Back on the Bike

Yesterday, I was back out on the road on my bike, for the first time since the accident five weeks ago. People are asking me: Why so soon? How did it feel? Does your doctor know? Are you insane?

We'll get to that... but first, what matters as much...

The things I missed...

  • The wind in my face.

  • The resistance in my legs as I push against their will, the feeling of accomplishment when I win the battle, and the energy drain when they triumph, followed by the resolve to win the next one.

  • The subtle jump ahead that the bike makes on a strong downstroke.

  • Launching from a standstill through the left-right swaying rhythm of a large-gear acceleration into an effortless, quiet cruise.

  • Racing to beat the yellow light.

  • The songs of the birds in the passing woods, dopplering in pitch as I speed past.

  • The intense gravity as I lean into and through a tight turn.

  • The camaraderie and competition of the cycling group.

  • Latching onto someone's wheel and feeling the grasp of the wind fade away.

  • The effortless shifting to match cadence to power to slope to speed to available energy, then the push to go just a little harder.

  • The world spinning slowly past with continually changing scenery in the beautiful rolling woods & fields of the countryside.

  • The mental engagement of handling the bike and being one with the road while anticipating the next surprise around the corner - a car, a runner, a pothole, a hill, an amazing view.

  • That feeling of being dropped... again.

  • The triumph of a hill overcome with grace, a descent flown at speed, a journey, a small adventure taken from time borrowed from the otherwise lost morning hours of a weekend.

  • The shared experience with like-minded friends.

Training in a garage: not quite the same.

Learnings...

Now... how was it actually to be back on a bike while nursing injuries? What I noticed:

  • Clavicle: no problems, no pain, no issues. No impact on riding from shoulder issues.

  • Ribs: definitely impacting my breathing when I'm in zone 4 & 5... hurting on climbs and strong accelerations when I need upper body strength as well as legs.

  • Power & endurance: much lower than before the accident. Five weeks off, even with training in the garage, has a huge impact. Energy going into recovery and healing has an even greater one, I would guess. I seem to have almost normal power at the beginning of an effort, but I can't sustain it for very long, and recovery takes much longer than before. My head says, "oh I can just race up this hill", and then my body says, "ha".

  • Cramping. Much earlier than before - muscles are not used to being pushed in this way anymore.

  • Riding in the drops. Ouch.

  • No particular mental issues with crashing, corners, group riding, or anything else, except:

  • I cannot seem to take just one hand off the handlebars for anything. Drinking. Wiping sweat off my forehead. Getting a gel. Anything... this will be interesting to work through.

  • Today - the day after the ride, I was much more tired than usual: had to take a nap to get through the day. This may be in part related to recent travel and minor jet lag - not sure yet.

Next

So, physically, what's going on? Why am I out of the house? Is this "approved"?

I've felt pretty good when training in the garage. I haven't had any serious pain or mobility issues in a while. The Pan Mass Challenge is coming up, and I really want to ride that, if at all possible to do safely, because it's been a huge goal for this year. But it would be nuts to just do the 192 mile ride cold turkey - I need to see what it's like to be out, to know the risks and reality, and need to build up at least some stamina. So I decided to try being on a bike on the road to see how it worked out. My results are above. In other words - I think I can ride without adverse impact on my health, as long as I'm being particularly careful and more conservative than before the wipeout.

I'm going to talk to my doctor this week to get his take on things. I expect that the main issue is this: if I crash before my bones have fully healed, repairing them and the subsequent recovery will be much worse than before. That's a pretty serious issue. We'll see what he says and what I do. And yes, I have trouble following direct orders... but as I said to my wife... I'm crazy, but not stupid. So I'll factor that in and then modify my biking plans accordingly.

But in the meantime... it sure is great to be back out.