Cycling to Snowboarding in November. Not often is it warm enough for the former, or snowy and cold enough for the later. My knees are healing up just in time to enjoy the great weather of November 2011! At just over 10 months old, the knees are stiff, but not swelling much these days and activity now seems to loosen and strengthen my knew joints.
Early snow melted off in the lower lying lands, but stayed put up high on Killington. Snow making was possible so they have a 24 inch base to work with. Killington has committed to early skiing and riding by creating a way to get to the high peak and then download on the gondola over the yet to be conditioned lower slopes. The catch is you have to climb up a set of stairs to get back to the Gondola from the top of North Ridge triple. The other catch is there is only one chair for all the riders and skiers, and really just one trail work going on - Rime. So, it can get crowded. Today, mid-week they had a special for $29 because they started the Gondola late (11 am) due to some construction. This worked out great for me. I got some work done early and got up there for the first run at 11:30. By 2:30 my legs were sore anyway, so I came down and signed up for the Express Card and the $29 went towards that.
The knees were only a minor bother on sharp, hard turns and balance and strength were ok too. Lines were very short as mid week didn' catch too many people able to get away. On the weekend this arrangement will cause 45 minute line waits and Rime will be crowded. Not today! On top of that it was a blue bird cloudless 40-degree day!
Yesterday I got home from a meeting in Albany around 3:30 and went for nice road ride around Cassyunna and up to Christie road - 23 miles. Felt better riding than I have in a long time. The mountain biking must be helping.
It is great to get back to doing all I want to do and not having any knee pain.Photos
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Snow Clears; Mountain Biking Ensues
Nearly all of the 4 to 6 inches of wet, heavy snow melted away as the temperature nearly got to 50 degrees. We walked the dogs around the block. Later after lunch and a short nap and getting some paper work done, Donna took the dogs for a run and I donned the biking gear and mounted my trusty Epic.
Didn't know what I would find in the woods, but was willing to find out as the knees feel really good today. I had raked off leaves in one section on Friday, so started off there. I soon was riding all the trails and they were in great shape. The leaves were packed down by the snow and the snow was gone for the most part. Even where there was snow, it was easily smushed down and ridable. I did everything we have including up behind Rick's pond and over to the new park. Then rode on the road - down Brennan extension, out Coach to Randle's than back and up 47, back in the woods all the way back to the chicken coop. Donna was just returning.
A great 2 hour jaunt in the clear blue sky with white on fall colored leaves.
Didn't know what I would find in the woods, but was willing to find out as the knees feel really good today. I had raked off leaves in one section on Friday, so started off there. I soon was riding all the trails and they were in great shape. The leaves were packed down by the snow and the snow was gone for the most part. Even where there was snow, it was easily smushed down and ridable. I did everything we have including up behind Rick's pond and over to the new park. Then rode on the road - down Brennan extension, out Coach to Randle's than back and up 47, back in the woods all the way back to the chicken coop. Donna was just returning.
A great 2 hour jaunt in the clear blue sky with white on fall colored leaves.
October Hiking
Rooster Comb, Hurricane Mountain and Fish Hawk Cliffs / Indian Head Overlooks of Lower Ausable Lake Photos
Legs still feeling the tightness around the new bionic joints. The generalized swelling of the leg is a thing of the past now. What I have now is internal swelling that stiffens the knee some, but not taking away flexibility, just creating a pull sensation as the knee is flexed.
I was stuck in a hotel room and decided that the stiffness was on the wane after a weekend of hiking, so got on the treadmill and did two miles at a 10 minute pace, expecting the worse in "steps backward." To my surprise I felt looser in the knees in the following days than I have in a long time. Puzzling to say the least. Did I get the scar tissue to break loose? Don't know, but will file that away for future use. I did however, get the expected soemness in the other areas of the body, especially the hip flexors and lower back. Just the thing to do to yourself before a three-day weekend of hiking in the Adirondacks with Donna!
Well the hiking went very well; it loosened the hp and back area and did not tighten the knees until the last day. After Donna got the animals settled in, we set off up the northway to Keene Valley and got on the trail to Hurricane Mountain at 1:30 pm. So, a 4 to 5 hour hike up 2000' got underway. Doing calculations as we started the steep climb right from Tr 9N trail head, I figured we would be in the dark the last hour at best. After the first climb we got to a beaver dam pond that flooded the trail and had to go around. We had difficulty getting back the trail on the other side, so decided to abandon the hike and go back. We saw another trail head just up the road on the way in, so looked it up. Baxter Mountain was a short 2 mile in / 2 mile out and 1000' of up, so that is what we did. It was a nice walk with great views right down into Keene Valley - we could see our B+B!
Saturday after a great breakfast we got an earlier start (10 am!) and headed back to Hurricane, but this time from the northern route. It was about the same distance, 3 miles in / out and 2000' and most of the hike in was right up a stream bed, so very challenging rocky path. When we made it to the top we were rewarded with spectacular views of 42 of the 46 high peaks, 360 degrees of mountains and even a great view of a long section of Lake Champlain. I can see why the put a fire tour on top. There was one other couple that we criss-crossed, but that was it. Cold on top, with ice froming in the puddles and the wind was not bad, especially as the high winds often found on top are how it got its name. We decended and had lunch in town at the ADK Cafe - great food.
Our legs were certainly feeling the effort, but we did not want to waste Sunday, especially as the weather got even better and was supposed to deteriorate by late afternoon. We decided to head up to the cliffs overlooking Lower Ausable Lake - Fish Hawk and Indian Head. We had to park right off Rt. 73 and then hike the private road into Ausable Club. Then up the dirt road that parallels Ausable River until we hit the path that follows Gill Brook until we take a right and climb up to the first cliff, The falls and flumes of Ausable and Gill Brook were amazing. The view up the Lake from Fish Hawk were unreal, also we were looking directly across to Sawtooth, Pyramid and Gothics. We ate lunch with 1000 foot of air between us and the lake below. The short but steep hike over to Indian Head was well worth it too as now we could see up to Hurricane and down onto the dam below. The trails to the dam and along Ausable and out were just as pretty as the other trails. We finally got back on the private road and out - about 8 or 9 miles all together. My knees were tight and I developed a blister, but otherwise was in good shape. Shower at the Noon Mark Diner and then headed home in the rain that started as soon as we got back to the B+B for the shower!
It took the full week for my knees to lossen up and this morning we went for a hike around the block in the fresh 6 inches of snow that arrived overnight.
Legs still feeling the tightness around the new bionic joints. The generalized swelling of the leg is a thing of the past now. What I have now is internal swelling that stiffens the knee some, but not taking away flexibility, just creating a pull sensation as the knee is flexed.
I was stuck in a hotel room and decided that the stiffness was on the wane after a weekend of hiking, so got on the treadmill and did two miles at a 10 minute pace, expecting the worse in "steps backward." To my surprise I felt looser in the knees in the following days than I have in a long time. Puzzling to say the least. Did I get the scar tissue to break loose? Don't know, but will file that away for future use. I did however, get the expected soemness in the other areas of the body, especially the hip flexors and lower back. Just the thing to do to yourself before a three-day weekend of hiking in the Adirondacks with Donna!
Well the hiking went very well; it loosened the hp and back area and did not tighten the knees until the last day. After Donna got the animals settled in, we set off up the northway to Keene Valley and got on the trail to Hurricane Mountain at 1:30 pm. So, a 4 to 5 hour hike up 2000' got underway. Doing calculations as we started the steep climb right from Tr 9N trail head, I figured we would be in the dark the last hour at best. After the first climb we got to a beaver dam pond that flooded the trail and had to go around. We had difficulty getting back the trail on the other side, so decided to abandon the hike and go back. We saw another trail head just up the road on the way in, so looked it up. Baxter Mountain was a short 2 mile in / 2 mile out and 1000' of up, so that is what we did. It was a nice walk with great views right down into Keene Valley - we could see our B+B!
Saturday after a great breakfast we got an earlier start (10 am!) and headed back to Hurricane, but this time from the northern route. It was about the same distance, 3 miles in / out and 2000' and most of the hike in was right up a stream bed, so very challenging rocky path. When we made it to the top we were rewarded with spectacular views of 42 of the 46 high peaks, 360 degrees of mountains and even a great view of a long section of Lake Champlain. I can see why the put a fire tour on top. There was one other couple that we criss-crossed, but that was it. Cold on top, with ice froming in the puddles and the wind was not bad, especially as the high winds often found on top are how it got its name. We decended and had lunch in town at the ADK Cafe - great food.
Our legs were certainly feeling the effort, but we did not want to waste Sunday, especially as the weather got even better and was supposed to deteriorate by late afternoon. We decided to head up to the cliffs overlooking Lower Ausable Lake - Fish Hawk and Indian Head. We had to park right off Rt. 73 and then hike the private road into Ausable Club. Then up the dirt road that parallels Ausable River until we hit the path that follows Gill Brook until we take a right and climb up to the first cliff, The falls and flumes of Ausable and Gill Brook were amazing. The view up the Lake from Fish Hawk were unreal, also we were looking directly across to Sawtooth, Pyramid and Gothics. We ate lunch with 1000 foot of air between us and the lake below. The short but steep hike over to Indian Head was well worth it too as now we could see up to Hurricane and down onto the dam below. The trails to the dam and along Ausable and out were just as pretty as the other trails. We finally got back on the private road and out - about 8 or 9 miles all together. My knees were tight and I developed a blister, but otherwise was in good shape. Shower at the Noon Mark Diner and then headed home in the rain that started as soon as we got back to the B+B for the shower!
It took the full week for my knees to lossen up and this morning we went for a hike around the block in the fresh 6 inches of snow that arrived overnight.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Weekend of Activity Without Overdoing It
After recovering from the strain of doing the home trails with some good activity (swimming and elliptical), I didn't want to do the weekend warrior thing and put my self back for the upcoming week. So, on Saturday, a windy, cool day I took to the home trails with a rake instead of a bike. After walking the dogs on the trials, I stayed out and raked off about 75% of my trail system. I would have stayed out longer, and probably too long to not do too much, had it not been for the cold front squall that attacked me after about 2 hours of raking at 4 pm. The wind started howling and the rain driving, even with some mixed in hail. I stayed in the woods for awhile enjoying the protection derived by the trees. The branches and limbs coming down had me alarmed enough to start towards the house. By the time I got there I was glad I started in when I did. I looked for the chickens in the coop and only conted four. The other four apparently were under the coop. All in all, a good workout that was later felt more in the shoulder that the legs.
On Sunday we got some lumber to build raised beds and then Donna decided to go for a run with the dogs. I had in mind riding the trails I had raked the day before, but definately wanted to take it easier than the last time. So, I rode on the mountain bike while Donna ran with the dogs - just about 3 miles which was a nice warm-up. Then I took to the freshly raked trails and stayed to where I had raked. Felt good before, during and after. Hopefully that will hold true tomorrow.
On Sunday we got some lumber to build raised beds and then Donna decided to go for a run with the dogs. I had in mind riding the trails I had raked the day before, but definately wanted to take it easier than the last time. So, I rode on the mountain bike while Donna ran with the dogs - just about 3 miles which was a nice warm-up. Then I took to the freshly raked trails and stayed to where I had raked. Felt good before, during and after. Hopefully that will hold true tomorrow.
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