Getting my Race Legs Back
I tried to keep my nerves down about this race but when you only race once every 3-weeks, It’s tough to convince yourself that it’s not important. The entire time that I was warming up I just kept reminding myself that it was just for fun but that I should do my best. I got there really early and spent some time getting in a good warm up. I spent a good 15-minutes working myself up-to and out of endurance. Then I started my openers. 5 30-45 second efforts; building with each one. Then I spent 10 more minutes just spinning easy.
It was ladies night which meant the field was large and we had mentored racing. There were a ton of women racing as juniors too. I was nervous but hoped to stay with the pack. We started and immediately I almost get taken out by a 10-14 year old who cuts across the course on the hill. I caught the group but didn’t expect to recover before the next attack. The attacks were plenty and strong but the course made it difficult for anybody to get away.
I felt pretty good and actually covered a strong attack from Tiffany. Annalisa had just covered another attack and I was in great position to grab Tiff’s wheel. As I went by, I heard Anna ask if I had this one. It was a strong attack but I was determined to get on it. I bridged and stuck on her wheel. I knew I should really be working with her to stay away because I knew most of the race consisted of my teammates who wouldn’t chase me down. Still, I thought it was the weenie thing to do.
Just as we got to the top of the hill, Tiffany either gave up on her attack or took a bad line and I saw my chance to redeem myself. I kicked at the top of the hill and did my best to stay away. Again, it’s very difficult because of the downhill. I was caught and found myself back in the pack with two to go.
The last lap came quickly and I was not in a good spot. I needed to move up fast without wasting much energy.  At the start of the race, I hadn’t even considered that I might be contesting the sprint so I was not prepared at all. I knew I needed to be on somebody’s wheel who was strong and who would go early but not too early. I picked one of the juniors. Things were going ok except that it felt like we weren’t sprinting early enough. I just kept seeing the meter markers go by. Then next thing I knew it was 100m and the front folks were going. Kim and Nadia were in the middle of the road and it felt like they had no intention of sprinting. I needed a lane fast! I saw an opening on the outside and took it at full power only to find a lapped rider in my way. It was almost ugly but I managed to break and get around her. I lost at least one position because of it. I took 5th place but there were at least 2-junior women in front of me so I really took about 7th.
I was super happy with the way I covered moved and rode somewhat aggressively. Given everything I’ve been though, I feel much stronger than I expected. There was drama and controversy after the race; but what else is new.
Walters Wedding card
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Silver, Vellum
Ink: Basic Black, Craft Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant
Stamps: To have and to hold
Supplies: Cricut (Essentials:Shift-Accent48 4″ and 3.75″), EE marker, EE ribbon, black brads
I did this card for a friends wedding. I had a few cards that were very similar with this basic design. This one uses Eggplant and silver because purple is their wedding color. My first design used regal rose and black, which I liked better. I would have preferred white brads but I didn’t have any.
First Race of a Second Life, Done!
Well I can now call myself a racer again. I was nervous all day, though I don’t really know what for. I know that I’m very competitive and I think I was worried that I might fall lower on the list of finishers than I had expected. As fate would have it, my white whale showed up tonight. I really shouldn’t have anything against this girl except that she was probably the most competitive non-AFWC out there, she wears a vanderkitten kit that matches her bike, and she sat-on and out sprinted me at ToA last year. Ok, I have beef. So when I saw her, I knew I would be disappointed if I didn’t beat her.
I lined up next to the regular AFWC girls. When we saw how few non-AFWC women there were we decided to just constantly attack to make the race interesting. It got off to a very odd start when a few of the 10-14y boys decided to start in front of us. We finally got passed them and really started moving. Kim was the first to attack and I got on the train. It was hard but not killer. Then one of the juniors attacked and Kim came towards the back with me. This is when things started to get odd. One of the kids up front was treating this like a 100m dash and when he blew, he blew! He was totally in our way going around one of the turns and I just wasn’t willing to risk it. A gap had already formed and this kid just made it worse. I tried to use Kim and Meredith to bridge but when they caught one of the juniors attacked and I couldn’t hold it.
