A Test Ride

I managed to get out for a test ride this evening, as Dave suggested. I pushed it a little but my leg is still a touchy so I was making sure I didn't overdo it. I rode the Marine Drive route toward Horseshoe Bay and I made it past Lighthouse Park before turning around. I focussed on keeping my hips parallel to the ground and it really worked. There were moments when I got pain but they were always when I lost concentration on my hip alignment. I think it is clear that there is a mechanical adjustment that I can make to ensure I ride pain free. It is going to take some training to get used to the position to the point that I no longer have to concentrate on it.

I was trying to maintain an average speed of 30 km/h but I couldn't quite get to that pace. Nevertheless, the ride felt good. It was nice to push it again; make my lungs work. Also, I am really getting used to the BH bike. It is so unstable compared to my touring bike so it has taken some time to feel comfortable enough to take some risks. It was fun.

Distance: 33.17 km
Time: 1:07:29
Average Speed: 29.4 km/h

Physio

I saw Dave this morning. I told him about my last couple of rides noting the pain I had on Tuesday. He thinks it is possible that the pain won't go away without some mechanical corrections. He expanded the focus of the therapy to include triggering stimulation of the vastus medialis muscle (the quadricep muscle on the inside). I have some exercises that will help get that muscle firing. The point is to pull the knee cap inward to counter the tightness of the muscles on the outside of the thigh.

Dave has encouraged me to ride at a good pace on an easy route - attempting an average speed of 30 km/h. He wants me to test my leg on a hill by getting out of the saddle and focussing on keeping my hip steady. If it causes big pain like it did on Tuesday, I have an appointment with Glenn tomorrow morning to deal with it.

I don't experience any pain when I walk, climb stairs or any other time other than riding my bike on hills so there is little risk of doing any permanent damage. I am getting new pedals and shoes soon and I will bring my bike in to see Dave next week to make fine tuning adjustments.

Today's Ride

I went for an early morning ride today. I was hoping to get in an hour and a half but I left a little later than I wanted to so I cut it down to an hour. It was not an easy ride. I tried a new route heading out toward Deep Cove along Dollarton Highway. It was going well until I got to Mount Seymour Parkway. I decided to go that way back but there is a big hill leading up from Dollarton. I had to get out of the saddle putting a lot of weight on my right knee. I got quite a shock of pain which recurred a few times during the last half of the ride. I found it a little discouraging given how well the rehab is going but it is clear that I need to avoid tough hills for a while and try to stay in the saddle.

Distance: 30.70 km
Time: 1:06:36
Average Speed: 27.7 km/h

Monday Chiro

I saw Glenn again yesterday and it was more of a physio appointment than a chiro visit. No adjustments, just work to muscles and fascia. He is really happy with my progress. I told him I felt about 70% on my ride on Saturday. Normally, he expects people to get to 70% after about 6 treamtents and we only had two.

He did more active release work through the whole lateral thigh. Previously, he focussed on the area around the iliac crest and the area around the knee. On this visit, he expanded to include the area under the greater trochanter of the femur - an area that has been tender for a while. He also used a curved, rounded steel tool. He moved the tool up and down my lateral thigh over the fascia. It is supposed to break up adhesions in the fascia. It felt weird but not painful.

When I got home yesterday, I noticed that the area around my knee was bruised from the treatment. Otherwise, I feel pretty good.

Saturday Ride

I went out for another hour-long ride today. I was a little hesitant at the start but I built up to a level that was challenging but comfortable on my injury. It felt great. I'm not 100% but today's ride was exponentially better than Thursday. I avoided any pain but I was conscious of the injury. At times, I would feel a little pull on the stiff knee.

One thing that may have made a difference was that I took an ibuprophen before I rode to keep inflammation down. I think that was a minor part in the success of the ride. The major part is the level of rehab. It seems to be working very well.

My ride was the usual Marine Drive route. Compare these numbers to Thursday and you will see how much better I feel.

Distance: 30.30 km
Time: 1:04:50
Average Speed: 28 km/h

Friday at Chiro

Ow. Ow. Ow. I had another appointment with Glenn on Friday and it hurt like hell. He focussed a lot more toward the knee doing active release. It is clear that he and Dave agree on where the problem lies - weak glut. med. They also agree that my over-compensation for the weakness is manifesting itself in the junction between the vastus lateralis muscle and the IT Band. Glenn worked hard on pulling the vastus lateralis away from the IT Band. Then, he moved on to the gluts.

