Watershed ended up being Gambrill

Didn't realize it was black powder season until a few hours before the ride so we went to Gambrill instead. Didn't feel like ruining the hunters few weeks nor get shot at by accident. Gambrill is just as fun and it was. Knee did ok, but it is sore now so I think I might of pushed it a little to far. I was thinking of doing a long ride on Sunday to really test the knee, now I am debating on if I need to rest it some more (again).

Gambrill Night Ride

So, first ride in 2 weeks and its up in Gambrill at night. I was worried about the knee since it was aching all day w/o any riding. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous being about 60 degrees at 8PM in late November in the mountains. We went about an hour and 45 minutes. I also tried a new ITB brace for the knee that puts pressure on the tendon to keep it from being bothered. Got to say that an hour or so in the ride I guess it was working because I didn't feel any issues. After that I really got to enjoy the rockiness that is Gambrill. Also did the red trail that I've never done before. What a great ride!

On Friday I plan on hitting the watershed for a longer ride to see if the brace really worked. That and stretching 3-6 times a day and hopefully the problem will start working out. Fingers crossed (all of them).

What to do when your off the bike...

So I haven't ridden in two weeks, so what to do besides clean it... Pulled everything apart and cleaned each thing. I even took the cassette apart to get a good clean. Got to say, it shifts better now than new. :)

I also got the shock back from PUSH Industries. A really nice rebuild it seems even if they did have to remove the ProPedal/Open/Closed adjustment. I guess its a nice idea, just poorly executed on this shock.

Weekend in Charlottesville

Spent the last weekend in Charlottesville with Lynn while the kids spent the weekend with the grandparents. Forgot how much fun it can be doing things on your own time schedule and with someone who isn't going to throw a tantrum in the middle of dinner. Didn't really have anything planned to do while we were there but ended up going to a few wineries, Monticello, and Crabtree Falls in the GW National Forest.

Monticello was pretty cool because we had a great tour guide that actually made the place come to life instead of pointing to furniture and saying "Jefferson sat there".


Crabtree Falls was more than I expected and with the nice weather it was a pretty good hike. The falls are actually the biggest falls this side of the Mississippi, but its a tiered falls so its not one continuous fall. Basically its a river that runs straight down the mountain.

The only bad part of the hike is that my kne really lit up after the hike. Great, a simple hike and I feel the pain. Made an appointment to see the doctor again as soon as I got back. Time for some PT.



Lastly, found out that my wife has done more offroading in my Jeep than I have. Mentioning that we should of brought the Jeep to get to some of the wineries (pretty spooky in a car) my wife tells me about how she took the Jeep out the back way of the Stokesville campground when I was doing the SM100... Ugh, I know I haven't offroaded, but she's done more than me... :(

Day 6 of treatment

So I've been doing it for 6 days now. I think I can still feel it or am I just hypersensitive to it? Been off the bike for over a week...

I'm really looking forward to testing it now, the plan is...
Tuesday - very light road ride, just warm up the muscles
Wednesday - Gambrill night ride, not long but more intense
Friday - Watershed epic to test and see how it is

I'm worried, I'm not going to be very happy if I have the same issue...

Took the "little" girl ice skating

So A's been bothering me to go Ice Skating since July I think. I kept telling her its a winter sport even though it might be open all summer. So we finally went and she was about as excited as I've seen her in a while.

Holy crap, she can actually skate!!!! She went twice last year and was starting to get it but in no time at all she was moving pretty well. She does best if she is holding my hand, but I'm not providing much balance and not giving her any push. I was actually having to start skating to keep up.

We skated for over an hour before she did a helmet test which she decided that she had enough. We did one last loop so that wouldn't be her last memory...

If she can skate, she can ski... time to take her to the mountain. :)

Day 3 of Treatment

So I've been off the bike since last Wednesday (5 days) and have been on an anti-inflammatory (Advil) for 3 days. I can still feel the tendon just slightly. Must be really inflamed to still feel it still, I guess I'm starting to see why it was such a problem. Hopefully in a day or two I won't be able to feel it anymore. Also starting to stretch it again gently. That needs to be done so that there is less of a chance of it getting irritated again.

Plan will be to get on the bike either next Tuesday or Wednesday, so that's still 7-8 days away.

Not a bad week

Wasn't a bad week, got to go on two fun rides.

On Sunday, we were going to do a Montgomery County Epic on mountain bikes. Basically hitting all the singletrack that the county has. Shaeffer, Hoyles Mill, Black Hill, Little Bennett, Seneca Greenway and Seneca. I ended up bailing after the first three because of the knee (expected) and I had some chores to do at home anyway. Still got in 30 miles 95% was single track. The whole epic was a little over 60 miles.

On Wednesday night, I did my first night ride at Gambrill. Really cool place to ride in the day, even cooler at night. Todd took some pictures. I was overdressed for the 35 degree weather. I ended up finishing up my rear shock that has been leaking for a while, had to lock it out for the last 1/2 of the trip. Sent it away to PUSH to have it fixed. I think I've heard that the Specialized Triad shocks were known to be a problem... Hopefully it will be better than it was new since I was never really impressed with it.

Lastly, I went to a doctor about the knee. Figured I need a professional to help me figure out how to get over it since my plan wasn't working. Real good doc and spend the time to understand what I wanted and explained some of the stuff I didn't know. So basically, I'm on anti-inflammatory for two weeks. He basically said that I need to get the irritation below a certain threshold or it would flare up every time. I'm also staying off the bike for a while also. I'm off the week of Thanksgiving, so I'll probably test it then. Fingers crossed.

Cyclocross Envy...

What a cool bike, it does the roads it does single track, it does commuting! Cross Races, the Iron Cross, lots of fun... How do you explain to the wife that doesn't ride why I need another bike!

And no, I don't want to give a bike up for it, they all have their purpose.