I settled into my race at a pace that was sustainable for the next 25 min. That’s right, I got dropped 5-min into the race. My only goal at this point was not letting VK catch me. Well she did and I could tell she was just sitting on m wheel. At one point I purposely slowed and she came around. At that point the game was on. I knew from ToA that her game was to sit in and then sprint. I knew she wasn’t strong on hills but that she would also be saving her energy for the sprint. I attacked her up the hill a few times but not consistently enough that she would be able to predict what I was going to do. I kept testing her to see where she would break.  I knew it would have to be a hard attack on the hill and that would hurt me too. I wasn’t sure if I should do it on the last lap or the second to last lap. I was worried that if I did it on the last lap I would be too tired to sprint. I thought if I did it on the second to last lap it might tire her out. In the end, I opted for the last lap. She seemed to be recovering just fine over the course of the lap.
We rolled up to the finish line with one to go and I knew we both knew the game. She knew I was going to attack up the hill and I knew she was going to sprint hard. I had let her come up the hill in front of me on that lap because I wanted to gauge how badly the hill was hurting her so she was still in front of me coming up to the finish line. We were about 10-ft away when the leaders passed us and crossed the finish line just in front of us. Our race was done and without even knowing it she had beat me. It was tough to take but I was very proud of my effort. I already can’t wait until next time.
Bike Fit
So after a few weeks of being in pain on the bike due to my back being tight and my shoe not feeling right, I finally booked an appointment for a bike fit. I knew that my position on the bike would need to be adjusted as I developed more strength and flexibility but I didn’t expect to be in so much pain. I decided not to mess around and booked a Retul fit. For somebody who’s totally a numbers person like me, this is the best thing ever. Using little infrared sensors attached to key areas of the body, the camera takes an image of you cycling for 15 seconds. From these images, the computer can calculate all of the key parameters and determine what adjustments should be made. The good news is that my crank length turned out to be perfect. There really wasn’t any bad news in that everything could be fixed but I was very disappointed to find that my handlebars were actually off-center by almost a centimeter!! That seems like a pretty amateur mistake. So the overall changes were a slight adjustment in cleat position, seat moved back about 3mm, seat moved up by probably over a 1cm, and handlebars moved down by 1cm. The change is amazing!
So today I was really looking forward to my first ride on the new fit but the wind today was ridiculous. Something like 30mph wind gusts. I wimped out and went to PH instead. I actually don’t think I can get away with calling PedalHard a cop out given how hard the workouts are. I found that I felt much better on my bike today and felt that I could push more power than I had before. When I did the actual analysis against my last session I don’t’ know that the data actually looked any better but I felt like it was better.
Almost Home – 6 months post accident
The appointment with the surgeon went so well today that I was in and out in 10 minutes. After 3-months, I was greeted by statements of awe at how good I looked. It looked like nothing had ever happened. So now I get to decide if I will spend my one year anniversary of the accident getting my hardware removed. It had seemed that this was over but it appears one of the screws has poked through a little bit more than they thought and might be the cause of the medial pain I’ve been having.
The back-doctor’s office also called to get the final 6-month X-rays. My back feels pretty good but I am concerned about the extreme tightness I have when I ride. the last thing I want to think is that I may never be comfortable on the bike again. I think I just need to spend more time taking care of myself.
New Shoes and New Dog Beds
I knew I was crashing yesterday. I was putting my new cycling shoes together, inserts and cleats and such, while watching office reruns and all of a sudden, I just needed to sleep so badly. I pushed off the need to sleep because I had too much to do, which was probably a really bad idea. I did go to bed on time but still overslept in the morning and I never oversleep. I’ve been training 8-hours a week for 6 weeks straight and, even at lower intensity, that might be pushing it. I’ve also been extremely busy and have not been great about getting 8-hours of sleep every night. Pile on top of that the crap I’ve been putting into my body and it’s a recipe for disaster. My TP goals this week should be to eat better, sleep more, and get a message. The message isn’t going to happen but 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.
