One More

A few days into my “quit shitty job and getaway” adventure, I was pretty damn satisfied.  I rode some fun trails, hung out with friends and family, and reminisced in my hometown.  I wasn’t done though.  Since I brought a bike, I wanted to ride some more. And no trip to Florida would be complete without a trip to one of the first trails I’ve ever ridden…

I got to the trail pretty early, ready to enjoy a leisurely ride.  The last time I was at Santos, I did a 12 hour race on a rigid singlespeed.  That was a different kind of fun I guess.  Anyway, looking forward to not having to push myself for 12 hours I took off…

And immediately experienced some of the most horrific knee pain ever.

Not even in the trail yet and I was hurting.  Instead of canceling my ride to nurse my swollen knee, I opted to play around on the skills course for a bit to see if things would “loosen up.”  It didn’t help one bit, but my stubborn ass decided to ride anyway.  The trail starts out pretty flat so I figured I’d be fine.

The pain was subdued as long as I didn’t stand up to pedal, so the first few miles weren’t so bad. I still stopped a lot just in case.

I couldn’t resist playing around though, even if it did hurt when I stood up.

That was fun, but this one was fun-er…

I somehow made it all the way to the Vortex (as seen in the photo above.)  My knee seemed to be getting worse, but seeing the Florida “mountains” made me forget about it a little.

But I still wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

The Vortex section is tough.  It’s where you find quite a bit of climbing, and with my knee getting much worse I ended up walking a lot.  I sat down for a while, wondering if I would even be able to make it back to the trail head.  I considered asking someone out there for a ride back, but I can't go for that.  Eventually I fought through the pain (making matters worse no doubt) and rolled slowly through the woods to reach my truck.  I sat for a while with my leg elevated and wondered why I had been a complete dumbass.  My knee was the size of a softball at this point and I could barely bend it.

Shit.

Somehow I managed to pack up my stuff and went on a quest for some liquid “medicine.”  Luckily I only had to travel across the street…

They sell beer, and of course you can drink it right there in the shop. 

I felt better, but my knee hurt (alcohol is rad but not that rad.)  I piled into my truck and drove away, wondering if I would be able to walk the next time I stopped.  I took frequent breaks from driving to stretch my leg, and it helped just a little bit.  Luckily when I stopped in Jacksonville to get beer I had a cart to hold on to.

The mystery injury was a few weeks ago.  I still haz pain.  I’ve been on one road ride since then and it seems to be a little better.  I have a long way to go I guess.  Who knows.  I didn’t do anything to hurt it, but at least the diagnosis isn’t too bad (bursitis.)  I may have a bum knee for a while, but damn if that trip didn’t do me wonders.

I’ve since started a new job (pretty damn awesome), and I have a new outlook on things these days.  This is the first time in a long time that I’ve consistently been in a good mood.

Who gives a shit.

I do, I guess.  For now.

See y’all next week.  I have a four day weekend because natives saved some white people from starving to death many moons ago.  

Don’t eat too much tomorrow, tubby.

Holding Pattern

Even though I didn’t race as much this season as I have in previous years, I’m really worn out for some reason.  Of course my shoulder is still bugging me, but that’s not really the issue right now.  I feel like my legs are pretty much dead.  I have no power, and they get tired pretty easy on even the shortest of rides.  And a new issue has popped up…

Knee pain.

This is a new one, the likes of which I’ve never felt before.  It feels and sounds kinda like I have a bag of potato chips under my kneecap, but with a lot more pain.  On our social ride last night, I had to bail after only one three and a half mile lap while the rest of the group did another.  That sucked, but at least I got to enjoy some post ride grub and beer.

Photo cred: Des

So yeah, I’ll stop whining now.  As much as I probably should stay off the bike for a while, I can’t.  I have some new stuff to review.

Like these brand new grips that just came in the mail from Lizard Skins:

I got a chance to check these out at Interbike last month, and they’re finally available to those of you in the general public.  The new DSP (Durasoft Polymer) has an exceptional grip, and I know this because I’ve used their bar tape made from the same material.  Now it's available for off-road use, and I'm pleasantly pleased.   

They’re pretty light too, which is a plus for a weight wiener like me.

They just showed up last night, so I haven’t had a chance to test them out (or even put them on the bike.)  Don’t worry, I’ll risk further injury to myself to give them a proper review.  I’m pretty excited about them though, so it will be worth it methinks.

Also in the category of new shit I just got are some stickers.

My man D-Wayne (from my number one sponsor Dwayne Hunter Design Company) hooked me up with some new stickers with the logo he did for me a while back.  If you’ve been here a while, then you know how much I love stickers.  These are really high quality, and as a bonus he delivered them to me in person down here in Charlotte.  You can’t beat that kind of service with a wet noodle.  If you need some artwork done for you, check him out.  I hear he works for beer and doughnuts, but money works too.

