Update

Today is 7 weeks post avalanche and at least I'm getting somewhere. Tomorrow I have another doctors appointment and some more x-rays. Baring disaster I'm expecting the docs will start allowing me to do all the things I've been doing anyway the past two weeks, giving me free reign to keep turning the screws on myself. I really do value the doctor's opinion but I've got to balance their conservativeness with how well I can read my own body. I'm also hopeful they'll prescribe some PT so that I can get some help getting my range of motion and strength back in my ankle/calf. While my riding has been coming along, the ROM thing has been a major show stopper on walking correctly which means any significant walking at all. No walking means no hiking and that's a bummer. I can live with no running for a while longer but no hiking sucks big time since I can't get up into the mountains.

At least for the past two weeks I've been able to start working on my fitness. Walking in the boot, plenty of core work, some controlled rock climbing indoors and a healthy amount of the indoor trainer has actually brought me a long way in two weeks. I've done a few two hour rides and on Friday I managed a solid three hour trainer effort after walking home from Starbucks again (with the boot). Yesterday Marni and I went out for my first outdoor ride since I can finally unclip (very carefully) with my left foot. Much to both of our surprises I made it a solid two hours of pavement, bike paths, dirt and even a little snow riding in a few places. It took quite a while to warm up and my strength imbalance was more pronounced outdoors but it was still really nice to finally know I can get outside and also at least get around town to go to the post office, grocery store, bank, etc without the car.

Sorry last week's Fatbike Friday post got skipped. I was surpremely beat after my workouts and then spent most of Saturday out of the house with Marni. I'll have a good one this Friday and they should gradually keep getting better. My footwear strategy has come down to two options and I am close to making a decison. Goodies are on the way from Speedway cycles, a super sweet pair of Hadley 135/165mm hubs to be built into my 100mm rims for the Fatback. An unfortunate delay has the frame itself still awaiting my delivery but I should have all the parts here with low temp grease installed and ready to be hung on the frame as soon as it arrives. And by that time hopefully I can walk which means actual snow biking can take place.

So that's the basic rundown of how I'm doing. I've got a long way to go but at least I'm still seeing incremental gains and there has been a lot of progress in the past two weeks. Crossing my fingers for continued good news tomorrow and if so the ponies will keep getting dirty!

Flying Wonder Dog

Poor Turbo, he must wonder why all the fun stopped so quickly. With me injured and Marni extra busy picking up the slack, his runs, walks and bally chasing adventures came to an abrupt halt. We've been trying to get better lately now that I'm more mobile and today I got him out for a good romp. He loves playing in the snow, pure joy. I rarely attempt to "correct" pictures from my little cheap Cannon digital camera but I liked this shot enough to give it a shot. I'm not much at photo taking or editing but if you click the bigger version I feel like it at least conveys the mood of Turbo and the waning afternoon, almost winter sunshine.
I lagged far behind the flying ball of fluff, walking and hobbling my way carefully to one of our spots. He wanted to go all around the loop to the dirt jumps but I sadly didn't have it in me yet. Instead I made it to one of the closer spots and sat there, snowballs in each hand, training any way I'm still able.

For the first time I'm walking with the cane outside in normal shoes. It's not pretty but there is only one way to get stronger. One step at a time, one day at a time. It does sure beat lying in bed.

Sincerely,
newest member of the cane patrol

Keep fighting

Today was hard. I'm a bit sore and lacking motivation after my Monday and Tuesday physical beat down and a week in general of working hard at recovery. I knew the inevitable "step back" day would come and that helped me accept it but you always hope that somehow you'll just stop having them. The most exciting part of the day was getting my borrowed cane and hopefully starting to leave the crutches behind. Luckily I have Marni who encouraged me to a little active recovery spin which highlighted just how much I've gained in the ankle flexibility department in a week. Tomorrow is a self scheduled rest day with an option for easy climbing with Aaron in the evening.

Now time to get that ankle above my heart, close my eyes and let those healing hormones do their job.

(In actual bike news, my Sorrel PAC boot liners showed up today. I have a shoe they potentially fit in that's already clipless too. We'll see how that goes once I get my hands on said shoe.)

Exciting socks?

Always on the lookout for a good deal, a couple pairs of RBH Designs socks popped up on Backpacking Light forums in my size for more than half off retail. They arrived yesterday, fit nicely and at least look warm since Marni wants some to wear around the house. I've played with VB footwear before using plastic bags and the GoLite silnylon VB socks but these things seem right up my alley. They're a 3 layer laminated sock which eliminates some of the "multiple sock feel" that I hate in most people's winter footwear systems. More footwear items showing up soon and hopefully I can make a nicely working system with this stuff.

Recovery is still going well. I've been sleeping a lot lately, abnormal for me. I'm not sure if it's the increase in physical activity or the fact that I hardly slept for the first month of my injury but I'll just roll with it. Sleepy time is healing time. Today was a fairly easy ride and this evening Aaron and I are going climbing again at the BRC. Amazingly, climbing with my injured ankle in my mountaineering boot was excellent for my range of motion. I keep making strides towards bending it enough to walk in regular shoes. That is going to be a great day!

Bridge

Sunset over the Sawatch Range descending into Salida, Colorado - Tour Divide 2009

Pictures of me riding the trainer aren't very exciting or interesting so I'm going to pop a few Tour Divide pictures in until there is something remotely interesting to post up. Today was another excellent ride, two solid hours on the trainer with some actual hard efforts. Yesterday's workouts really kicked my butt despite keeping the ride short and easy but they seemed to gain me a bit of new flexibility today which left me turning the screws on the bike a bit more. Walking is still laughable but it's improved over yesterday. I'm grateful for the past four years of riding as it's taught me a lot about reading my body. I'm pushing fairly hard but so far able to walk the line below any significant pain and I'm taking zero pain relievers.