Last week I bought the dogs beds. Brian thought it was stupid but now they won’t leave them. Bennett will disappear at night and we’ll find him in bed. Fozzy will eat his breakfast and go out then get right back into bed. He doesn’t even say good-bye to Brian anymore. It’s really freaking adorable. My only complaint is that Fozzy didn’t pick the bed closest to me. I also wonder if they’ll still love them in the summer.
Moving Forward on a New Bike
Today was really daunting. The only upside to the day was that I did my last physical therapy session until my follow-u pin 4-weeks when I will likely graduate. Things still aren’t perfect though and I know I have alot of work to do on my own. Even as my therapist was telling me how great I was doing I kept thinking that she didn’t know what I was capable of before the accident.
The sun came out today for the first time in eight days. As I was driving home, I was thinking about how I would actually ride my bike tomorrow; on open roads. I’m not afraid of riding in traffic but I am a little afraid to go out on my own again. I don’t think it’s because I’m afraid of getting hit (though I’d be naive if I thought those feelings weren’t there). I feel like I just afraid it won’t be the same. That I won’t be fast and I won’t love it. That I’ll find something wrong with my bike. There are a million what ifs and I’m afraid of all of them right now. I’m afraid of hurting myself or not being able to make it home. I’m afraid because I just don’t know.
Frustrations of a Shorty
I have always been incredibly short. This may seem obvious but some people start out fine and just stop growing early. Not me, I always looked like I was two years younger than everybody my age. Still, I never wanted my height to limit me in any way. I worked to make sure I could do everything the other kids could do; sometimes even better. In fact, I’m pretty sure “no, I can do it†were among my first words.
The first limitation I ran into was in middle school when all the other girls stopped buying clothes from the kids department and started shopping in juniors. I just couldn’t make the clothes fit. This was around the time that alternative music was making it big so for a few years I got away with wearing oversized everything and not looking too strange. There were a few daunting years that followed while I was in college. Then, as if my prayers were answered, petite stores of the major brands started popping up everywhere. Even though it was a huge step in the right direction, I had to be a little disappointed that petite clothing was designed for women 5’3†and smaller. Really? The average height of women in the US is 5’4†and based on those same statistics 40% of the US population of women are 5’3″ or shorter. I suppose that we should all just aspire to be taller? Although my options are still limited, this is one battle I no longer have to contend with.
Then I started cycling. My first bike was a total cheap beginner road bike with women specific geometry. It was great for a first bike but I out grew it (* small chuckle at my short joke *) in one year. My second bike was the smallest women specific geometry bike that I could find in 700c wheels. At the time, I felt it was very important that I have the same wheels as everybody else. No limitations, right? It was a great bike for the first year or so but then I started to notice limitation with my fit. There were whole muscle groups that were never engaged when I was riding and my handlebars were much higher compared to my seat than everybody else. I felt like I did trying to fit into the latest fashions that just didn’t fit. In September, my bike frame was crashed hard and I needed to get a new bike. I was excited about the opportunity to upgrade. It never occurred to me that selections would be limited. After all, 40% of women are 5’3†or less.
It’s difficult to explain how frustrating this time was for me without recounting every step I took in my bike search. If you find this lengthy reading frustrating then you understand a fraction of what I felt. Early on, I had my eye on one bike. I really hadn’t lined up a plan B because I remembered riding an XS Madone 3 years earlier and assumed that would be my plan B. My first mistake was not taking the measurements of my old bike before I got rid of it. We based everything off of the measurements listed on the website… which were completely wrong. My plan A bike didn’t fit at all. Second, the Madone isn’t even made in an XS frame anymore. This theme carried over to almost every manufacturer I looked at. I started to realize that the XS frames weren’t made for racing because the geometry just didn’t work. I would *have* to go to 650c wheels to get the geometry I wanted. This realization was hard enough. I hated the idea of being different but research told me that it was the only way to go. Most information pointed to 5’2†being the point at which one should consider 650c wheels and I’m 4†shorter than that.
So my search for a 650c race bike started. I first checked out the tri stores because the rumor was that they love 650 wheels. I found a Felt frame that looked perfect. It looked like everything was going to work out. However, even though the frame was listed in the catalog, they hadn’t actually made any of them and didn’t have an expected date when they would. What!! Their closeout list indicated that every 650c frame from the previous year had sold so what’s the hold up? I started to panic.
