles. This weekend, we have a family obligation, but I'd have to skip the 8 Hours of Cannonsburg due to the rehab routine anyway. I will lower the saddle on the bike to take some of the knee extension from my cycling routine. This may not be a lost season after all.

Brenden decided to sell the Achieva in its damages state so I put it on Craigs List for $400.

6.14.08 Father's Day- Dad- You are missed (b. 9-29-37, d. 10.8.2005, age 68) It's hard to believe it's been nearly three years now.

6.14.08 My mountainbike racing season is - at this time- effectively over. Today's performance sinks it.

Lumberjack-100 mountainbike race. The big target for the first part of my season. 250 racers, maximum registered, beautiful weather. We started on the road a couple miles from the trail head, one huge peleton. I passed many riders on the road and as the peleton hit the actual trail I was perhaps mid-pack. The race starts on a narrow single track and goes right up a steep climb that all but the most elite racers usually walk up to the top of the Big-M mountain. I got to the top and got back in the saddle only to find my seat tool bag was loose and nearly falling on my tire so I had to stop to re-attach it securely and lost to about thirty riders passing me again as they rode by wheel to wheel.

Disaster struck later. The course is comprised of a shorter 8 mile inner loop with lots of climbs and descents followed by a longer 17 mile outer loop. The inner loop comes back near the start line to afford spectators a chance to see riders twice per lap. This near-start point is the eight mile mark. By this point I could feel the outside of my left leg tightening up. I stopped and told Joni it was bothering me and then proceeded onward. By mile 12, the pain started and the inability to apply pressure to the pedals was fully on and as I passed the mid-race aid station I rode on hoping to outride the discomfort. I'd stopped a couple of times to stretch but it wasn't working. By mile 14 I'd already been out for two hours as I got slower and slower on the climbs due to the pain.

So- I turned around and went back to the aid station. Cathy gave me a ride to the start line and I changed clothes. I spoke with several other experienced racers and several mentioned having had suffered the same injury in the past. Steve Kinley mentioned it was more common with endurance racers who spend more time on the bike, typically. Scott Chambers described some of the rehab activities. It doesn't sound like a short term repair operation.

I am frustrated and extremely disappointed. This was going to be my best race season ever- I am in better shape than I've ever been. I was going to conquer Lumberjack and go to Costa Rica for the La Ruta, not to mention take more time off my Ore to Shore time for 48 miles and do well in the FunPromotions endurance series. That is now all either cancelled or in jeapordy. I will contact Danielle's therapist and work to get this IT-band issue fully healed. I will be relegated to simply doing easy road rides to stay in shape and prevented from doing any mountain biking for the foreseeable future. I am not in a happy place right now. This Wikipedia entry also mentions the "toed-in" root cause for cycling which I suspected as the reason for my injury- also frustrating as the whole aspect could have been avoid if I'd just stopped using the newer shoes I was trying to break in during early May.

We decided to not spend the money on a hotel room for a second night and left at 4pm to go back home. I didn't really want to stay around for three more hours for the award ceremony and then drive home too. So instead of getting home at midnight we got here at about 6pm.

6.10.08 I rode my bike today for the first time since I took my friend Mario to Yankee Springs on May 30th. That's ten straight days with no riding. I've just been stretching, icing and using ibuprofen to work on that iliotibial band issue ( IT-band). I've also had a recurrence of the compressed nerve on my lower back (sciata?). I had a half day vacation to deal with car issues and other home related tasks (all unsuccessful). So I was home early. I went out at 5pm for an easy spin ride of about 18 miles over an 1-1/2 hours, arriving back home just before 630. I started dinner in a slow cooker (Joni's chicken- I don't eat it), and when she got home a few minutes later we went out for another ride over the similar route. All total I put on about 35 miles in 3hrs9min at about 11mph. I will take Wednesday off for a CFI meeting and ride again on Thursday for a few miles. Friday off- then Saturday- LUMBERJACK-100.

