Lesson Learned

As I promised, this is the current update on the condition of my knee. Well, after last weekend it started to feel better. So this Tuesday, I decided to go out for a little hour and a half spin just to see how I felt. Bad idea. The doctor recommended two to three weeks completely off the bike. Given my ego I thought I was capable of cutting the minimum amount of recovery in half. Lesson learned. If the doctor recommends two weeks off the bike, you take two weeks off the bike. Sure it means I'll be missing some races that suit my strengths, but in the end its not worth injuring my knee even more and possibly jeopardizing my entire season. Which also brings me to my next point.

In a few months my family and I are going to try and haul my bikes and myself to the hot and humid Augusta, Georgia for Nationals. To be honest, I much rather prefer blistering hot temperatures over the finger and feet numbing cold temperatures.  Although if freezing cold temperatures meant that I could race my bike, then it wouldn't be a problem. I feel I excel in extreme weather conditions on both side of the spectrum.

As for the training I continue for yet another week into my brief hiatus. Really hoping the pain levels will start dropping the next couple of days. Someone asked me how the Bursitis all the sudden happened. Well, it didn't. A few weeks ago I encountered on a 33 hour week on the bike. It was right up there with some of the stupidest things I've ever done considering its April. At least I enjoyed doing it. That's about it for now. Thanks for reading.

33 Hours Later...

Last week, I endured the longest week on the bike. It was fun. Everyday was very eventful. Whether it meant exploring new roads, occasionally managing to get myself lost, or even partaking in the Spectrum ride it was a fun week on the bike. Unfortunately towards the end of my week, I began to develop a rather annoying pain in my right knee. By the end of my ride on Sunday, the pain really decided to make the last twenty kilometers miserable.  I got it checked out this afternoon, and was diagnosed with Bursitis. So a solid week off the bike. Which also means no Sea Otter. Before I got injured I was able to convince my mind to go and race it, but I guess my body was on the other side of the spectrum. I'm not really too disappointed I wont be racing this weekend  because I finally have a reasonable excuse to take time off the bike and actual do this thing called recovery( which I haven't had much of.) In this brief hiatus from training, I have been spending my free time watching just about every tour ever filmed. So like I said, I'm not really too disappointed. I'm just looking at this minor speed bump in the road as a chance to recover. I'll give a brief update later on next week about the knee. Thanks for reading.

The 21st Annual Bissell Pro Cycling Classic

Today's ride consisted of wind. Lots and lots of wind. I wouldn't even call it a ride but rather a five hour battle with one of mother nature's most forceful weapons. Part of my morning routine is giving my attention to one of biggest liars on the planet, the weatherman. And today the weatherman's forecast was light to no wind in the morning, but a little breeze in the afternoon. On parts of my ride today I found myself using all my strength attempting to stay upright.  I think it was safe to say that the winds today were nothing short of violent. Normally when I am told that the winds will be higher than normal I will try to avoid going to the coast. More specifically Half Moon Bay. I've encountered some pretty strong winds before, especially back on my old training grounds in Sonoma County, but none are comparable to winds near Half Moon Bay.

Anyways, I think that's enough complaining/ rambling for one day. This past weekend I participated in the Apple Pie Criterium up in Santa Rosa. There was a lot of talent in the p/1/2/3 field. I got to the start  to see that I would be racing with both our current national criterium champions. The first couple of laps were pretty comfortable. It wasn't till about mid way through the 90 min crit were I just went downhill. I was coughing up phlegm every other lap. I even started to get lower back pains, which hasn't happened to me since nationals. Anyways, I just sat in the pack waiting for the finish. I ended up finishing in the pack for 17th. Nothing spectacular, but then again I really wasn't feeling spectacular.

Ever since Apple Pie I haven't really been feeling like myself and has left me in debate on whether or not I should attend Sea Otter Classic. After analyzing the registration list it seems that the race will yet again be another race dominated by Bissell. For those of you who don't know, Bissell managed to win every event last year along with getting at least three of their guys on every single podium. Its a big race that I really wanted to do well in this year. But whats the point of racing if your not feeling well along with your competition being one of the best Continental teams in America? I'll see how I'm feeling the next couple of days, but as of right now its up in the air.