It has been two months and two days since I crashed at Mt Stromlo during Round 10 of the 2012/2013 CORC XC Series. During that time I’ve been trying to get back to my pre-injury fitness by slowly building my strength and endurance levels. Between 1 January 2013 and 14 April 2013, when I crashed, I was averaging 250km per week on the bike. I had ridden in the Mont 24 Hour, 100km Capital Punishment, some short course XC races and plenty of 70km+ rides on both the roadie and MTB. In total I had ridden 2’242.4km in just over four months.
It’s no secret that I ride bikes as a form of therapy and rehabilitation. Exercise is an amazing tool to soften the edge of anxiety and depression. Mountain biking is something I can fully immerse myself in; the riding, the technology, the competitiveness and the social scene. Canberra has an amazingly inclusive and tight-knit mountain biking community. One of the reasons why I have enjoyed riding so much these past nine months (the first time I ever road singletrack was on 9 September 2012 at Bruce Ridge) is because of the people I have met and ridden with from The Berm. It doesn’t matter if you are a novice or an elite rider, if you enjoy riding you are welcomed with open arms.
So this week was supposed to be the start of my new training regime. The plan was to restart my daily commuting on the roadie and get as much singletrack in between as the girly would tolerate. I have a lot of ground to make up and the weather in Canberra is not very accommodating; we have had a lot of rain and sub-zero temperatures. This past week I have woken up, checked the weather on my iPhone and walked onto the balcony to gauge my tolerance of the early morning temperature. Only once did I brave the cold and ride to work.
I did however use every opportunity before and after the heavy midweek rain to ride my new Giant XTC 29er 1 – Kate. I managed to get a couple of rides in at Mt Stromlo, two at Bruce Ridge and two at Sparrow Hill/Kowen Forest. For my sixth week of recovery riding I ended up having my second biggest week in the saddle since my crash. After today’s 66.6km road ride around Lake Burley Griffin I amassed 209.1km.
So after six weeks of Recovery Riding I am now transitioning in Training Riding.
Blogged Down By Life 