What happened to 2012?

Had some free time today waiting for Donna to get treated at the ER at Glens Falls Hospital. A cornea abrasion from a sharp pointy object that greeted her in the morning. So, using my iPhone in the waiting area I opened up Blogger and did some posts. Later in the day I was editing and started reading some. Good to revisit the past and reflect. I noticed the gaps, and one really big one, like the whole of 2012. So, filling some gaps and adding keywords and pictures is now a goal, along with, keeping up with ongoing entries.

2012 - an attempt at recalling events with some accuracy!

shoulder dominates

On December 23, 2011, nearly one year to the day out from my BTKR surgery I went for my second snowboard session at Killington. The first and second days were great. I was bending and carving and compressing and it was fantastic to be riding again on new legs. I stopped for a break at 2 but decided to walk over to the Superstar chair for a few more runs. As I put down the board and lifted my one leg to get into the binding, the other boot skidded out from under me sliding on sugar snow over hard ice. I went down with all my weight on the right shoulder. Instant blinding pain shot into my brain and any attempt to move my arm resulted in the same. I was down for awhile and people were checking on me. Finally I made it back to the car. I was in trouble. Had to drive home without moving my right arm. I stubbornly refused to get X-rays or treatment hoping it would get better with rest, ice and ibuprofen. Finally I went to Donato and he couldn't do a thing. I waited until after I completed a  Conference I was in charge of at work, but then got into a surgeon for MRI. Bad news. Complete tears of 3 of 4 rotator cuff tendons, plus bicep tendon was totally torn out of the insertion of the humorous. OS this time was young and confident. He did a great job with my surgery on February 23, 2012. Needless to say my riding activities from late December 2011 to now were non existent. Now it's rehab and recovery time again. 

It would be mid May before I could do much riding. Even stationary bike put pressure on the recovering shoulder. I did 2x per week PT plus every other day at home PT to get the shoulder back.  By mid June I could ride the road bike pretty well but lacked endurance. It was hard to keep weight down but I did through controlling intake not burning calories. The last week of June we had a family vacation in Puerto Rico and I was bound and determined to not be fat AND to ride a surf board. 

My knees were doing well but I did have some scar tissue in my right knee that was keeping me from correctly firing muscles in that leg when standing and pedaling up hills. It was very frustrating.  I had goals on the bike of completing the a couple of Century Rides in September: the club century and a MS Century which included a climb up Notch Road to the summit of Greylock. 

The week in PR WAS FANTASTIC! No riding but lots of time in the water, salt water. SNORKLING, body surfing and walking plus resting and relaxing were great. Lisa, Alix and Donna and I had lots if fun exploring the countryside as well. Our day on the surfboard was fantastic. Beautifully formed , small waves were perfect for learning. We all got standing pretty quickly. It was as much as a rush as I thought it would be, confirming why I did not take up the sport earlier: I would be a total surf bum!!  

The time my leg spent in salt water, plus the abrasion of the board on my knee resulted in the scar tissue coming up to the surface of the skin. Eventually I was able to remove it!!  My shoulder took a setback from the paddling, but that would recover. The big deal was that now my right knee was not short circuiting the leg muscles and they fired correctly I discovered on my first ride when we returned. 

The Century rides were completed. Not just completed but done to total satisfaction as I was able to train well so I could ride well and finish strong. The two of the most enjoyable 100 milers of my life.   The club ride was in great weather and I joined up with a younger group. I was able to drop them and was joined by Bruce who was out there looking for me. The MS ride is one i long wanted to do for a customer whose wife suffers from the disease. Terry, Caleb and I rode together and that was special as I got them stated in cycling and now they excel at it. They had to slow so I could stay with them, but my goal was to not have that be too slow and it was not. 

Killington Payoff. Mid November 2012 to mid April 2013.

After two years of investing in Killington Express Cards and not getting to use them more than twice each year, 2012/13 provides a return on the investment. 

