MOUTH FULL OF DIRT : Super D's Blog: Limping Through

Before I talk about injuries, here's some pictures of fun we had in October and November, including the great time we had around Halloween. We had no pumpkins from the garden this year, so we carved peppers instead. Turned out quite well I thought. Shannon spent a lot of time making costumes for her co-workers and they rocked cereal box characters this year.

Jack-o'-bells, stuffed and ready to cook

I got a little carried away...

I was going for jack-o'-bells being held in a red hand. Couldn't get it just right, but close!

Shannon's group at work. You have Buzz the Bee from Honey Nut Cheerios, Cap'n Crunch, Lucky the Leprechaun from Lucky Charms, Snap, Crackle and Pop from Rice Krispies (Pop got sick so there was a stand-in) and Toucan Sam from Fruit Loops.

Nice morning from the garden

The time of frost is back so we have stakes put in to hold up our sheets each night and logs to hold them in place so we can protect our tasty lettuce. The Brussels sprouts can handle the frost.

Trying our hand at garlic this year

Big praying mantis hanging out

With my wrist feeling better, I was back on the mountain bike by the end of November. My work schedule had me working later than usual, which meant I had mornings off. I was excited to get in some sunrise mountain bike rides on my trail, but my hopes were dashed the first day. I ran into a group of hunters on the trail that were not too excited about me riding. Half of our trail is on a neighbor's land, a neighbor which has never allowed hunting on his land the 10 years he has lived there. The previous landowner was a hunter and we shared the trail with him. The current owner let some buddies hunt and they were less than willing to share with me. We had a talk in the woods where they nicely told me not to come back until after hunting season was over. They were not at all interested in anything I had to say about sharing which really irritated me. They only hunt once or twice per week, but were not willing to tell me when so I could ride the other days. I wanted to talk to the landowner about it, but I decided not to. It wasn't worth taking the chance on making him mad and losing the trail all year long. I just decided to check the parking spot the hunters use. No truck there, I'm riding.

Sunrise through the woods on my one morning on the trail

Morning fog in the creek bottom

The leaves have fallen. It's hard to tell where the trail is.

The hunters constructed some rickety old stands that were built at least 15 years ago. There is no way I would climb the ladder up one of them, let alone sit at the top. Some of them were so rotten they had fallen apart and were down on the ground. But these guys just leaned them back up and strapped them to the same tree with tie-down straps. I had to take a picture of one because it was so sketchy. It was a rotten stand nailed to a rotten tree. Smart guys I see.

Would you sit up there?

By Thanksgiving, I had the pain stopped in my gastroc. At some point, the issue goes from inflammation and irritation to weakness. It's almost an overnight transition. One day exercise makes it worse, the next day it's like I need exercise to build the strength back up. I don't fully understand this yet, but I'm sure I will learn more about it this time around. Hopefully, I'll get it all figured out and be able to help somebody else if they ever have the same problem.

We had our annual Tour de Turkey backyard stage race Thanksgiving weekend. It was a little shorter this year due to weather. We had four stages planned, starting with a long XC on Thanksgiving Thursday. I didn't think my gastroc would hold up for two full hours of mountain biking, but it did. We did a shorter course this year with our trail restrictions from the hunters, which was actually more fun with the whole family riding. We got to see each other more often during the ride and were able to race each other through some sections, even if we weren't on the same lap. Friday night we had a night short track in the cold with the whole family again participating. An incredible amount of rain came down on Saturday and Sunday, so much so that it forced us to cancel our ride plans. It was probably a good thing for me as my gastroc needed the rest after two hard days. I didn't have pain in those two rides, but I could tell it was getting aggravated and I doubt it would have made two more intense days.

The highlight of my Thanksgiving weekend was actually Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was the best dinner we have had in my family for many years. Everybody came, they got along and we all had a great time. I have not seen that much smiling out of my family members in a very long time. We were entertained with stories of recent events, like one about my Mom falling backwards into a cold, deep creek while out checking beaver traps with my Uncle Bryant. And little Cameron showed his daredevil side with some renegade golf cart driving. We raked big piles of leaves for him to drive through and he loved it. He even tricked my Mom into an "easy drive around the yard" before taking her full-blast through a giant stack of leaves and covering them with foliage. This kid's going to be alright I think.