I now have new exercises to do which aim at strengthening my glut. med. so it can take over the job of stabilising my hip. Once the strength builds, it should take the load off the IT band and the vastus lateralis.

Finally, Glenn gave me a full adjustment of my hip alignment.

Thursday, August 23

I was able to get out for an easy ride on Thursday. I decided to test my leg on the Marine Drive route which is mostly flat but has a few short hills. My leg was far from pain free. Before, I had pain when putting hard load on my right pedal - usually going up hill - but while I was in the saddle. When I got out of the saddle, the pedal strokes were pain free. On this ride, however, I was getting a little more pain when I got out of the saddle. I think it might have something to do with my foot angle. I find it easier to pull my knee out a little when I am in the saddle. This position takes load off my IT band and puts it into the quadriceps. When I get out of the saddle, I think my knee pull inward.

Before this ride, I tried to adjust the angle of my shoe cleat but I have had them for so long, I was not able to loosen them without stripping the bolt. I have decided that I am going to invest in better pedals and shoes and start from scratch.

The details of my ride:

Distance: 26.78 km
Time: 1:03:51
Average Speed: 25.2 km/h

Physio

I went to my first physiotherapy appointment this morning. I got in touch with an old Kinesiology classmate named Dave Kwan. He works at SEVA Physiotherapy on West Broadway in Vancouver. He has always had an interest in sports-repated injuries and he is working with the Canadian Rythmic Gymnastics team.

He spent a lot of time with me assessing my posture and figuring out what is wrong. For those interested in anatomy and biomechanics, here is a summary of Dave's assessment. My gluteus medius muscle is weak. It serves to stabilize my right hip but it is not doing its job very well. As a result, when I put load on my right pedal, my iliotibial band compensates. The IT band is not meant to take that kind of load so it tightens up and pulls on the outside of my knee causing pain.

Dave got me on some exercises to build strength in my glut. med. and he did some passive massage to work out some of the tightness. It wasn't nearly as painful as Glenn's massage yesterday but it was still very uncomfortable.

The other thing Dave recommended was to see about getting new pedals that can adjust my foot angle relative to the bike. If I adjust my toe outward a little, it will pull my knee out which will rotate my hip into a better alignment. This should prevent any future injury. So, I'm going to go shopping and see what's out there.

As with Glenn, I have clearance to ride. I hope to get on my bike Thursday or Friday for an easy trip.

My 1st Big Day of Rehab

I was finally able to get in to see my doctor and get some referrals for physical rehab. This afternoon, I visited my chiropractor, Dr. Glenn Cashman. He does more than adjustments; he uses a number of techniques to rehabilitate chronic injuries. He is the team chiropractor for Memorial Cup Champions, the Vancouver Giants so he understands sports injuries. Glenn and I went to highschool together and we did our undergraduate degrees in Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University at the same time. Glenn practices at Metro Pointe Chiropractic near Metrotown in Burnaby.

Today, he put me through a fair amount of pain using active release massage techniques. I have a green light to continue to ride as long as I avoid riding that hurts. At this point, that means no hills and no hard, time-trial riding.

Tomorrow, I continue the pain with my first visit to physiotherapy. I will post details when I recover. The sadists among you will enjoy reading for a few days.

Finally, a quick update of my easy ride home from work yesterday:

Distance: 8.73 km
Time: 18:39
Average Speed: 28.2 km/h

A Few Days Off

I took a few days off to rest my leg. I spent some time in the pool yesterday, mostly wading in the kids area with Jordi. I was able to get some deep stretching done last night and I decided to take the short ride into work today. No pain but I still feel the tightness. I am pretty sure if I rode for a while longer, it would start to hurt.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment with my doctor to get some referrals for massage and physio. I have lined up a physio appointment for Wednesday and I am going to try to get some chiropractic work done tomorrow. At least I now have something interesting to write about - you can follow the pain and anguish of my rehab.

My ride in to work:

Distance: 9.24 km
Time: 18:38
Average Speed: 29.9 km/h

Still Nursing My Injuries

I went for an early morning ride today. Again, I took it very easy to make sure I didn't over-aggravate my IT Band. I avoided any real pain but my right hip and knee are really tight, especially when going up hill. I am planning on undergoing some intense rehab to make sure I am ready for the ride in September.

I rode for an hour, riding from home toward Horseshoe Bay for 1/2 hour then I turned around. There was a high wind blowing off the ocean onto Marine Drive which really slowed me down. Otherwise, it was a decent ride.

