I'm listening to John Mayer and reflecting on my week. Speaking of John Mayer, he came through Kansas City last week.
Guess who ended up 7 rows back for the concert and FRONT ROW for the encore? Me and my ladies, that's who!!!
We had an absolute blast.
Ok, back to reflection. I'm in a better spot than I was 48 hours ago - heck, even 24 hours ago, even though I'm about 72 hours into some pretty serious sleep deprivation. You know there's only one other place I'd rather be right now: ON MY BIKE. Unfortunately, riding right now isn't possible…it's even forbidden to me for the next 5 days.
Why, you ask?
This CrazeeCyclist is injured. I know, I know…we're all sad about it. I've even had some anger over it the past few days. Anger at myself, for allowing myself to become injured; anger at myself for not preventing the injury; disappointment in myself that I'm sitting and resting and stretching and going to the doctor and not logging miles on my Ridley. I even think she's a bit depressed. (Well, maybe both myself AND my Ridley are a little down in the dumps). A little secret? I had a bit of a "talk" with my Ridley tonight and assured her that her sitting by herself was short-lived and that I wasn't abandoning her for good. Is it better that I talk to my bike sometimes rather than be a crazy cat lady talking to cats? I can't decide. Don't judge me too harshly.
I had a thought tonight while at the chiropractor: just because I'm not RIDING my bike and writing about it doesn't mean I can't still write about cycling, right?! Right. It's been awhile since my last blog entry, so tonight seems fitting to get out some of my normally reserved-for-the-bike energy and use it to spew forth thoughts into this blog.
So, we'll start with the reason why I can't ride before I discuss other things on my mind. Sunday afternoon a few of the team members from R5 Cycling met to do a team ride in Overland Park at Elite Cycling (one of our team sponsors). Here they are prior to departure:
I was really excited about the ride for a few reasons:
1 - We were going to shoot for a pretty leisurely 20 mile ride (I haven't logged 20 miles since I did Ride the Fountains).
2 - One of our team members, Storry, was bringing his wife, Jenny, with him to the ride. I've ridden with Jenny once before (at my first team ride) and I was looking forward to seeing her again and hitting her up post-ride to explore the opportunity to "officially" join the women's part of the team.
3 - Do I really need ANY excuse whatsoever to be excited about riding my bike? Not really. That's all just icing on top of the cake to me in all honesty.
We set off from Elite about 1:15 Sunday afternoon and headed north. It was pretty hot outside on Sunday but still bearable this late into the summer. The pace was a little quicker than I thought it was going to be and I struggled a little to keep up. Let's face it: the men on the team are just quicker and have more power than I do. It's something that I've wrestled with in my mind a couple of times. I want the team to ride the way they ride and not have to wait up for slow me. I've felt a little bit of guilt during both of the team rides because I don't keep up with them the way I want to. Eventually will I get faster and stronger? If I stick to my training the way I plan to, then yes. But right now I feel like the snail in a group of rabbits! Anyways, we were about 5 miles into the ride and we were rounding a corner when I felt it. It felt like a rubber band snapped in the lower right side of my back.
I immediately felt pain down my back and right leg and lost all of my energy and pedal power. I felt a huge spasm in my back and knew that something just wasn't right. I told my coach that I had to pull over. All I could think in my mind (and say outloud) was "oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t." At that point, the rest of the team was out of sight and I felt terrible. Here I was, knowing in my mind that I wasn't going to go any further in this ride, with a coach who I'm sure wanted to continue on with the rest of the group instead of hang out on the side of the road with the one who couldn't keep up. Talk about pride blowing to me. I struggled to keep the tears from falling until after he left (on his bike) to ride back to the bike shop to get his Jeep to come back and pick up my bike and my battered ego.
While I waited for his return, the tears fell. Seriously? Why now when everything in my mind and my heart has the longing to just keep going will my body not keep up with me? Numerous walkers and cars (including a Prairie Village cop) stopped to check on me which was kind of them and also frustrating because I wanted to just be left alone to wallow in pity and pain. I tried to clear the tears as much as possible before my coach returned and I got into the car while he put my bike on the back. After loading my bike onto my car, I set off to pick up my Maggie Sue at her Papa's. Luckily, my dad had some muscle relaxers that he gave me to take home.
Long story short, I went to the doctor on Monday morning and was told no riding for a week, given a prescription for more pain meds and a week's worth of chiropractor visits were set up. Verdict? Pulled back muscle and a pinched nerve (which is why my right leg has a lot of pain and numbness too). I also got instructions of some stretches to do while I am resting and mending to help my back and leg. I won't go into all of the details of my week but I am improving each day and the pain down my leg has almost completely eased up. My back is still very tender but I am being a good patient and doing my stretches and going to the chiropractor. I will be glad when this week is over and I can get back on my bike - even if it is slow at first.
And, the team has been great. They have all "been there, done that" with the whole injury thing which makes me feel a little better. One of them said it best in our private Facebook page (which made me feel honored again to be a part of this group): "It's official. Now you really fit in with the rest of us!" If that isn't some team love, I don't know what is!
I've also used the past couple of days to come to terms with the fact that sometimes people get injured. Sometimes I won't perform as well as other people. Sometimes I just have to suck it up and get right with it and MOVE ON.
Speaking of TEAM: IT'S COMPLETELY OFFICIAL, YOU GUYS!!!!
WE are now a TEAM! I'm completely excited and honored to introduce you to R5 CYCLING.
