January 26, 2009

Derailed

Crashing tends to become a regular thing on the MTB when I go into "preseason" mode with multiple days a week in the gym wreaking havoc on my speed and skills. I always seem to have some mishaps during this time, but typically get them out of the way by Christmas.

2 weeks ago I was riding at LHP. It was the day after the Tour de Felasco, which I hit at a pretty good pace, so I was admittedly tired. I was on my last lap, just cruising due to being tired. I took a drop on a red trail just a bit too far to the left and stacked hard. The impact blew my front tire off the rim and slammed me into the ground, knocking the wind out of me. Once the adrenalin wore off I could feel it in my rib cage, but there was no bruising so hopefully nothing was broken.

I spent the following week riding on the road. There was only some slight discomfort in the ribs, but nothing big. So the weekend rolled around and I logged 8 hours on the MTB. I had no issues while riding, but Sunday night I woke up in so much pain I could hardly breathe from muscle spasms.

So there I was, the week leading up to my favorite local race of the year, and I'm nursing a rib injury. It was pretty bad during the week. Tests on the road showed that I could ride tempo if I kept the cadence high, but trying to push a big gear or standing up to pedal was quite painful. I didn't pull the plug until Saturday, when I rode a couple of laps on the course. Every root, rock and bump in the trail resulted in a squeal of protest from my ribs. So, I spent a lot of time on the road this weekend.

The good news is that I'm finally seeing improvement. On yesterday morning's road ride I was finally able to blow respectable snot rockets. Attempts earlier in the week were feeble at best. This morning I was able to sit up to get out of bed instead of rolling out like some cripple.

It looks like I made the right decision. Racing yesterday would've delayed my recovery. I sat out and am making progress. The prescription is working so I'm going to rest up this week and hopefully be ready to get back at it so I can re-group for Santos. Rumor has it that IF Racing is gonna try to take over the podium.

January 01, 2009

Happy New Year!

My celebrations of past new years have been limited. My idea of a good new year is usually a nice dinner at home, a quiet evening and being in bed well before midnight, followed by a nice ride the next morning.

2008 was not a normal year. While it contained one incredible high, it was defined by one incredible low. I can honestly say that 2008 has been the worst year of my life and I needed to kick it in the ass on its way out the door.

Team O'Dea has been camped out at my house for the past few days, wrapping up their winter training camp. We started the celebration off with an afternoon ride at Boyette with Kurt and the dogs, then headed back to my house for dinner on the grill and some really good beer that Eddie picked up. We capped it off by walking over the the local bar district to watch drunk people and ate pizza at 1AM. This will probably be the last time I see 1AM until at least next new year's.

2009 is here and there's nowhere to go but up. Racing starts in 4 weeks and a blog overhaul is due. I'll squeeze that in somewhere between all the riding.

Good fucking riddance, 2008.