Cameron driving my Dad

Into the leaves they go

Me and Cameron about to mulch some leaves with our face

We are in there somewhere

There's a few leaves in the cart...

Video: Cameron tricking my Mom. She knew something was up, but did not realize what until they rounded the corner and she saw the leaves.

The next weekend I was ready to try to race again. The Clarksville Cyclocross Challenge was being held just 20 minutes from our house at Rotary Park in Clarksville. I was nervous about my gastroc, but knew I had to test it at some point. The wrist was feeling good enough to take some jarring on a bike without suspension. I badly needed to drop some weight. The time off with the injury had caused a little inflation around my torso and I was nearing my heaviest weight ever. It showed when I got ready to race as my Maxxis jersey looked more like my skinsuit.

I rode down to the race on the road bike for a good warm-up, then lined up for the Pro/1/2/3 race. I was doing this race first, then planned to race Singlespeed right after. I had not ridden either of my bikes at all since the Crossfire CX last December. It was an interesting transition to say the least. My cross bike setup puts me a long, long way from my road bike position.

Start line for the Pro/1/2/3 race

Go!

It was a chilly morning when we got underway. We were the first race of the day. The start was fast, but I was able to latch onto the front group. There was a hill in the woods with several huge timber poles laying on it that was supposed to be the "unrideable run-up." First time through in practice I rode it. I wanted to ride everything here to keep from running as much as possible. Running aggravates the gastroc. I had to run it the first lap of the race as we were just too bunched up for me to attempt bunny-hopping the timbers.

Simon Lewis with me close behind

As we popped out of a long piece of singletrack the first time, I was thinking that maybe I wasn't in that bad of shape after all. Sure, I felt fat, but I was comfortable sitting on the back of front group. My confidence was soon shattered as we hit some climbs at the end of the lap and the gap began to open. I stayed smooth, but couldn't close the gap despite riding the run-up on lap 2. I got booed by the spectators. Apparently, they wanted to see people run, not ride. It just motivated me to ride it again the next lap.

Simon Lewis out of the saddle with me chasing him

Shannon Williams

Alistair Sponsel and Pete Young

Simon

On lap 3 I flatted. Of course I was a long way from the pit and had to run, the one thing I did not want to do today. I got on my singlespeed and spent the rest of the race chasing down two riders ahead and trying to not get lapped. The singlespeed was tough on this course with so much climbing. It took a lot out of me in five laps. My gastroc was getting fatigued, but no pain yet so I pressed on. I thoroughly enjoyed riding the run-up every lap and also hitting the double sandpit. It was deep, but rutted well. You could pick a rut and sprint into it. I was having a blast every time I went through there, attacking it way harder than everyone else, which is probably why I made it through every time except once. The singlespeed got the better of my tired legs once in the final laps.

Pete in the sandpit

Travis Werts was not having the best time in the sand, but he still smoked us today and claimed the win

Josiah Lightle

Travis Werts

Alistair Sponsel

Shannon Williams

Pete Young

Simon Lewis

Filling out my jersey a little too well today

Cranking the sandpit on the singlespeed

Looking ahead as I enter the run-up

The lap I didn't make it. Came up just a hair short.

I was well ahead of the leader, but the officials pulled me with one lap to go. I don't understand the need to pull someone with one to go when you have less than 10 racers on course and 30 minutes until the next race, but whatever. I just kept on going and did my lap anyway. I ended up finishing 6th. The gastroc was very tired, but still not painful. I did not ride any between races to save up what little energy I had left.

Simon back on his bike after the run-up

Wriggling like a worm to keep the gear turning on this climb

Big Trav en route to victory

Sponsel and Willliams finished 2nd and 3rd

Singlespeed was a brutal 30 minutes. I was way over-geared as usual and my legs were zapped from riding the singlespeed bike in the Pro race. I was in the back early, behind all the Juniors as well. I slowly picked my way up through the field, finishing in 4th. My gastroc began to hurt with just over a lap to go. Everyone behind me had quit so I was able to back off some on the last lap and even walk the run-up to keep extra stress off the leg. It was a rough return to racing with me feeling fat, limping around on my leg and having mechanical issues. I was just glad to be able to race, even if I did have pain by the end. Now I had two weeks to get ready for the next race. Two weeks to heal more, get stronger and not be so fat!