A friend tipped me off that another bike shop in the area had 650c frames in stock in the store. These Orbea bikes were not race bikes but it turned out they could order a race frame no problem. Hope! The down side; Orbea also decided not to continue the 650c line. We would be ordering 2009 or 2010 frames! Still, it was the best option I’d found for getting a new bike. We started the fit process on the frame they had in house and early on in the process they tell me I need smaller cranks because the 165 cranks are too long. 165mm is the smallest size that any of the major crankset manufacturers offer so I was looking at replacing the 165mm crank arms with BMX crank arms. I have an inseam of just over 27in and according to most sites; this means I should be using either 150mm or 155mm cranks. I really struggled with the idea of modifying my setup, though changing crank arms seemed innocuous enough, I did have a little “brand name” breakdown. That was until I found out the largest gear I could use with it was a 52-tooth chainring. With the smaller wheels, this would seriously reduce my low-gear rollout; from 101cm/rev to 92cm/rev to be exact. Even though I knew I didn’t use the 53/11 combo often, I had needed it at times and the thought of giving it up was extremely upsetting. I started researching and every table I found regarding crank arm length indicated that 30″ inseam was the starting point for 165mm crank arms.
At this point I had a serious breakdown about my height unlike anything since buying clothing in high school. I found myself rehashing the same arguments that I had for clothing lines. How can companies ignore such a large part of the population? I wonder if other shorties out there are as frustrated as I am. I’ve heard arguments that shorter crank arms haven’t caught on because “size matters” or because there aren’t enough women in cycling to make it worth it. I think both of these arguments are insane. While I’m very upset about having to compromise, I’m equally as thrilled that there are still people who know the shorties need some attention. Maybe there will be a huge shift in the industry in the next few years as people realize their bikes don’t fit. I can only hope.
First Signs of Normalcy
It always seems that I lose my desire to write when important things happen. Monday I started walking, completely. I had been sort of hobbling here and there for short distances but always with the hesitation that I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to be. When I saw the surgeon on Monday he was adamant that I start walking and get back to normal. It was amazing to hear and, just like that, I was walking. It seems like since then everything has progressed very quickly. My PT did another evaluation and this one showed that in 1-week, my squat tolerance increased by 50%. She pushed me pretty hard yesterday and today I’m actually sore like I worked out.
I had planned to meet Sheri at the gym today but when I got there, I wasn’t really sure what to do. We got on the spin bikes for a while but I really don’t like the way those spin bikes fit so we didn’t stay on that long. I didn’t want to do any leg press because I was so sore from yesterday and I felt really stupid doing balance stuff that I could have done in my office. In the end, I walked around and did almost nothing. Probably the best part was the half a mile walk to and from the gym. It’s easier to say it’s going to be baby steps than it is to understand what that means.
Holiday Party and More Rehab Stuff
On Friday Brian and I attended my company’s holiday party. The theme was “The Roaring 20’sâ€. I was so excited I actually bought a dress for it. We sat with my team this year which was good. I have kind of avoided them in the past because I haven’t felt like forming relationships with them but this year I felt like I could bridge that personal barrier. The wives were all really cool and it made me feel even better that we sat there. We ended up leaving early because Brian didn’t want to stay and I couldn’t exactly do much.
Over the weekend I upped my game on the spin bike. I was supposed to limit myself to 45min of spinning a day. She had recommended 15-min 3-times a day but I wanted to do 4-times a day. I told her I was doing 11-min 4-times a day and she recommended that I do 15-min 3-times a day then move to 18-min 3-times a day. Since I was actually already doing 15-min 4-times a day, I upped it to 20-min 4-times a day. This might have been pushing it, but I always looked for signs and I did slow down or make it easier if I needed to.
Tomorrow I see the ortho again and I’m going to push for an MRI. I’m really concerned that if I have an MCL tear, I could be in rehab for it for a long time when prolotherepy is an option. I’m also really concerned that my knee is clicking too much. She keeps saying this will go away as I get stronger but I can’t get stronger because my knee clicks anytime I try to do anything. I’m very frustrated.