Fargo and Away

It has been a weird year on the bike. Mother nature has not been so cooperative. In years past my fellow riders and I have always managed to squeeze in some winter outdoor weekend rides when some unseasonal warmth snuck in.

This offseason we had few reprieves from the cold, the wet, and the snow. Two late winter storms piled the snow up high and then the cold kept the roads icy into March.

When the snow melted during an March heat wave, we thought maybe things had taken a turn for the better. Instead, we got second winter. For weeks, morning temps refused to get out of the 30s, and the weekends fell into a cycle of rain and wind.

As a result, most of us spent far too many hours on our indoor trainers in effort to get into shape. We finally got into a rhythm out on the roads in April, and we’ve tried our best to make up for lost time, climbing Wachusett Mountain

On top of the weather, I suffered a setback in March when my left kneecap decided that it was not having any of this and took a bit of a left turn out the femoral groove. An MRI eventually diagnosed it as a “focal full-thickness cartilage defect in the lateral trochlear cartilage with underly subchondral fracture and edema. Full-thickness cartilage loss throughout the lateral patellar facet extending to the median ridge with mild subchrondral edema.” Basically, a trick knee with bone-on-bone rubbing.

So, I had to scale back my miles a bit and focus on physical therapy. Huge hat tip to Christine Roy at Integrative Therapeutics for getting me back on track physically. We were able to get the kneecap to mostly return to its home, though it still has a tendency to wander and it likes to make a loud popping sound, but only when I move it.

Fortunately, cycling is considered a very protective sport for this type of injury. And, I mostly have no pain in the knee, so I’ve been able to build up some miles in the past few weeks.

The time for training, however, is over. This week marks the beginning of our Giants of the Pyrenees trip! On tap: 8 days of climbing from one epic pass to another, tracing over routes that will soon host some of the world’s greatest riders during the Tour de France.

Our group will soon rendez-vous à Toulouse, en France, where we will be picked up by our guides from France Bike Trips who will take us by van to Lourdes, where our cycling journey begins.

While I feel a bit more prepared mentally than I felt before last year’s trip to the Dolomites, I am struggling a bit to keep the self-doubts at bay. The knee should hold up, I believe. My fitness is what it is. They say climbing never gets easier, you just get faster. So, I’ll just go a bit slower on the climbs, try to avoid putting too much pressure on my legs and back. I will heed Jack’s pearl of wisdom from last year: “Ride your ride.” Don’t get caught up in trying to keep up with anyone.

So, all that’s left for me now to do is spend the next few hours obsessing over whether I’ve forgotten to pack anything or if I’ve somehow mixed up my flight time.