Distance: 29.07 km
Time: 1:02:01
Average Speed: 28.1 km/h

A Touching Message & My Ride Home Yesterday

I received a touching message from an anonymous donor yesterday. I think it speaks for itself:

"Great work doing this ride. Yes, we have all lost too many people to cancer. Perhaps while you are out there, you can spare a moment of your thoughts for our nephew, Jonathon, who passed away in 1999 at age 6 from neuroblastoma."

My ride home was relaxed and easy and there was no pain in my knee. Hopefully, I'm on the road to recovery. I'm taking today off as well. Here are the details of yesterday's ride home:

Distance: 8.74 km
Time: 18:52 km
Average Speed: 27.9 km/h

The Best Donation Comment So Far

The Tour of Courage has an elaborate, on-line fundraising system. I am able to send standard fundraising and thank you emails, keep track of my progress, identify who needs to be thanked, and so on. I just discovered that some people have sent comments along with their donations. The comments are hidden away in a cyberplace that I didn't know existed. But, now I do and I will be accessing it every time a donation is made. If I like the comment, I will seek permission to post it here.

So far, the best comment comes from April - never one to be shy of controversy. She wrote:

"I want to encourage Mark to get his blood pumping as he surges up the hills on his good, hard ride."

Easy Recovery Ride

I rode into work today at an easy pace. It turns out my knee problem on Sunday is a recurrence of an old running injury to my iliotibial band. I have been stretching, icing, and massaging it as well as taking anti-inflammatories. It felt OK today but there were still some jolts of pain. I will be taking it easy for a few days although I will get on my bike to keep my legs and lungs working a little.

Distance: 9.26 km

Time: 19:40

Average Speed: 28.2 km/h

I mentioned my "mechanics" injury to my hand in my last post. I thought it would be fun to take a picture. This is after two and a half days of healing. Look away if you are squeamish.

Long Ride and New Bike

On Thursday, I got my new bike courtesy of True North Cycling - distributors of BH bikes. They have loaned me a top of the line BH Global Concept G3 racing bike. For all of you gear heads out there, this is a carbon fibre frame with integrated seat post. The forks, wheels and many of the components are by Reynolds. The drive train is Shimano Dura Ace. It is an incredibly light and agile bike. I will be getting some pictures done soon and I will post them.

Since everyone has their own preference for pedals, I spent Saturday evening taking my pedals off my old bike and placing them on the BH. While trying to remove the right pedal, as soon as it gave way, I thrust my hand into the large, front chain ring. Three teeth of the sprocket punctured my hand, chain grease, road grime and all. Thankfully, I didn't need stitches but I got a tetanus shot for my troubles.

I have always known tetanus shots can make your arm feel like you threw a baseball too hard but it seems they can effect the whole body. Today, I took the BH for its first ride. I was targetting for 90 km and I made it, but not without a lot of pain.

My ride started out beautifully. The bike was so light that I flew up hills and my average speed was much greater than I thought it would be. It took a little getting used to the light weight and the different gear ratios but I quickly settled in. I was well on pace to average 32 km/h, which would have been far better than my initial goal at the start of training. But, with about 25 km to go, I started feeling aches and pains all over my body - not just my puntured hand and innoculated arm, which both hurt throughout the ride. My right knee got the worst of it. After a few more klicks, I was unable to put any weight on my right knee. The last 20 km was powered only by my left leg.

Despite the pain, I made it home with a record average speed for a long ride. For the first 65 km, I was thinking to myself, "Now I get it. I understand how professional racers in the Tour de France can sustain average speeds of about 40 km/h." It's all in the bike. It makes a huge difference to shed 10 lbs off the load.

When I got home, I stretched and soaked in a hot bath for a while. I take tomorrow off again so I hope to heal in time for a short ride on Tuesday. I am looking forward to getting back on the BH.

Details of my ride today:

Route: I won't go into each detail but here is a general summary. From home, over the Lions' Gate Bridge, onto the Stanley Park ring road, along Beach Ave, over the Burrard St Bridge, along Cornwall, Point Grey Rd, arund UBC, along SW Marine Dr, onto the Arthur Lang Bridge, following Russ Baker Way, right on Westminster Hwy, left on No 1 Rd until I hit a total of 45 km (I'm not sure exactly where that got me but it was not quite to Steveston). I turned around and followed the same route back.
Distance: 89.87 km
Time: 3:05:12
Average Speed: 29.1 km/h

Hill Ride

Today I was scheduled to do a 30 minute, easy ride. I have a busy day at work so I decided to ride first thing in the morning. I also decided that I need to work on my biggest weakness - climbing hills. So, I took on Capilano Road from the Hwy #1 overpass to the Grouse Mtn parking lot. I took it easy but it was a tough 6 km hill. Coming back down was fun. I broke my previous top speed maxing out at 72.6 km - no pedaling, just pure gravity.