I get serious goosebumps every time I look at our logo because I know how "real" it is now. We had our first "official" team meeting last Thursday night and it was everything and more than I expected. I really enjoyed seeing a couple of the guys I'd met before and enjoyed meeting a few more of the team members for the first time. What do we do at team meetings besides eat food and laugh? Well, I'll never spill "all" of our secrets for sure. But, we had a good time discussing how we want to manage team rides, team funds, work with sponsors, etc. I'm in charge of the social media side of the team (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blog, etc) which is a fairly huge responsibility but one that I am STOKED about doing.
Here are a few details regarding how you can track R5 CYCLING:
* Facebook - "like" the R5 CYCLING page
* Twitter - follow us @R5CYCLING
* Instagram - follow us at R5CYCLING to see team pics and even videos in the near future
* E-mail - r5cyclingteam@gmail.com
*Website - www.r5cycling.org (This isn't up and running yet but stay tuned for info!)
*Blog - again, not up and running yet but will be in the very near future
We're in the final stages of designing our team kits and they are going to look AWESOME thanks to some real talent on our team. I'll be sure to share this info when all is done and orders have been placed! Right now, I have to get to working hard on getting my female recruits to join this team!
And for those of you who are wondering what R5 stands for? It's RULE #5 (R5) in cycling. Yep, that one. The one with the bad word in it. Doesn't R5 CYCLING sound so AWESOME?!? I absolutely love it. We're THAT team. The team that wants to cycle hard and have fun while doing it. The team that strives to live by Rule #5: Harden the F*CK Up. And you know what? I KNOW that we will be the team that has all of the fun and laughter as we do it too. I feel it in my soul. Have I mentioned what a lucky girl I am? If not, I'm telling you right now. In print. Where I can't ever take it back!!!
Okay, enough team talk. Let's talk about the Tour de France.
First things first, here are the standings in my fantasy league:
I'm not going to go back and offer commentary and details on every stage that has happened since my last blog. You'd stop reading if I did (maybe you already have stopped reading?).
Anyways, VaVa Froome is STILL in yellow you guys! This makes me so excited!
He has over a 4 minute lead on Contador (who moved up a couple of spots due to the phenomenal racing he's been doing the past couple of days). Contador always says he's the strongest in the final week of the Tour and so far, he's putting his money where his mouth is. The past couple of stages, he's tried to attack Froome again and again. But you know what? Froome keeps answering back.
However, I can't write about the success that Froome is continuing to see without calling attention to one of the MAIN reasons why Froome continues to get himself into position to fight for his time in the yellow jersey (and the overall Tour win): it's THIS GUY:
RICHIE PORTE, y'all.
Even though Froome was left to contend all by himself a few stages back because Porte had a really awful stage race, Porte has again returned the past couple of stages to be THE MAN for Froome. Why is Froome continuing to answer back to Contador and other's attempts to cut his lead time? One word: PORTE. And yes, I get it…Froome is an amazing cyclist who obviously has to be able to manage himself to continue to stay in yellow. BUT, he couldn't do it alone for long. Every Tour winner is really only as good as the Team that fights hard every single day to keep him in that lead. Sure, on individual time trials, it's all about the individual cyclist (and Froome has DOMINATED both individual time trials). But what Porte (and the rest of Team Sky) continually do day in and day out is make sure that they are at the front, protecting Froome in the group so that when the Tour ends on Saturday night, he's standing tall on top of the podium at the Champs-Elysees in YELLOW.
And, while Mollema and Contador and Quintana are all fighting hard daily to reduce the time lead that Froome has, I don't think they will catch him before the end (unless something disastrous happens). It is making for some serious watching fun, though. I continued to be amazed and inspired at what each of these cyclists is able to do every stage.
The only downfall to the Tour? Well, there's two, actually. The first downfall is that it's almost over. I'm already going through withdrawal knowing there are so few stages left until the end. I've had an absolute blast watching my first Tour de France and can't wait for next year. The other downfall? The Tour has not been without the controversy that will likely plague it (and the entire sport of cycling) for eternity: doping. And even more specific, the constant nagging from the media directed towards Froome and whether or not he is doping.
I'll give you my stance on doping right here and now: DOPERS SUCK. I don't care what sport you're in. If you have to take PED's of ANY kind, you SUCK. HTFU and do it like the rest of us do: by continuing to push ourselves harder on the bike, maintaining fitness and nutrition as often as possible and taking the time to recover naturally when not on the bike.
Is Froome doping? He says he's not. I really, really, really hope he's not. But, I can only take him at his word right now. I haven't seen any test results that show him testing positive for PED's right now, so I'm hopeful. But, Lance's doping results didn't come out fully until years later and you see what happened there. So, for this moment, I'm going to trust that Froome is telling the truth until I'm given reason to believe otherwise.
I'm proud of the cycling community though, for the steps that they've taken to really address the problem of doping within the sport. Is it completely fixed? Obviously not. Will it ever be completely fixed? Nope. I'm not that naive. It's even sad to hear that racers on my level are resorting to doping for results. That's so completely sad and pathetic. It'll never go away completely. But, they're headed in a better direction for the future and I give them props for that.
So what's next for me? Another 5 days of rest. I'll probably do some more reading (still can't get enough) and I'll finish out my weekend watching the end of the Tour. And then? It's BACK ON THE BIKE. Monday can't come fast enough. It's frustrating not being able to get on my bike to expend the energy and desire that builds up in my body and mind. However, I will follow orders so that I can come back healed and ready to get my ass back in the saddle. Why?
THAT'S WHY.
Happy Cycling!!!
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