It rained all night here in Louisville. Well, I’m not sure it was actually all night, but it rained hard when I was aware of it. I haven’t had a chance to get to the course yet, but I’m assuming it is going to be muddy for the pre-ride this afternoon.
I haven’t raced a cyclocross for 2 years. I’m actually thinking the last cross race I did was two years ago here in Louisville. But, that might be wrong. I know I haven’t done Nationals for the past two seasons, so it has been a while since I’m raced cross.
I haven’t even tried any cross technique. I’m hoping that the limestone rock stairs at the Eva Bandman Cyclocross Park aren’t wet or muddy when I’m racing tomorrow night at 6. My broken hip still isn’t up to speed when my foot slips on stuff. Especially when I’m under pressure. That is my biggest worry. My hip has ached some the past week, but I’m going to have Stacie look at it today.
Tonight there is a “gathering” at Stacie’s house. It is a party for…..I’m not really sure. Here is a link to the announcement. Katie Compton, Ryan Trebon and a bunch of other riders are going to be there. Actually, there are going to be close to 100 people here, so it is going to be a bit chaotic. I’m going to try not to be too stressed for this weekend. Baby steps.
I say that and I am already sort of stressed because I only have one bike with me. And that one might be a little suspect. Suspect because I haven’t really ridden it at all since making it back into a cyclocross bike from gravel road bike. I’m hesitant to go over to the park and ride today when it is probably going to be completely different tomorrow, especially tomorrow night at 6 after all the other races have changed the course up.
Okay. I need to get going. I’m hoping to sneak in and get an x-ray of my thumb. It has been nearly a month now since I squished it and it still is super tender. I’m not really sure why I want to know because it is very doubtful that I’ll do anything about it even if it is diagnosed as being jacked up. I know it is jacked up.
I’ll post some photos of the race course if I drive by there soon.
I slept a ton last night. I’ve been feeling a little off the last couple days. Karl made me quinoa vegetable soup for 2nd breakfast today.
Trudi and Stacie waiting at the airport.
Stacie gave Trudi a Tiffany charm necklace with Bromont’s picture in it. So nice.
You might be better off with a hip replacement. Don’t know if they do thumb replacements, though.
Hey Steve, this is Carina. I met you on your flight from San Diego. My nana’s funeral really was more of a celabration of her life. It was beautiful. It really was awesome taliking to you. It put my mind at ease regarding my nana and gave me a groovy story to tell my daughter when I get home. I hope you do well in your next event and keep being the cool person that you are. Blessings!
steve, for a guy thats been racing 40 years you sure are ill prepared a lot of times heading into races.
Hey Cycling Fans and Mr. Tilford Chris Froome here I just wanted to say that my upcoming, very last Tweet is going to be something like this- “I love cycling, I love it sooooo bloody much, I love everything about it- Sir Brailsford, not hurting on climbs, hippos and even Richie Porte! Nothing compares to me.”
Ok, I might have stolen some of this- but I plan it in “iambic pentameter” (per Dave).
Mr. Tilford, sir, the “race predictor” has you as DFL both days. I suppose you know that or you would not be giving us the “woe is me blues”. Look at it this way; all you gotta do is finish second to last to exceed expectations. I predict you finish at least tenth from the bottom if you stick it out. You’re a stud.
Steve–I have a very similar hip injury. You gotta do PT. I had the same mindset as you: I don’t need PT because I am going to be active riding, hiking, construction, etc. so I will be hitting all the necessary movements and muscles without PT. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Get some targeted exercises and stick to them for 2-3 months. I promise it will make all the difference in the world.
FSonicSmith – be sure to wave to the crowd from the podium – – oh, you are not even racing?
I had the same injury too. PT was essential to the recovery. Even after my initial outpatient PT was complete, I’d noticed weird little things like trouble navigating in and around furniture in the house, plus “subtle” movements of my leg that I should normally have no trouble doing. It was difficult to articulate. But I started riding with a guy who was a PT, and he mentioned a word I’d never heard before:
Proprioception: The sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement. It’s what lets us jump, walk up and down stairs, run and walk, without breaking our legs in the process. It tells the muscles what level of tense to create for the situation. Mine was all messed up from the injury. Here are some links:
https://www.google.com/#q=proprioception+exercises+hip
To echo Rich W: You’ve gotta do the homework, or things won’t go back to normal. I’m 14 years out now, and my hip is not 100% of what it used to be, but it’s pretty darn close now. I also went ahead with hardware removal surgery, which meant 18 months of no bike racing-type activity (to let all the holes fill-in and ossify properly).
Thanks Krak.
Similar story. I had my knee done couple of years ago. Did a lot of therapy.
Strength is back. Speed is back. Left leg balance is a little still off. Exercises continue.
Just getting back into the bike racing (mountain bike).
We’ll see what happens this spring.