Route: from home onto Capilano Rd to the Grouse Mtn parking lot, around the lot, down Capilano Rd, left on Montroyal Ave, right on Highland Blvd, right on Ridgewood Dr, left onto Capilano Rd and back home.
Distance: 13.56 km
Time: 33:27
Average Speed: 24.4 km/h

A Better Day

I picked up some new inner tubes yesterday and fixed up my bike. Today, I rode into work detouring for 3 laps around Stanley Park. It was mostly dry when I started out but it drizzled progressively harder as the ride went on. It made for slick roads but there was nothing too technical about my ride so I managed to stay on my bike. I made up for the disaster yesterday. I felt really good.

Distance: 40.25 km
Time: 1:24:00
Average Speed: 28.8 km/h

Of course, if I ride to work, I have to ride home. The rain stopped by the time I left work. I took the usual route straight home, taking it easy.

Distance: 8.74 km
Time: 18:51
Average Speed: 27.8 km/h

Day of Disaster

I set out today in hopes of riding for about an hour and a half. I ran over something metal and got 2 punctures in my back tire. I put in my spare tube but I broke the valve trying to pump it up. I took that one off and, finally, another rider stopped with a patch kit. I got the patch on but I broke the valve on the 1st tube. So, I ran out of tubes and no one was about to give up their spare. The bus pulled up and let me on for free since I didn't bring an money with me. I rode to Park Royal and walked home from there. I'll have to make up for it with a longer ride tomorrow morning.

Route: from home toward Horseshoe Bay as described earlier but I only made it to Cypress Park.
Distance: 14.04 km
Time: 26:45
Average Speed: 31.6 km/h

Long Weekend Ride

Yesterday was another rest day. I have managed maintain a schedule of four rides a week. The training program recommends riding five days but, with my work and family commitments, that is just not feasible. I am feeling pretty good about what I have been able to accomplish. Depending on the route of the ride on September 23, I am optimistic that I will be able to reach my goal of riding 90 km in under 3 hours.

Today was a long ride day. I targeted for 70 km and I managed to ride 69.16 km. It was exhausting by the end and I think if I had gone the extra 840 metres, I would have keeled over. Now that I have showered and tried to move some of the lactic acid out of my thighs, I feel pretty good. The details:

Route: from home over the Lions' Gate Bridge, onto the Stanley Park ring road, onto Beach Ave, over the Burrard St Bridge, onto Cornwall Ave (which turns into Point Grey Rd, dog-legging onto W 4th Ave, veering into NW Marine Dr all the way around UBC. NW Marine Dr turns into SW Marine Dr, onto W 41st Ave, left on Dunbar St (which turns into Alma St), right onto Point Grey Rd (turns into Cornwall Ave), over the Burrard St Bridge, along Burrard to Georgia St turning left and into Stanley Park where I did 2 1/2 laps of the ring road before going back over the Lions' Gate Bridge and home.
Distance: 69.16 km
Time: 2:30:37
Average Speed: 27.6 km/h

Big News

Just before leaving work today, I received an email from the Tour of Courage organizers. They have decided to allow the first 200 riders who raise $5000 two tickets to an evening talk with Lance Armstrong. This is incredible news and will really motivate me to exceed my current goal of $2000. For those who haven't donated yet but have meant to, please make your donation sooner rather than later.

I rode into work today taking the same route as on July 27 (see that date's blog post for details) except that I went two laps around Stanley Park instead of one. It was such a nice morning for a ride. About 16 degrees Celcius and sunny. The details:

Distance: 30.78 km
Time: 1:01:34
Average Speed: 30.0 km/h


And, I rode home doing my fastest ride for the distance:

Distance: 8.67 km
Time: 18:12
Average Speed: 28.6 km/h

Wednesday, August 1

Yesterday was another day off. I have been talking to the folks at True North Cycling about getting a better bike to ride. They have agreed to loan me a BH Global Concept G3 - top of the line racing bike. I am truly grateful for their support and I will be posting more details about True North and BH bikes in the near future. This is a beautiful bike so keep checking back for information.

Today, I went for a quick ride mimicking Monday's route but only going as far as the West Vancouver Community Centre. My training program indicated I should limit my ride to 30 minutes. Here are the details:

Distance: 16.1 km
Time: 33:18
Average Speed: 29.2 km/h