Icing and elevation time has been spent researching and thinking about the remainder of my necessary winter gear. Footwear is the primary concern right now as I've been gathering most of the rest of the gear for several years. I am going to go a different direction with my stove, switching to white gas instead of Esbit or a canister so that will be a new learning experience too. Reading trail stories and Don's trail notes sure is motivating. It looks so beautiful and I'm thankful to have this carrot encouraging my rehab. Another good day down, just got to keep plugging away tomorrow.

Pedal Therapy

Eating a cold hot pocket dinner in an outhouse, watching another rain storm pummel the trail, Tour Divide 2009

Riding this week has been amazing, even the first session measuring barely a few songs worth of time. Each day I've cautiously cranked up the trainer time and effort, looking for a place where my body or ankle would cry uncle. Today I rode for 2 hours and I ended the ride tired, a little saddle sore and sweating but amazingly my ankle never gave up. Tomorrow morning is the true test but each day I've woken up stiff as before but no worse for wear from the riding.

Sure it's an indoor trainer with only dreams of Alaska and crappy TV for company. Standing to pedal is still hard. I cannot unclip with my left foot and spinning much over 90rpms is still out of the question. But at least I can ride! And very shortly that means I can train again, getting stronger each day instead of weaker. When you've been laying in bed for 5 weeks, nothing sounds better than that.

Fat Bike Friday: Will it freeze???

Welcome to the first of my little series of Fat Bike Friday posts while I gear up for some fun winter riding and races this year. My first installment is called "Will it freeze?" and I put some tasty and random items in the freezer overnight for taste, texture and hardness testing. You've got to figure that everything on your bike, in your drop bags and sometimes even in your poggies will freeze. The big question is what's still edible and tasty? Let's see how the round one contestants did!

Contestant #1 is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. One of my Tour Divide staples and something that Jill is also fond of lending it winter food cred, Reese's did very well in the freezer test. The chocolate hardened but the center stayed less than solid, warming up and becoming chewy quickly in my mouth. Taste was good with the chocolate slightly subdued and the texture was fine. Based on this information, it's possible that Reece's Big Cups might be the best choice when frozen. Further testing to come...

Contestant #2 is Peanut M&M's. Another Tour Divide favorite, the peanut M&M's fared exceptionally, tasting pretty much like a colder version of normal. They warmed super fast in my mouth and the limited chocolate content made them tasty but not hard to chew. 500 cals/king size pack and frequently on sale. Score!

Contestant #3 is butter. Yum good old butter. Now you non-winter sports people will think I'm crazy but hey I like butter and it's super high in calories per ounce. It's not pure fat with 20% water content but it's good in hot meals, rolled in brown sugar or just eaten straight up. How did it do in the freezer? It came out hard and I was worried but I bit off a chunk and it was great. Easy to slice or eat and just as delicious as normal.

Contestant #4 is summer sausage. I had high hopes for this one after reading some reports that it worked well. It came out of the freezer pretty hard and the bite test was a little discouraging. I sliced off a round and that worked better. It started out hard but quickly warmed up in my mouth and had a good taste and texture though not quite like normal. I think this one needs to be pre-sliced or cubed but it would be a great addition to a meal for fat and protein and salt and also a good "sugar cleansing" snack to help reset the palate when it goes into sweets overload. It's easy for me to OD on summer sausage but it might be a good drop bag item.

Contestant #5 was PB crackers. These little guys were a Tour Divide revelation and have made it into my regular rotation now. They're not a high volume item but they travel surprisingly well and make a great different snack from the normal stuff. The encourage hydration but are edible with minimal water too. How'd they do in the freezer? They were great! Pretty much indistinguishable from normal.

The Bonus Contestant was butter flavored Crisco. The Crisco was firm but still able to be squished and probably cut easily. The package I used for testing was not yet open so I didn't eat any. I may try an open package next time to try it raw and also drop a bit into a dehydrated meal. I'm skeptical but I like butter so maybe Crisco will work too? It is 20% more calorie dense, haha.

What other ideas do you guys have for the next round of "Will it freeze?" I'm thinking pure peanut butter, Poptarts, praline pecans, some sort of chocolate truffle ball, string cheese, Twix, a special non frozen but extra cal hot cocoa recipe I've been wondering about and the best ideas out of your suggestions. Leave a comment and I'll try them out!
In other news, new parts keep trickling into the house and once my frame arrives I'll give the rundown of my parts choices and post some pictures of the build up. Turbo is not amused that another really large bicycle is moving into the house but I sure am excited!

Waking up is hard to do

Every morning is the hardest part right now and today was no exception. The ankle is super stiff when I wake up and the normal feeling while sleeping evaporates instantly as soon as I try to put my feet on the ground.

But I'm so pumped right now. Last night I walked/hobbled very slowly and with the assistance of one crutch in bare feet for the first time. I didn't hurt which is the best part. This morning I got into the shower without resorting to kneeling on the ledge of the tub. Then I walked home a mile from Starbucks with one crutch and my boot and now I'm walking around the house in the boot doing chores without the crutch for the first time pretty comfortably. They're all tiny steps but so encouraging. On my walk home I really felt for the first time like I'm going to be okay eventually.

The Fatbike Friday post will be coming this afternoon and it's more fun but I just had to get this our there since I'm super happy right now. This roller coaster ride isn't over yet but I'll ride the highs when I can.