My attempt at a racing season ended in a thud last year. On June 14th I attempted the Pescadero Classic Road Race when the body was fighting something and ended up doing most of the race as a solo training ride. Four days later I crashed in a points race at the track and the season was over. A bad week one could say. Since that fateful week the question ‘will you race again’ has come up frequently, both from others and myself. I am a bit of the ‘need to get back on the horse’ type, so I have always told myself ‘yes’, but with others I have been less willing to commit. The Wife chose the Bariani Road Race as her first race of the year back in the early fall and at that time I told myself I would be ready and would race there, too. The recovery has been no where as swift as I would like, and Bariani, later this month, is out of the question.
The bone shattered last June has healed, but the muscles that operate the hip joint are far from being back to normal. The orthopedic surgeon told me on the last visit that I should expect a one year recovery period, and that the last step was rebuilding the musculature. She said the gluteus in particular would take time, but the one’s I can detect are not back are the knee extensors and the hip adductors. Until I get the strength back attempting to train hard much less race is out of the question. Complicating matters is that ever since the accident I have had trouble getting comfortable on the road bike, specifically trying to get a spot where the arse is comfortable without pinching a nerve in my left hip (opposite the side that was injured). I am attempting to build bone mass (weight bearing activities), increase muscle mass and strength, get back flexibility, and try to solve the position problem in an effort to get back to close to where I was last year.
The obvious race for my return is the Pescadero Classic Road Race. It was my last road race before the accident, I was embarrassed by my showing, and it is a hilly race that tends to get strung out thus lowering the risk of another rider taking me out. The date for that race is June 13th, still 14 or so weeks away. But for some reason race registration was opened a couple of weeks ago, almost 4 full months before the event! In NCNCA it seems that with the exception of a couple of distant early (Cantua Creek, Pine Flat) and late (Henleyville) races that the men’s fields fill up in the first hours or days of registration; he who sleeps gets on the waiting list at best. Within a day of the opening of registration for Pescadero the baby geezer (35+) 4/5 field, the one I raced in last year, was full. That left the E4’s (e.g., race with the young bucks), the geezer 4/5 (about 90% full at that time), or the ultra-geezer (6 of 10 slots taken at that time) available if I wanted to register. It was fish or cut bait, so I threw my hat (aka $30) into the ultra-geezer field.
I now have 14 weeks to get myself prepared, physically and mentally, for that bit of abuse. I will not exceed the limits that my body imposes on me as I prepare, and if I do not feel ready for it I will not take the line. But now there is a more concrete objective out there that I can work towards. So now the question that hangs over me is, will I be ready?
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Aaaack! I’m still not sure I want to ride in a pack race – yes I’m registered for Bariani, but have much fear and trepidation and uncertainty about the whole thing. I’m not sure if I’m ready for you to ride in one. I’m scared.
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That’s good that you signed up. I’m sure it’s a huge motivator. Are you doing gym work at the moment and if so what are you doing?
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You can do it! Road races are quite safe as things go…much less mayhem than the crit scene (although I do loves me some crits….much more my game). It’s good to have a goal! Good luck! I don’t know if you and the Chatterbox are headed to Kern this year–I can’t do it because of a work trip, and also because it isn’t really my kind of race. It is, however, always fun to see my norcal friends and have some good old commiseration about all that pain!
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Ms Chatterbox – I know the cause of the renewed fear. We will work on finding an appropriate level of involvement and try to dispel some of the fear.
Groover – No gym work. I have parameters from the orthopedic surgeon, and fom my other doctors, that make it a bit challenging to come up with a weight routine at the moment. I want to at least start of some stuff to strengthen the vastus medialis, rectus femorus (2 of the 4 heads of the quadriceps), the glutes, and the abductors/adductors. When I get started they will all be constrained and with light-moderate weights to keep from exacerbating other problems.
Doc Kim – road race safety is relative. Pescadero tends to be a bit safer with all the hilliness, but there is a prime in the flats before the first hill that cause some riders to act a bit crazy, then one or two riders usually overcook one of the first two short descents trying to be aggressive. After that most fields are fragmented into very small groups. Ms Chatterbox is, in part, concerned because so many friends have been injured in crashes, the most recent this past Sunday in a road race. We are planning on Kern, again, this year then over to Anaheim for a training session for Ms. C; a busy tour of the southlands week for us come May. We are hoping the temps are bit better this year
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You will be ready! Just keep away from the sketchy wheels and you will be fine. Start mentally rehearsing your victory climb onto the podium.
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Hi Rick,
Sounds like lots of mental issues are connected with your decision to race Pesky. But, I vote you race Panoche Valley Road Race, first. It is an out and back. Not hard climb, you find a group and rotate through on the way back. About as safe as you can get. On the way back(which is down hill) it is in the wind so what ever group you get with they just work together until 1k. This will help with the mental part of your racing and injury. To me you need to get confidence with you head and body. I really beleive this race will help you.
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Anonymous – sure there are mental issues with getting back into a pack, but for Pesky the major concerns are from The Wife … esp. after that nasty crash last weekend at Merco. I know there are a couple of spots to watch there, but the sketchiness in the field you and I were in there last year was minimal for the first prime; I know of a couple of crashes on the first two descents last year, and one was in the 55+ field, so even old guys make mistakes. My biggest issue now is not the head stuff, it is the body stuff. With 4 months completely off the bike, and not really getting any hard workouts in the 4.5 months I’ve been back on the bike, and the weakness of a few key muscles, I am concerned the body might not be ready by mid-June for the race. Panoche is an interesting idea, but it has two distinct drawbacks: it is a month earlier, so even less time to get the body ready, and (more importantly) it is the same week as Kern and I have committed to being there again this year. Thanks for the suggestion; I might troll the NCNCA list to see if something other than Panoche can be fit in between now and Pesky.
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