Today I got back on the road bike for the first time in almost a month. I haven’t ridden a lot since I crashed at Mt Stromlo on the 14th of April. Not counting the 35km’s I rode to get home after I crashed; I have ridden a total of 40km’s since. This is not a good thing; I went from riding 200-300km’s a week to not riding at all. I was getting into a good training and nutrition regime that stalled abruptly, well the training side of it did. In just under 4 weeks I managed to put on an extra 4kg’s by continuing to eat massive amounts of carbohydrate and protein rich foods.
I debated at length with family and friends whether or not I should race last weekend in the first round of the new CORC XC Series. Well stupidly I entered and started the race. Predictably I didn’t finish. At around the 8km mark I clipped a tree with my left shoulder and decided I needed to pull out before I injured myself any further. Luckily I pulled up all right and my ongoing recovery continues.
End result: Round One: Rider #266 – DNF.
Which brings me to today’s commute. I decided not to ride to work this morning when I walked out into my courtyard and felt the chilly Canberra air. So Sara got packed into the Girly’s car with the intention of riding the long way home. Well that intention got left by the side of the road along with my confidence.
Today I felt something I haven’t felt since last September when I did my first mountain bike race with no lead up training. Today I felt my quads. I felt every single metre of the ride home as a deep burning pain in my legs. I was out of breath very quickly and drank too much water which caused stomach cramps. It is important to note that this was a 20km ride on tarmac with only a few moderate length hills to climb. I have done a 100km mountain bike race and felt better afterwards.
Stupidly I thought getting back on the roadie would be as if the last month didn’t happen. I had psyched myself up and honestly believed my ride home would be full of Strava personal records. But alas it was not meant to be. I came home quite disillusioned and somewhat angry at myself; I even managed to break the zipper on my Giant cycling jersey.
It wasn’t until I was in shower stretching out and enjoying the hot water on my aching legs that I realised what was going on. I’m not as fit as I was a month ago and I’m still healing from a fairly substantial muscle tear. I’m not ready to start training yet, I’m still in recovery mode.
Blogged Down By Life 
Rest up to race another day
At least you are still human then if you can feel the burn.
Great seeing you tonight champ!
Re: the above, I normally say that “DNF” beats “DNS” every day of the week mate. But I’ll make a rare exception here. Go easy on yourself Dobbsy!
Eat right, rest up and do what training you can. Don’t lengthen the road to recovery, God knows it’s long enough! The crew will still be there when you’re ready!