Tour Davita: The Aftermath

While on the tour this year my knee started to give me problems. If not for the encouragement from my team I never would have made it. On the last day of the ride my right leg was almost useless. Pushing down on the pedal when going up any hill was extremely painful. The pain in the knee continued even after the tour so I had to go to the doctor to see what was going on.

After x-rays and a MRI the problem was identified. I tore the medial meniscus. There was edema and fluid collection with slight swelling and degenerative changes as well. I opted for conservative therapy. I had my first steroid injection and the knee is feeling better all ready. I have a second injection scheduled for December and I hope it will be the last that I need.

I hope to be back on my bike this weekend and see how it holds up.

Tour DaVita 2011: The Glory

The tour was awesome as usual! Backroads did an excellent job on the route and the camp sites. The food was catered out this year. I was rather disappointed with breakfast and most dinners but lunch on the road was always good.

Day 1: The bus pulled into the beautiful park like setting of Butternut Ski resort. I checked in and made my way to the bike line. Backroads fit me for a bike and adjust my helmet. I then make my way to the tents. Same as always, two people per tent. I am nervous about sharing my space with someone I have never met. I pick a side and set my things out for the ride the next day before I go out exploring the grounds. I met up with the Lifeline Vascular Access team for dinner. Then it was back to the tent for a night of sleep.

Day 2: There were two options for the ride today. The basic option was a short 53 mile ride and the long option was a formidable 86 miles. I started off with the mind set to save my self for the century ride. I arrived to lunch by 11 o'clock so made the decision to do the long ride, The country side was beautiful. The trees looked like they were trying to decide if they would start changing colors. I had a flock of wild turkeys cross the road in front of me along the way. The hills were a real challenge for me. It was just one hill after another. I did make it all the way to the finish line but my right knee was was killing me. It was dinner and bed.

Day 3: 76 mile ride for the day. The day starts off with a very long up hill segment. About 13 miles to be more exact. Not all at once but just one after another after. When lunch rolled around my knee was done and I was ready to quit for the day. My teammates encouraged me to continue so I looked for a wrap for my knee. Backroads helped me out once again with a bandage wrap. Not quite an ace but it did apply a little compression. We headed back out on the road and I was able to finish out the day. Once again it was dinner and bed. I slept much better this night as I was so exhausted.

Day 4: I have been on two other Tours and I have not been able to complete the long ride. I was not sure I had it in me to finish this ride again. The morning started off with the sound of rain hitting the tent. It was going to be one of those days. I had to make the decision by mile 53. That is where the ride split. One way was the century mile ride and the other was the century kilometer ride. Once again my teammates encouraged me to push myself like I have never pushed my self before. This day was no different than the previous 2 with regards to the hills they just kept coming. My knee was starting to hurt even more than the previous day. We finally made it to the coast line where the ride would be more or less flat. However the wind off the Atlantic ocean was very strong and of course it was a head wind. I think I would much rather have hills than a head wind. With a hill you know where the top is and the reward is the down hill. I sent my team on ahead as they will pull you off the road when it gets dark and I didn't want to be the cause of them not finishing. I road the last 8 miles on my own. I just kept pushing down on those pedals and moving forward. Then blast it all if there wasn't another hill thrown in before the end. I almost lost it right there. But then the Backroads van drove by and shouted words of encouragement. I finally made it to the turn into the camp grounds and tears welded up from my eyes. "I made it!" I kept saying to myself. As I crossed the finish line and there were so many people there to cheer me on. I am so thankful for the words of encouragement that not only came from my team but also from people that I didn't even know. This was truly an experience that I will never forget.

Reflecting back on the ride and all the miles that were logged on this tour it is quite a feat. We rode our bikes from one side of Connecticut to the Atlantic ocean. On the first day we rode through three states, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut.

WOW! What a ride. I can't wait until next year. Hear tell it will be in Denver.

Tour Training

I did a 38 mile training ride this morning. We were on the trail at 0630. It was still dark but it was nice and cool. The small animals were on the move with the cool weather. I almost ran over several different critters. I was concerned because I didn't want to swerve to miss and ride off the trail but I didn't want to hit the animals either.

I had visions of being laid up in the hospital with broken bones and such. I started to have poems run through my head about the incident. I was on my bike and hit a squirrel and to the ground I did hurl. Besides the squirrels, there were several lizards, red birds and field rats that crossed my path.

It is because of these incidents that i have decided to make that my last long training ride before the tour. The evening rides are not as bad with the critters. I only have to worry about the heat. Due to the heat I will be keeping the rides to 14 miles max.