Total knee replacements one year and shoulder repair the next wiped out my snowboarding. This season the weather and my body cooperated. Lots of snow early and deep into spring allowed me to get rides into late April. I could have done more but I needed to train for the Battenkill so cut it off. The final day was fantastic top to bottom K1 over to Cascade and Lower East Fall and Canyon. Chute and mouse trap were also good ways down. 

So, for the season, the Killington riding along with the Tahoe Trip and a day at Stowe with Jon T that was on fresh Ten Inches of powder, riding snowboard was best yet.

 Pretty sweet after two disappointing seasons. 

Reno Rides. March 3&4, 2013

Tale of two experiences. 

Northstar. Solo, wet, trees.   

Heavenly. With two friends. Bluebird. Fresh pow. 

Northstar. Started off morning at McD and almost called it off. Fifty degrees and pouring rain. Decided to make the drive up at least. Listened to a radio doc talk about heart issues with diet and exercise - foreshadowing?  Kept going despite no change in conditions. Parked car and got dressed and on the shuttle bus. About half way up the gondola from the village to the base rain turned to large globs of snow. Up the first lift and snow was coming down hard and wet. First run on front side EXCELLENT.  Deep carveable snow that wasn't too sluggish. Did several runs over by the black diamond chutes before moving to the backside. BACKSIDE!!!  Better than the last time I was there. No people, steep black runs, great deep floaty but heavy snow. Third time down I decided to venture into the trees. Best tree experience I have ever had!! Got into the groove of not thinking about turns just picking lines through the trees. Dropped off an eight foot ledge onto a crossover which scared me at first but excited me after!  Legs finally gave in before I was ready to, but needed to save something for Heavenly tomorrow. Changed and dried off at car. Drove down to Truckee and had a spinach avocado omelette.

Heavenly. Yesterday's wet snow on the north side of Tahoe turned out to be a powder dump on the south side. Met up with Ian and Bennet and dropped my car at the airport. Another McD breakfast on drive down. Never been on this side of the lake and marveled at the scenery. Long wait to get first gondola up out of the village. At mid-station, walk to second lift at altitude took its toll. Elevation yielded powder but took lots of oxygen out of the air. We spread ourselves all over the place on each side of the state line so wound up doing lots of traversing instead of shreading. Mostly blues too which is what happens when ridin with others so enjoyed the benefits, which were lots of laughs and shared experiences. After a lunch break I got my board locked but not unlocked. After getting them cut free joined up with the guys again. Ian's legs were done so just Bennet and I for the rest of the day. We ventured up to the 10k peak and did some blacks and trees. As the sun got lower the powder froze up, but we did find areas where it stayed soft. Another great day on the board. 

Hard to return and attend conference for next three days.  Killington would have lots to live up to now. And turns out it did and then some!

Up and Ridn

Back was pretty well healed soon after Donato visit, so riding resumed when work and traveling allowed.

At least 5 to 7 high quality stationary bike rides in the cellar help to keep the heart, lungs and muscles from wasting away too badly during the time since my last post.  Traveling to Minnesota and Arizona one week and Austin, TX another week certainly put a cramp on the quantity of workouts.  I did manage to bring the Sufferfest videos on my IPad so got some of those in at motels.

Have been to Killington three times since the last post so it is shaping up to be a good year on the board.  Conditions have been good, with lots of loose snow on top of hard pack.  Weather has not been too cold.  Last Sunday was a challenge to see in the fog, but good practice to adjust by feel.  Got a couple more snowshoe hikes up Murdock Mtn in the backyard as well.

Will be leaving this Saturday for a conference in Reno, but arriving a couple of days ahead of it to snowboard at Northstar and Heavenly.  Should be a good time! 

Temporary SetBACK

Cold, really COLD temperatures dominate and a setBACK occurs.

Single digits were to be heading our way and the wood supply on the back porch was getting to be minimal. No worries, while Donna was away Sunday I would cut up a stack of firewood we had for the old outdoor wood furnace. I have to take each split log and cut it in half, then haul them by wheel barrel to the back porch and dump them to be taken up and stacked later. Each wheel barrel load represents a full day of heat for the house on a really cold day.

