The Southern Roadtrip: Fat Camp 2009

I decided two weeks of riding was sufficient to begin my Fat Camp/Beat Myself into Shape Camp 2009. I'm enjoying some new cycling places and my old stomping grounds from DC to Birmingham AL. 

I shall be sharing more stories and recommended rides to those who are curious about cycling in the South soon. Thankfully, I had a chat with El Nino and he's gonna keep calm until I get back home!

IT'S BACK!!

A Cycling Discipline You Don't See Everyday

I feel that I can hold opinions about the different cycling disciplines because I have tried nearly all. I have raced mountain, road, cyclocross, and even downhill. I have even played around on BMX and Dual Slalom courses. I used a fixed gear to train on for awhile. Basically, as long as I'm on a bike I'm happy. However of all the disciplines, the one that I hold the most respect for is trials. Many years ago before I even raced bikes I played around on friends bikes who were into it. It's beyond difficult. More importantly, you hardly ever see people playing around on trials bikes. It's pretty big in the UK, just not here.

So the other day when I was riding my trails (I refer to them as "mine" only because I can ride to them from my doorstep) I heard the distinct sound of a trial bike. I nearly wrecked whirling around to see a trials rider in the flesh. Complete with a trials bike. If you're not familiar with this discipline, you should be. Or, you should at least give it a look so you can respect it more.

My First Gambrill/Shed Ride

I recently went on my very first adventure at Gambrill State Park with Vince, Chris, and Darren. The drive up was interesting. It was completely fogged in which made me really excited. To me, it just brought back memories of living in the mountains so I knew this mountain biking adventure would be more of the real deal.  While following Vince to the parking area I saw a human outline walking alone the side of the road in the mist. As I passed, I saw it was a Monk. No joke, he had robes and everything. I even verified with Vince to make sure I was just not seeing things. 

Our fearless leader, Darren, in the mystic fog

The ride was a blast. Darren was our fearless leader and led us on a great route. Darren also apparently led himself on a epic journey but that was after I bailed to meet up with friends. I was not really sure what to expect. I have heard these trails are very technical. I tend to build stuff up in my head so I was somewhat expecting to completely get my butt kicked. It was very rocky and there were some nice technical climbs and rocky descents which were just great fun. Challenging but not demoralizing. I have a feeling I have not been on the demoralizing trails yet.  I felt like a pinball going down a lot of it. I'm definitely rusty but that kind of stuff is not very forgiving so it makes you get back on the ball fast. A lot of the time I just laughed my butt off at myself. I had a nice hanging endo which thankfully didn't end up as it could have. I also got cracked up because I have forgotten the sounds of mountain biking. What are the sounds of mountain biking? Well, yeah you have brakes squealing and chains rattling and things like that. However, I'm talking about the sounds you hear when you ride last of the people ahead of you in technical rock gardens. It's often something like, "AHHH #$%!" or a tire slipping out on a log or a rock making a BRRAAA noise, or AHHH, and then KAPOW (I'm bringin' out the Batman words) as you crash into forest. I made a lot of noises myself. But it was just seriously funny because most of the time I heard it ahead of me as I was coming into it so I was like, "oh great this might the big one". I was complemented for having no major wrecks but that's just cause these guys have not seen me in action long enough. The thing is, is that I don't crash often, but when I do it's quite spectacular (or I have at least impressed my company that have witnessed them). I don't think I'll disappoint in the future.  

 I'm all about Gambrill. I love the fact that there seems to be some good technical trails that you can get to that does not involve insane climbing (like Pisgah).  I  haven't gotten to ride with a group of mountain bikers in ages. I thank Vince, Darren, and Chris for taking it easy on me and letting me join for such a fun adventure. I can't wait to go again!

Is it Worth it?

I've been asked this question regarding my surgeries a lot. Mainly by physicians and nurses, sometimes other athletes. Most of the time I've just looked at them like they were crazy and answered, "of course". Now, that the dust has settled from the third surgery and I am no better, I was beginning to wonder that very thing. 

Dr. C said he's not ready to give up on me, and for that I'm grateful. For now, I just have to wait. Wait until my body heals more to come up with a new plan.  One cool thing is that I've been prescribed red wine. No joke, I'm suppose to drink red wine at night. Sweet. He also said I should exercise to keep things flowing. 

 I've been on the road bike twice for about an hour each and it was miserable. Riding slow hurts and it makes me not want to ride period. In fact, I had already started to think of other things to pursue. The truth is I'm tired.  I'm tired of surgeries and recoveries and the fire to race and ride is slowly fading. My main concern is just getting back to being able to be active without pain. 

This past weekend I was sitting around and decided to go and spin on some trails. I had not been on my mountain bike in ages. My beat up little body ripped through the woods ("ripping" only occurred on downhills, otherwise I rode at the pace of grass growth) and had fun on all of the obstacles nice people have gone to the trouble of building--Thank you!!. It was a blast. When I got back home I looked down at my watch to see that three hours had gone by. Crazy. Guess that's the power of years of long winter base riding. In that single ride I found what sparked the whole quest to becoming a elite cyclist. Mountain biking is where it all began. 

I have always said that if I was not having fun racing or riding anymore it would be time to quit. I have never gotten tired of racing. Bad weather, having bad days, etc are all part of the game. I figure if I get overly irritated by these things, I need to find a new one to play. I have forgotten the game includes injuries. I would much rather be like the cool kids and have a broken collar bone or something of that nature instead of messed up arteries, but sometimes you don't get a choice.

So I've decided to still fight the good fight. The problem is how do I train while hurting.  The answer is I'm not going to. Instead, I will just ride my bike. I will ride as long, as far, as fast or as slow as I want, when I want.  No more heart rate monitors or power taps (I refuse to become a slave to gadgetry even when training). No offense to roadies, but mountain biking is just way more fun, and when I'm having fun dodging trees I do not notice my leg feeling as bad.  So that's my plan until August when I'll meet back with Dr. C. 

I think more than anything I have been overwhelmed by the amount of encouragement and support people have given me.  Doctors and nurses who have gotten to know me over the past few years and even if they were not "assigned" to me sometimes they would drop by while I was in the hospital to say "hey". Friends I have known forever, friends who I have gotten to know since I have moved up to the mid-Atlantic, a Scottish friend, great cyclists who I have crossed paths with , and the guy with a pair of beautiful green eyes that gives great hugs and lets me whine to him all I want. Thank you all for making sure I don't turn into a crumugeon and instead turn back into the healthy smiley girl who rides her bike fast. 

So has this all been worth it? Yes. Is it still worth pursing? Yes. Is it worth it if in the end it doesn't work out? Absolutely.