Mindsmith

With the warmth of spring continuing to tease us here in Nebraska, the cycling season has gotten off to a bit of a sputtering start. The last month has seen dual flats, tire damage, a three-bike crash that totaled my Roubaix, and the return of chronic pain around the knee.

I know I haven’t been as dedicated since January on such things like working out, stretching, knee-strengthening exercises, foam rolling, etc. There is always a nagging worry in the back of the mind that the pain is permanent, chronic, and unavoidable. With 2 and a half hours of stretching and strengthening exercises to do per day, it’s difficult to devote the time, still work out and go cycling.

As with a great many things, it’s all mental. Devotion to the task at hand. The frame of mind of training. Even the pain is in the head.

This year’s Spring Fling is April 26th. That’s just over three weeks away. The distance? A metric century (62.5 miles). My longest distance on the bike so far this season? 24 miles.

Training and pain, eh? Bring it on.

This time of year is always frustrating. The weather teases you with every passing day. It gives you brief moments of beautiful temperatures only to wash it all away the very next day as it turns to rain, sleet, and finally snow. Such was the case this weekend, as if the routine of the last week is once again repeated.

The benefits of this teasing are twofold. First, it signals the inevitable return of spring. Sure, it always seems to take a long time, but next week we set out clocks forward and gradually will find the weather becoming consistently warmer. Second, this teasing allows us to wipe the dust off of the saddles, pump some air into the tires, and hit the open road on the bike.

Yesterday I did just that. The Roubaix, my go-to bike for weekend cruises and weekend-warrior duties, saw it’s second ride of the new year. Fresh on a new rear tire and tubes from a freak two-flat accident last week, it was feeling a bit more nimble and twitchy than normal. The wind contributed a bit to this, but more importantly I was a bit anxious. My goal was to really push things, and my worry was the sharp pains of my iliotibial band syndrome would resurface.

I cruised to The Blend to grab a bite to eat, and continued on to visit Monkey Wrench Cycles and Cycle Works. I spent some time relaxing, chatting, and checking out their inventories. Also signed up for a time slot to get my Roubaix tuned up in a couple of weeks.

After a bit of riding on side streets, I met up with the Mopac Trail and headed east. By the time I had reached 66th Street, the all-too-familiar feeling in my right knee had already returned. I attempted some quick stretching to ease the pain, and then reluctantly began the 8 mile journey back on the trails and side streets to my apartment. It seems that, once again, ITBS will be a force to be reckoned with this year.

And so I begin the long journey of rides, adjustments, tweaks, stretching, strengthening, lifting, etc. that must be done to solve something like ITBS. I will update my progress and any things I learn during this process over the coming weeks and months.

Spring is almost here. I only hope that I can be ready to fully enjoy my bikes.