Atomic Spatula » Cycling

I Am Back

greg — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:12:41 +0000

The Doctor gave me the go-ahead to ride again today, though I have to wear the split when riding. I rode for about an hour out in Wilowdale. I have to go pretty slow, due to the split, but mostly due to the loss of strength (or confidence?) in my left hand. I also felt pretty rusty as far as general bike handling goes. That said, it was great to be riding again on such a perfect day.

For the next month I’m planing on doing a mix of trail running, trail and road riding. I think the running has been good, and I need to keep my cardio-vascular fitness up since going slow on the MTB isn’t nearly as solid a work-out.

Thumb Update – Bad News

greg — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:47:13 +0000

I took an unremarkable fall on an unremarkable log crossing, and sprained my thumb, or so I thought. It turns out I did some damage that’s going to take the summer to heal up.

It’s called “skiers’ thumb”:

AKA Stener Lesion:

I go in for surgery and a cast Monday. The ligament that broke has moved up into my hand, so they have to pin it back on to the bone, on the other side of the first thumb joint. The doctor says there’s 2 months in a splint/cast, then another month recovery. So I’m out until September. It’s going to take a while to get my head around this. Mountain biking has been my major activity for a couple of years now, and I’m pretty much addicted to daily exercise. I’ll have to try trail running or something to keep me from loosing my mind.

The Magic of Opposable Thumbs

greg — Thu, 20 May 2010 20:07:07 +0000

They’re great, but I’m down one. I crashed on a log crossing, landed hard on my left hand and bent my thumb back farther than a 50 year-old thumb was meant to go. My plan of doing the 20 mi MTB race at Willowdale this Sunday seems doubtful. I’m feeling pretty good about my abilites, but I kind of need to hold on to the handlebars with both hands.

I did this Tuesday, took yesterday off, and rode on the road today. I did my 13.5 mi loop in 45 min – that’s 18 mph average. I felt really good (except for the thumb). I see the hand Doctor tomorrow – I suspect there’s no major damage, but then, I can’t lift a beer with my left hand any more, so it is something to be taken seriously.

Monday Night Ride

greg — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:04:16 +0000

I did the NSNEMBA’s Monday night “relaxed pace” ride. We had 16 riders – some regulars, and some new folks. I’m not sure how relaxed the pace was. I was riding as fast as I could the whole time. We did stop periodically to let folks catch up. I guess that’s the relaxed part. According to my gear, we did 9.7 mi in 1:47 – a loop catching most of the single-track around the perimeter of Willowdale. Adding in yesterday’s 2:05, 11 mi ride, that’s 4 hours at a good pace for the week, and its only Monday.

NSNEMBA Monday Night Ride

greg — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:25:31 +0000

We had a great ride last night. It was clear and cool, with the trails nicely dried out. We kept up a pretty good pace, except for the flat tire that happened just before the end.

The Log

greg — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:56:52 +0000

Some times a little pressure helps. On the Monday night ride Dan Streeter was taking pictures. I’d never made it across this log before – my best effort was about 3/4 of the way before I had to bail out. I came around the corner, saw Dan with camera ready, and gave it a whirl.

Green Riders Attack!

greg — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:06:28 +0000

Willowdale – West with MTBGuru

greg — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:59:02 +0000

This is my typical ride as of late. I’m trying out MTBGuru.com – seems pretty nice so far. The Trip Details link shows some nice stats. No heart rate, though – perhaps it needs to read TCX to get that?

Ipswich River Floods

greg — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:42:10 +0000

I rode down to the Ipswich River today. It’s still flooded. I suspect it’s going to take the rest of the week for the trails to dry out, perhaps the weekend as well. I was sorely tempted to ride the boardwalk that was about 3″ under water, but resisted. I did enjoy riding the closed roads – nice to be able to relax and look around.

Road Ride

greg — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:08:38 +0000

The rain stopped, but the trails are wet and flooded, so I got out the road bike. I went as fast as I felt I could sustain for an hour or so, and this is what I got:

So, it’s looking like my anarobic threshold might be about 167 bpm. I averaged 16.7 mph over 13.5 mi.