Testing, testing...

Being an injured athlete has no shortage of metal tests. I think we have all had instances where we have had a bad crash and had to suck it up and get back on the bike again before we felt physically able. Mostly, we know we have to get back up and keep riding again before the reality of the forces of gravity and riding your bicycle at fast speeds set in. Racing your bike Will result in crashing and it Will hurt. We all know the payoff is worth that fact. Getting back up and going again is a mental trick really. It helps to keep you from thinking about what just happened and can happen again. I have no mental tricks to play after surgery, just mental tests. Every type of ride after a long break becomes a series of mental test that you pass or fail. Everything that was a simple ride before is now an accomplishment of overcoming the test of fear of having my tender ankle rip to shreds. First it was the first trainer ride with the cast, then first ride in the splint, riding outside, standing up and pedaling, doing a ride over an hour, finally applying force to the left pedal, riding up a hill, riding with Anne, riding in a group of people, and so forth. So far I have passed all these tests and aside from having pain from the most recent surgery when I ride, I don't think too much about just how fragile my ankle is right now. I've passed the test of fear at least while road riding. I still haven't been cleared to ride the mountain bike, and I'm sure that will present some new tests and I will overcome them also with time.

Given that I have planned some tentative races in the near future, Don scheduled my first field test of the year this week. This is vital to help him guide my training based on my power zones. Given that I still have some stitches in from surgery and that I have only been out of the cast for 9 weeks for the first surgery and and four days for this past surgery, I wasn't expecting very good results. Did you ever have one of those tests in school where you didn't study at all and you ended up acing the test? Me too. Well, I'm not saying I broke any records, but I passed the test. I'm not gonna reveal my numbers, but I broke all my previous spring test numbers and wasn't too far off from my best test last season. Knowing how much I've been through over the last 3 months, I was stoked! And kinda dumbfounded.

But getting to this point has been a huge test. Getting up everyday knowing I face pushing myself through the pain of PT 3 times a day and dragging into the gym to do the boring elliptical to increase range of motion has been a test in itself. But just like anything in life - hard work pays off!

(Healing up nicely! Dr P has me use this Spidertech tape that really helps with pain and swelling)

I'm really excited to see that hard work pay off and I plan on only continuing it from here and can't wait to see how I am doing in a few more months when I get back to 100% with 2 legs.

My next test will be hitting Brown County hills this weekend. Standing and climbing over a longer ride should be a good test on the recovery and the legs. Anne and I are heading down Saturday to enjoy the area on our bikes for about 4 hours of riding and I'm drinking a little BC winery to get in the zone or that!

Next test after that will be a follow-up appt with Dr P on the 24th to remove the stitches and see how I am progressing with the rehab process. Being that I have 2 new S-works sitting at Summit City Bicycles, I really am hoping to get the clearance to hit the singletrack and try them out. My other test will be to see if he clears me to do some racing. I'm hoping on doing a classics type race on the 27th in MI. I think I'm ready, but I will do what Dr P says in these matters. He has helped me get this far, so if he wants me to jump off a cliff, I'm there!

Always some sort of test. Passing each one feels great, no matter how small.

I take nothing for granted anymore.

But I plan on passing some pretty big test this season,

so I'm studying hard!