Want one?  Make me laugh the next time you see me and I’ll hook you up.

I Need A Break

It’s been a long “season”, and I’m really starting to feel it. I’m tired, sore, cranky, and whatever else bad you can think of. Shit, I’m even injured in a few places. My wrist is still in quite a bit of pain from a skateboarding accident a little over a month ago. I may have fractured it, but I never got it checked out. It’s still not healed right, although I can put a little more weight on it now. It bothers me on long mountain bike rides, especially when there are lots of rocks and roots. Even having a squishy fork doesn’t seem to help. After hurting for a while on a ride, my hand eventually falls asleep. And no, it’s not my bike fit. It never happened before and I haven’t changed a thing. I guess I’ll have to wait until my wrist fully heals.


My knees have been giving me problems too. I’ve always had a “bad” knee (my right one), dating back to my high school years. I played soccer, rode bikes and skateboards, so I just thought that was normal. I had surgery back in the 1991 when I was in the Army to repair some damage, and I was pretty good for quite a number of years. About ten years ago though, the pain came back. That coincides with the time that I started mountain biking and also picked up the skateboard again. It hurts when I walk some days, and it swells up a little. I’m usually good with it while I’m riding, but there’s hell to pay when I finish a ride. I had a cortisone shot a couple of years ago, and that kept me going for a while. I keep saying that I’ll get it looked at, but I’m kinda stubborn (plus I’m afraid of doctors.)




You never know what will happen.


My “good” knee is letting me down too, and this time it’s affecting my bike riding. When I stand up to pedal, I get this really sharp pain right under the kneecap. It’s been getting progressively worse, but ironically it doesn’t hurt as bad when I ride my singlespeed (I stand up to pedal a lot more on it.) I probably should go to the doctor for this one, but watch the video above again and you’ll remember why I’m hesitant. I should probably hurry up though, because it could get bad enough to require surgery (maybe it already does.) I definitely don’t want to be off my bike for any long period of time. I don't think I could take just sitting around all the time.





Okay, I’m done whining. I’ll be back tomorrow with my weekend plans, which are probably a bad idea considering all the shit I’ve been talking about today. I’ll never learn, but I just can’t stay off my bike.

It’s Not Looking Good

I’ve been hinting around about possibly doing the River’s Edge Mountain Bike Marathon (which is tomorrow morning by the way.) I haven’t been “training” for such an event, but that doesn’t worry me in the least. I can suffer my way through it if need be, and that’s what I was planning on doing. So, the fact that I’m not in “Endurance Racing Shape” doesn’t affect my decision whether or not to participate in a 50 mile mountain bike race.

With all of my bike issues as of late, you would think I was worried about breaking something during such a grueling event. Well, I’m not worried, since there’s not much else left to break. Shit, maybe I just jinxed myself. Anyway, I took The Big O out for some test riding at the U.S. National Whitewater Center da udda night, and everything was fine. Well, that is until I went barreling down the Carpet Trail at a reckless rate of speed.



I didn’t crash or anything, but I might as well have. While I was celebrating the fact that I made it down the last section without a flat (unlike the XTERRA fiasco), I noticed something strange. I tried to pedal out of the flat section to get back onto the main trail, but nothing happened. My shifter was shifting, my chain was uh, chaining, but my wheels weren’t playing along. Basically I was pedaling but going nowhere. I flipped the bike over and noticed that my cassette would spin freely in either direction, and it wasn’t engaging the wheel like it normally should. That’s not really a trailside repair, so I walked it out.



I haven’t had time to look at what’s going on inside my rear hub, so basically I would be without The Big O for any race/ride this weekend. I’ll get to it eventually, and I know I can take care of it somehow. Besides, I have two bikes, so it means that my brand new trusty Goose gets the nod for any racing this weekend. Bike problem solved.



That covers the riding fitness and mechanical issues, but I had something sneak right the hell up on me this week. With all of the riding I’ve been doing, I’ve apparently developed some sort of knee ailment. I’ve had issues with this knee in the past, but I’ve been mostly pain-free for quite some time now. Well, up until this week anyway. So, I guess this means that I’m still not sure if I’m doing the River’s Edge.



I know, you came here today and had to put up with all of this babbling and nonsense, and I still haven’t given you a definite answer. I’m not gonna call it quits just yet, so it will be more like a game-time decision. When I arrive at the race tomorrow morning, I’ll figure out if my knee can take the abuse of riding 50 miles. If I do it, I want to be able to do the whole thing and not just quit after one lap because I’m in pain. If I don’t race, I’ll just hang out and volunteer. Either way I’ll get some interesting stories out of it. Meanwhile, a little ice is in order until tomorrow morning: