it's been awhile since an update, and a LOT of excitement has ensued. Here's a brief timeline of what happened after the complete knee blow-up in the Tour of Shenandoah:
April 27-May 1: knee blows up at Tour of Shenandoah
May 1 - May 6: no riding, all knee recovery
May 6 - May 11: easy riding on knee, no pain
May 12: knee blows up again on an easy ride, depression begins
May 13-May 18: no riding, see more doctors, adjust bike position
May 18-May 22: a few easy rides with some pain
May 22- May 31: no bike riding, all recovery, significant changes to right shoe/cleat
June 1: begin easy easy easy riding
June 10: first ride going above zone 2, woohoo!!!
June 19: race Housatonic Hills- felt great considering 2 days of intensity in last 2 months
June 30-July 3: lament not being able to get good training at Fitchburg (first time i missed Fitchburg since i started bike racing)
July 7: relocate to Charlottesville, VA to do some good hard dedicated training with the other skinnypro (knee pain seems to be gone)
July 10: Raced Conte's Cycling Classic crit in Norfolk, VA - finished in field, but felt OK
July 16: Raced the Giro di Coppi RR in Maryland, finished 18th, took an extra lap to total a century, felt pretty good
July 17: Raced the Silver Spring Grand Prix, finished in field after both of my waterbottles bounced out, so i raced 90 min in 90+ hot humidity w/ no water - that sucked
July 20: Did 110 mile endurance training ride and averaged 240 watts, and am starting to feel some fitness
sooooo happy to be without knee pain now. May and June were so incredibly depressing. Now, I can get on with posting blogs that lament things like air pollution, pickup trucks, and having no money. I guess there is a lesson to be learned in having to spend the most exciting months of the pro racing calendar in your debut pro year off the bike.... if someone figures out what this lesson is, please tell me.
More stories to come including PH's bathtub, the tractor shed Christof lives in, and the rotating wall in this Charlottesville apt.
