Short and Oh So Sweet

I'm not fully recovered from my cold, but the ortho cleared me and I was going to ride my mountain bike, dammit. So that's what I did. I started out at the Hub and rode the Estatoe trail (bike path), and then up Black, Thrift, Grassy, and then upper Sycamore. My knee felt great, but my lungs felt like shit, at first. I stopped somewhere along the initial climb and just started hacking. People could probably hear it for miles. It culminated in a series of hacks where I was gagging and thought I might puke, but then it was done and I felt just fine for the rest of the ride. Sometimes you just need to get that out of your system.

The climb and cruise around Thrift were uneventful. The climb up Grassy was no big deal. And Sycamore was a blast as usual. I had no issues at all. I thought I'd be a total wuss and walk every root and creek crossing, but I had no hesitation at all. The only issue I had was that my uber-fat front tire (Ardent 2.4) was rubbing my fork when the wheel would flex, and I would hear brrrrrrp, brrrrrrrp, occasionally. It turns out my wheel wasn't dished properly, and that tire is a very tight squeeze anyway. So I had a couple of beers at the Hub while the wheel was fixed. I've never been so satisfied with such a short ride.

CLEARED!!!

I had my appointment with the ortho yesterday, and he went ahead and cleared me for all activity. I couldn't believe it. It has been such a long road since the surgery in June. A lot of pain, frustration, and hard work. I'm still not 100% there yet, but I can now start mountain biking again, and I couldn't be happier. Unfortunately, I've been home sick with this chest cold all week, but I'll be on the Lazer Cat as soon as I can breathe somewhat properly.

While home this week, I've watched a lot of mountain bike videos on Vimeo, especially ones from European Enduro races. As many of you know, Pisgah Productions is putting on the first 'official' Pisgah enduro race later this year. For those in the dark, an enduro race is basically several downhill races built into an, for lack of a better phrase, all-mountain ride. The downhill sections are timed, and then you ride at a more leisurely pace to the start of each timed downhill section. It seems like a good format for any local Pisgah rider, as pretty much every ride here is an 'enduro' ride.

Anyway, I'm excited that this blog will finally be getting back to including accounts of mountain biking in the Brevard area. Stay tuned.

Big Ole Dump

Photo dump.

I'm home sick with the chest cold from hell (actual diagnosis), so I figured it's time to update the blog.  We've been hiking quite a bit, and I've been riding the cross bike all over Pisgah.  My knee is feeling stronger and stronger thanks to those activities, and the squats and deadlifts I've been doing at home.  Those exercises have really helped with my standing pedaling especially.

On with the dump.

Hiking on Seniard Ridge.



 

  

Top secret cross route in Pisgah.

 

 

 

We got a GPS and tried geocaching on our back yard trail.









We hiked in Panthertown Valley (Nantahala N.F.) for the first time.













We finally made it to the top of Cedar Rock Mtn.











I've also just been riding gated F.S. roads to see where they go, not taking many photos.







That's about it I guess. I go back to the ortho in a couple of days. I'm pretty sure he's going to make me get another strength test and then another appointment to tell me the results of that strength test so he can make more money before clearing me to ride. We'll see.