My Tour DaVita 2011:in training

It is hard to believe that another year has passed and it is that time again. I look forward to September as I do Christmas. It is time for the annual Tour DaVita. This year the tour is in beautiful Connecticut. If I have my way the weather will be cool but more importantly, dry. Last year in Washington State it rain most of the time we were there. The weather broke on the final day and we were able to see the mountain. I still had a lot of fun and enjoyed talking to teammates from all over the states.

This year I am going to push myself to do the century ride. On the third day of the tour we are giving the option to do a 100 mile ride. I have not been up to the challenge in the past tours but I am training hard this year. I have been doing daily 14 mile rides and then this last weekend did a 50 mile ride. I know it doesn't sound like much but I am training on a mountain bike. Not to mention that the temperature has been triple digits for just about the last month. I was able to do the 50 mile ride in less than 5 hours and the temperature was 94 when we finished.

I will continue to do the short 14 mile rides during the week but I think I will hold off on the long rides due to the extreme heat. I think I will keep it under 30 miles a day on the weekends. That should be three hours in the saddle, more than enough to toughen the skin for the tour.

Last year my camera bit the dust due to the wet weather. I kept it under my wet weather gear but the rain was such that it soaked though the gear. I hope to have a new camera to take with me so I can capture all the memories. So check back after September for a follow up on how well I did and I hope to have some pictures posted.

Pants on the ground

The weather here has been beautiful! The temperature is getting into the 70 and low 80 degrees. I have made it a point to continue my evening walks during the week and morning walks on the weekend. While on my walk this afternoon I learned a valuable lesson. I need to either wear a belt or buy smaller short pants. I was walking and my pants ended up down by me knees. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been going commando! Just kidding! I was wearing underwear but is was still embarrassing. I kept looking around for something that I could use to hold them up. At mile 2 I found a caution tape that was put up for construction so I used a piece to hold my pants up. I was able to complete my 5 miles. I will be better prepared next time.

The trails are so nice this time of year. The trees are just getting their leaves.There are so many different shades of green going on. Some of the trees that bloom are in bloom and add a splash of color. The other thing that I like is the smell of honey. The agarita plants are in bloom and the smell great! I love this time.

Now that my blood pressure and cholesterol are under control it is time to start back with the blood donations. I have an appointment this Saturday morning. I donate at 0700 and hope to be out on the trail by 9:30. I want to get in a 10 mile walk on Saturday and shoot for a half marathon on Sunday. Or maybe see about getting the bike out and taking it for a spin. Either way it will be a great weekend to be outside.

Let the summer fun begin!

Community service

I spent my morning picking up trash from the local park today. It was part of a community service project to clean up the parks. We were assigned to clean up the Bandera road area of the Leon Creek Greenway park. There was so much trash!. I was amazed at just how much we picked up. Our group picked up over 25 lawn bags. I took my daughter Ashley with me. We walked and picked up trash together but more importantly we spent time together. It is these small moments that I treasure. I picked up 5 of the bags of trash that were collected by the group. Ashley told me that I am such an over achiever. I told her that I would rather be known as an over achiever than a slacker any day.

This is just one of the community service projects that we do together. We have spent several days with Habitat for Humanity. I think it is a win win situation. The community gets help and I get to spend time with my kids and instill my values. I can't help but think that I get the most benefit. I know that my kids don't think they are benefiting now but in the years ahead I hope that they will.

I said. I did.

I had made the comment yesterday that if I get an early start on my morning walk I would do 20 miles. Well this morning I was on the trail at 0730. I just reached my 5 mile mark when I remembered what I had said. As I was walking back toward the car I said to myself "What were you thinking?" When I got to the parking lot I opened my car and grabbed my banana and my water and headed back out on the trail. As I passed each mile marker I would say "I said. I did." I kept pushing on and at mile 15 I hit the wall. I made the first 10 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes. The next 10 miles was 2 hours and 17 minutes. By the time I was back to the car I was ready to collapse. I sat down and exclaimed "I said. I did."

Then I was thinking, why did I do that. No body would know what I had said the day before. No body would care that I did or didn't do it. But I would know. And it was that important to me. So that has become my motto for the new year. "I said. I did."

Go for the glory

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it. Mohandas Gandhi

I was reading the quote feed on my blog and I read the quote from Gandhi "you must be the change you want to see in the world". I love that quote from him. So I went in search of more writings from Gandhi and this one made me think about New Years day. As we move into the New Year we make our resolutions. These are our goals for the coming year. The most common resolution is to loose weight. So many of us start off strong and then become discouraged because things are not going as planned. And so you give up trying. There is no longer an attempt and you loose self confidence. Don't give up. Go for the glory.