Good to Be Back(ish)

I have no exciting DH tales to tell -- no new jumps, no big drops, no rock gardens to crush. Just a girl, a bike, and a rolling cross country trail winding along the river. But the excitement inside myself was enormous. Today I rode on the dirt, on a real trail, for the first time in five weeks since I injured my knee (Bla, bla torn meniscus, bone contusions bla, bla, bla, grade II MCL injury).

I slipped out early this morning without telling anyone. I knew my steadfast companions would join me if I asked, just like they had on the two warm up road rides we took in the past weeks, but I didn't want to hold anyone back not knowing how hard I would be able to push myself. Besides, coming back from an injury is an emotional journey as well as a physical one. I knew I could push myself more mentally in the solitude of the trail -- and I did -- and it felt fantastic. It also felt strange trying to resist the auto-pilot urge to launch off a rock or bunny-hop a rut (albeit it's a mild trail) so I set my sites on trying to avoid the obstacles instead of having fun with them.

(Sunshine on my [bike] makes me happy . . . nod to John Denver).

I'm definitely going to need to work on my strength -- cardio and muscular. Climbing some of those hills was tough. I was instructed to not get out of the saddle too much, but you can't sit down when the terrain is steep and the dirt is loose, so after a little standing climbing, a couple times I had to get off and push the bike. I also couldn't pin it too much around some of the corners because the crouched position made me cringe. But all in all, it was a beautiful start!

On my drive out of the canyon I saw Marianne's and Tina's vehicles parked at the trail head of one of our favorite trails we love to rip and a huge smile spread across my face. I'll be joining you ladies soon, is what I thought. I'll be joining you soon!

kd