I started off well, but soon my right lower lumbar and tight IT band where barking. Ignoring the pain and pushing through is often my downfall when it comes to my body. I wanted to complete at least the one stack, which turned out to be 12 wheel barrels, or 12 really cold days, worth. I pressed on as the pain got worse. Having had this before and recovered I was not too worried.

As it turns out I did not recover well. A trip to Donato was needed along with a forced period of inactivity that is why I am writing in the blog instead of riding the snowboard this Sunday. As a side benefit the inactivity allowed me to buy and play with my new iPad mini which is a great way to post now, so I may be more apt to keep posting now.

Hopefully I will soon be BACK to riding snow or bikes soon as this morning the back is feeling much better. Enough that i am very tempted to ride or hike something today since the sun is shinning and it has warmed up to 11 degrees!

Snow Comes and Goes and Comes Again.

January can offer a very varied menu for ridn.  January road rides during "thaws", ice biking when frozen, basement Cyclops sessions, and snowboarding.  Recently added another entree: snowshoeing.

Basement riding on the Cyclops was / is a challenge of the mind more than the body.  I tried to create some excitement enticement to get more done in winter training.  I bought some videos from SufferFest which are very good at making you work hard and have fun following real race footage.  The intervals that result are excellent for getting the most out of the stationary trainer.  I used to just do an hour playlist and did hills and time trials according to the song.  This is better.  I tried to make the basement more comfortable, but not having the outdoor wood furnace heating it down there, it became colder - 50's and lower on really cold days.  

I have not even put the studded tires on the mountain bike yet.  Instead I tried Donna's snowshoes and really liked it!  One walk was on about 14 inches of fresh snow and the sun was out and the air in the teens.  It was great!  I walked to the top of Murdock Mtn in our backyard - about 3 or 4 miles of breaking trail was a great workout and I loved the fact that you can float over all the rough terrain.  A week later I did the same track and it was just as much fun.  As a result, I bought a pair of my own, so now Donna and I can go together.  Since then the snow has melted off.  Before it was all gone, but with enough to still enjoy we hiked on regular shoes with the dogs across the street.  Another great walk in the woods, which by the way, would have been totally impossivble without my NEW KNEES.

A road ride at lunch on Monday with the temperature in the low 50's and sun out was great fun and I got to see if the intervals were helping.  They are because I hit a MAX heart rate of 172 going up and over Coregy Hill, which is an elevation of my max HR from 160's.  I need to keep going down stairs and doing the intervals.  

Snowboarding is so much fun!  I did a couple of Killington days early in the year when the terrain was limited.  Also, did a night ride with Alix, Scott, Donna at West Mountain on New Years Eve.  These were fun, but not full out blasts of snowboarding bliss.  Last Wednesday I had a business meeting in Rutland, VT.  It snowed all day and it drove me nuts knowing how good it was just a few miles away.  So, the next day I did some work early, did a conference call and quickly packed the gear and took off for Killington.  I got there at 11 and had a blast covering west to east, Ramshead to Bear.  Cruise Control was a flat out twisty bomb for 1.4 miles that I did four times in a row towards the end.  Conditions were great for carving and playing on the edges in the 6 inches of powder that accumulated there.  I tracked the day with both my Garmin bike computer in my pocket and a new App for the iPhone, so I have the stats, and can "relive" the runs on Google Earth, which is pretty cool.  

Today Donna and I will do something outside, but at this time in the morning, I don't know which entree will be chosen!

January Lunch Ride

Sun came out and a long absence from road riding was broken.

Felt great to be out on the road. Took the Cannondale due to sloppy roads and enjoyed the ride. Any time you have ice fisherman as spectators and you are not freezing, it's a great ride.

iPhone app for blogging

May resurrect RuppRidn !

We shall see.

Took this great sunrise photo on rt 11 at Broomley on way over to Mile Barrets.