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!