I think I am physically fit and ready to complete the Lumberjack- my only concern is a potential IT flare-up. Consequently, I've decided on a different strategy for the event. Past events I pushed a bit the first two laps to give myself buffer time. It worked last year since I completed two laps (50 miles total) in 5.25 hours! Drinking the sugar-laden RedBull is what doomed me last year- I am avoiding most sugars this entire week and will avoid the same during the event. But this year, I will ride conservatively for the first three laps, I only need make the lap chute between 400-430 to go to lap four which really means a minimum of 8.5 mph will get me to that goal. I will go faster, trying to stay at 10mph but not if my leg feels stressed.

I got a great tip from pro racer Danielle Musto, wife of our Founders Ale race team captain Scott Chambers. She sent me info on a chiropracter that has quite a bit of sports medicine experience. I won't make it to see him this week, but if the IT or the sciata is bothering me after Saturday I will make a point to go see him next week. She said Jason Ross works with a system called Active Release which works wonders on sports related ligament, muscle and tissue problems.

6.08.08 What is it with people driving while using their emergency flashers? How irritating!

Now, I can understand if you must drive 45mph and the rest of the traffic is driving 70mph. But if EVERYONE is driving slower, what's the point?

Twice now this weekend I've had to deal with this. On the way back from the east side of the state last night, just east of Lansing, we got hit by the thunderstorm and people were driving with flashers going- I presume this is so they can be seen better, but their tail-lights were still visible. In fact, their flashers actually RUIN the night vision and visibility of the people behind them.

Today, as well, on the way from downtown GR to Grandville- the storm ran through and people on the highway popped on flashers.

Last night, one nitwit passed me with his flashers going, so I began flashing my brights in sync with his flashers until, after a mile or so, he shut them off. I had a similar incident last winter coming back from Manistee, where the road was limited to one lane of tire tracks due to the severe snowstorm- so I was trapped behind a car with bright flashers which were nearly like flashbulb popping off in regular rhythm- flashing brights at him for a couple miles, he eventually got the hint.

Today is Brenden's birthday- he's now 19. We signed him up for insurance through USA Cycling since he's booted from mine due to not being a fulltime student. The USA cycling license is $60. The policy has the following parameters: $35 office co-pay, generic prescription co-pay $15, 80-20 coverage after deductible. We chose the $2000 deductible which is $97 per month. (The monthly rate is dependent upon which deductible level you choose). The network is Cofinity.

I haven't been on the bike since the May 30th ride with Mario at Yankee- I've been stretching the IT-band, but now have had a reoccurance of the pinched nerve in my lower right back/hip. This won't prevent me from riding or racing, it's just darn uncomfortable when standing or walking, but doesn't affect actual riding. I will do some easy miles on the road this week to warm up for my next race- Lumberjack here I come

I am not doing well in the Fun Promotions endurance series, so far ranked 11th. I missed Addison, did poorly at Boyne and will miss Cannonsburg again this year due to prior commitments. My next endurance race is the 12 Hours of Ithaca, where I usually do pretty well.

6.02.08 First quirk with the new car. Last week, I drove to work, but could not get the key to go into lock when shutting off the car. After a bit of fiddling, not sure what caused it to work it, but I got it to lock. Then last Friday night I couldn't get it to lock. I ended up leaving the key-slot in "accessory" and ensured all the power items were off so that the battery would not drain. The next morning I did some research online- net result, well, my conclusion anyway, is that the interlock between the shift lever and the ignition point isn't working because the safety lever on the shifter (the button that you push to unlock the shift lever to move it) is not functioning- it doesn't work at all and the shifter can be moved from park to drive to reverse etc without even touching this little safety button. So I removed a small hatch underneath the steering column to access the ignition mechanism. When I pull in and park the car, I reach up into the column with my finger and move a piece of the mechanism back which allows me to lock the ignition. I am presuming this piece that I move is the solenoid which is not being triggered due to the shifter lever issue. It's a minor inconvenience right now, but in a few weeks I will have to have it looked at, but I am much too busy for that now.

Still working on stretching my IT band and icing it. I will do no mountainbiking until the race on June 14.