I'm done

I met with my surgeon for the final time (finger's crossed and knocking on wood) and had my last physical therapy appointment last week. In a couple weeks I will be green lighted to re-enter the woods. Progress so far has been pretty good, actually better than I had expected. Particularly when I see other guys in PT with the same surgery struggling with their rehab. Apparently the beers have helped me more than I expected.

Since I have been unable to ride in the woods I have been limited to the roads. This isn't all bad as I have been able to get some good riding in the past few weeks, logging well over 200 miles in the past 2 weeks which has been great, particularly the early morning rides with my wife.

Problem I have now is my road bike is telling me something. I replaced the rear wheel a few months ago as it had developed cracks in the rim around the spoke eyelets which made it unsafe. So I was riding a mismatched set of wheels. Then yesterday I went out for a ride hoping to climb some hills and get in a good sweat. As I was making my way back towards home I was out of the saddle climbing and I was just cresting a long hill when I felt a "pop". Luckily it was a mechanical pop and not one of my joints letting go, which happens all too often. A mechanical pop isn't often a good thing either though. AS I was climbing I wasn't going very fast and as soon as I heard the noise I felt the "Houston, we have a problem" feeling. I Grabbed my brake levers to stop and as I did I looked down at my front wheel. It was so out of round and untrue it was having trouble fitting through the brake caliper. I could also hear a ticking as it rolled. I stopped and picked up the front to spin the wheel and realized I had blown a couple of spokes and the rim was toast.

At that moment I was hoping the Team Car was about to roll up and a mechanic would hop out and do a nice quick wheel change for me. Guess I've been watching too much of the TdF. THat didn't happen so I had to get the phone out and call for backup. I called my wife and said I needed a ride as I had a mechanical that made it unsafe to continue on. She said she'd be there in a few. As I waited for the ride I looked down the hill in front of me and thought that the last time I want down it I was rolling along at about 65 kilometers per hour (40mph) and how bad a scene it could have been if I'd have had the wheel fail at that speed. I hate it when those types of things run through my head. I think I felt a twinge in my shoulder at that moment to remind me just what that sort of thing does feel like. So I made it home and was fortunate enough to have a spare front wheel to swap out while I decide what to do next.

One problem with riding recently though is the Great Glen Summer Race Series has started and the Red Jersey race series has started too, now the Pats Peak 12 & 24 Hr race was this past weekend and the 24 Hours of Great Glen is a month away. I have resigned myself to not racing this season and just heal up. Buts difficult to be riding at all and not be able to turn the peddles in anger at all. Then I get a text from a friend looking for another rider for their 24Hr team and I start to think, I could race on a team and not do it solo this year, maybe even use gears and suspension. Hmmm, hopefully he fills the spot soon to save me the pain of considering it.

JJ