An abrupt change from freezing rain and snow to bright, sunny warm weather brings road cycling to life. Ankle is recovering fast, and biking is once again the right physical therapy for my injury.
After three weeks of painful swollen isolation and immobility, the ankle was seen first by an Orthopedic PA. He recommended continued cast and future of more immobilization in cast after three more weeks. The next day my ART Chiropractor told me to throw the cast away and start using it. Guess whose advise I followed!
From that point on I started to ride the bike without the cast. After riding the mountain bike with the cast, it was a pleasure to bike without it. Icing afterwards reduces any pain and swelling and the mobility of the joint is greater each day. Twice a week ART sessions are loosening up pulled muscles up into the calf and direct manipulation of the tendons in the ankle are providing greater and greater use of the joint.
With the beautiful weather Donna and I have been getting in 20 to 22 mile rides in every day. It is just the right amount of work to get a base to start getting back into shape. My Cannondale needed a bottom bracket service, so I put the Cane Creek Aerohead wheelset on the Lemond Cross bike and it rides beautifully on the road. We enjoyed rides from Salem back to home after watching the Tour of Battenkill road race and other rides around Greenwich.
With both my schedule and the weather cooperating, my injured ankle is healing enough to get me out and riding again.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Ankle Becomes Anchor
Ankle is not recovering as quickly as anticipated. Great weather and opportunities for riding and racing are passing by while I am immobilized.
Pictures in the previous blog entry show the ankle the day after the event. One week later and it still looked and felt the same. The week following the injury I drove Donna's car across NY doing customer meetings until returning on Friday. I sat down in front of most audiences, so I minimized the swelling as much as possible. But, it was not looking good at the end of the week. On the weekend I had it elevated and iced both days. By Sunday night it was still looking pretty much as it was the day after. I decided to cancel a scheduled trip to Maine. The 6+ hour ride in the car each way, plus doing the meetings on a farm, was not going to help.
I got an appointment with a orthopedic PA and after his exam and more X-Rays, I was in a removable walking cast. He said it would take about six weeks to get the significant soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, muscle) to heal properly. With the cast I can walk (gimp) around without doing more damage. I still need to elevate and ice as much as possible. So, I sent out notice that I will not be going to farms and traveling as little as possible to do meetings and then only in hotel meeting rooms.
Around this same time I got an eMail from the organizers of the Tour of Battenkill race. My waiting list status for the Cat 5 +45 division has been elevated, so I can now register for the race. Great! Just as I became eligible to ride in the largest bicycle race in the US, held right outside my door in just a few weeks, I became UNABLE to ride! Also, the weather has been clear and sunny and warmer so both the snowboarding conditions on Killington and the road riding conditions at home have become spectacular.
Training for, and riding in, California in February was supposed to get and keep me fitter over the winter, along with regular spinning and snowboarding. It worked, I am in good shape. But now the challenge is to maintain the condition I have as best I can. I have been doing callistetics, weights and even rode on the mountain bike while Donna ran. It will not be ideal, but I will work at it so when the anchor comes off, I will be ready to set sail and ride.
Pictures in the previous blog entry show the ankle the day after the event. One week later and it still looked and felt the same. The week following the injury I drove Donna's car across NY doing customer meetings until returning on Friday. I sat down in front of most audiences, so I minimized the swelling as much as possible. But, it was not looking good at the end of the week. On the weekend I had it elevated and iced both days. By Sunday night it was still looking pretty much as it was the day after. I decided to cancel a scheduled trip to Maine. The 6+ hour ride in the car each way, plus doing the meetings on a farm, was not going to help.
I got an appointment with a orthopedic PA and after his exam and more X-Rays, I was in a removable walking cast. He said it would take about six weeks to get the significant soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, muscle) to heal properly. With the cast I can walk (gimp) around without doing more damage. I still need to elevate and ice as much as possible. So, I sent out notice that I will not be going to farms and traveling as little as possible to do meetings and then only in hotel meeting rooms.
Around this same time I got an eMail from the organizers of the Tour of Battenkill race. My waiting list status for the Cat 5 +45 division has been elevated, so I can now register for the race. Great! Just as I became eligible to ride in the largest bicycle race in the US, held right outside my door in just a few weeks, I became UNABLE to ride! Also, the weather has been clear and sunny and warmer so both the snowboarding conditions on Killington and the road riding conditions at home have become spectacular.
Training for, and riding in, California in February was supposed to get and keep me fitter over the winter, along with regular spinning and snowboarding. It worked, I am in good shape. But now the challenge is to maintain the condition I have as best I can. I have been doing callistetics, weights and even rode on the mountain bike while Donna ran. It will not be ideal, but I will work at it so when the anchor comes off, I will be ready to set sail and ride.
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