Here it is the last couple of days of June 2012. I have not had much chance to update my blog; here are the reasons. Last fall I went down hard on my knee during a mountain bike ride. I was not wearing my knee pads, something I am doing now and will do in the future when I take my mountain bike out into the New England rock and root strewn woods (this terrain makes me wonder why I went with a hard tail vs. a full suspension rig). Anyway, I had my knee drained twice and went through physical therapy. My therapist told me that my main problem is more my hip than my knee and because of my hip I would have had knee problems in the future. So now, I have to remember to do some good hip and knee stretching as well as icing down my knee after I ride.
In December, during my winter training I tweaked my shoulder doing a kettle-bell work-out. I got sloppy. Well it turns out, I needed surgery. My surgeon stated that the surgery would have been needed sooner or later. I just sped up the process, as there was a calcium deposit rubbing against a tendon. Well everything is cleaned up and I have been going to physical therapy twice a week since mid-May to get my strength and range of motion back.
The good news out of all of this is that in the last two weeks I have been doing more riding on my road bike and also taking my mountain bike out on the road. I had hopeed to do the ride to the clouds century in mid-July but that is not happening. Even the 48 mile ride which includes the ride to the top of Mt. Wachusett, is doubtful as my legs do not have their strength back. I have been struggling on some hills on a 30 mile climb as recently as yesterday. So, I think I am going to concentrate on getting ready for the D2R2 in mid August. I hope to be doing the 100k ride this year and not make a wrong turn like I did last year.
Don’t forget the Tour de France starts on June 30. The stage to watch will be on July 11th. I am pulling for Levi Leiphiemer (sp?) this year for individual. For team I am hoping for team Rabbobank (they ride the Giant Brand Bikes and are in orange jerseys). Bradley Wiggins could be the first Britain to win the Tour, but keep an eye out for Tyler Ferrar from the U.S.A. as a young upset rider.
A.J.