Monday, August 31, 2009

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

1 comment:

  1. Yea Kirstie! Congratulations! You go girl! Tina and I can't wait to ride with you in our canyon. We did our regular loop today on each others' bikes. Tina kicked my butt riding my bike and she offered to ride behind me. I said, do you know what kind of handicap I need for you to ride behind me? If you show up on a road bike and want to ride Stonewall, Rocky and the Confluence Trail, then you may ride behind me! Our bikes feel compatible now with my new brakes, wheels and fork. Next time, at least join us for a swim.

    ReplyDelete