Whirlwind Month in Pics....

A whirlwind past few weeks...

From prepping for another phenomenal summer (to include spending most of it in the Rockies, kicking bootay at the Breck Epic and some XTERRAs)....to major OUCH, to ANOTHER knee surgery (2nd in 8 months...ugh), lots of tears and why-me-pity-parties to being lost w/out goals, exertion, stoke...to switching gears, reflection, appreciation, lots of rehab, legs propped up, more tears, more fat, new body, tears, to hanging w/friends and family, swimming, paddling, reading, writing, trainer "sessions", eventually some flatland pedaling, a new lens, some camping in CO, then finally to some dirt, even some lung-sucking, grin-producing climbing...boom!

Blissful reunion.   Giddy in fact, not to mention that it was way up high above the treeline.  High-altitude...my bliss.  No ball-busting paces and still no techy singletrack but some epic rides/views nevertheless. I've even found some doubletrack worthy of praise!  Still a long way to go, still no running (sigh), still being very cautious, and perhaps never hit hard efforts again. 

But....summertime keeps ya dreaming, keeps stoke alive, esp that Rocky Mountain high.

Patience and restraint....lessons of summer 2014 (so far).

DH pedals for the roadbike (needed flats to layoff the tender hammie).

No QOM hunting this summer.....just hunting for self-earned wind in face, epic views, HR above 70 (finally!), some solitude,.....score!  

Bedrest led to walks, to trainer sessions, to some flat-land pedaling to some climbs and eventually....Colorado Trail!

Giddy....trail, flow, elevation, wildflowers, pow!

Embrace the day!

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Slide Fire

Quick post and a few pics from my tiny lil optic/experience w/the recent devastating Slide Fire up Oak Creek Canyon.  I was on the other side of the globe when it broke out and started getting bombarded by friends' emails asking if my house was ok. (Yes, mi casa is surrounded by far more pavement/urbania that I'd like.....hopefully the market will improve soon so I can get my bootay farther off-grid.)  

Knowing/loving this unique area intimately (see two links below* for some recent pics/adventures), knowing some of the local firefighters, remembering the tragedy last year of losing those fallen 19 FFs at the Yarnell fire, and already constantly annoyed by the tourists, their "need" for campfires and cigarettes, it was driving me nuts to hear about it -- the safety of the people working the fire, the air quality for my friends nearby, the wildlife, and of course preserving the gorgeous land itself.  

I finally got back into town late in the afternoon, with sight of the huge plumes of smoke filling the sky visible from miles away.  See this fantastic pic taken by my local insta-bud Drtjump....  Pretty much sums up the grandeur and what it looked like rolling back in town from the south.  Urghhh....

I was happy to be home and to finally sleep in my own bed, but at 0330 woke up feeling like I was going to suffocate because the air quality was so bad. In town, we were getting this weird atmospheric inverse(?) each night/morning which pushed most of the smoke/ash down the canyon to us.  It had somewhat cleared up by midday, but after another night of that, I decided to just pack up the truck/bike/sup and hit the hills for a few days.  Headed up to unaffected perches of the Mogollon Rim to camp, fend off some jetlag and reacquaint myself w/AZ.  

Much respect to those working the fire (the work continues) and to those still trying to find the perpetrator.  

PSA: 
Please don't smoke in AZ. 
Please don't feel the need to have a campfire just bc you're sleeping outside.  Wear a jacket.  
Eat normal food that need not be charred.  
Plan ahead. 
If you must have a fire, do so responsibly.....in a "safe" area, conscious of wind/etc., have a shovel/ax, don't leave it unattended, and don't leave the area until you know (for hours!!) that's it's totally out.  
It's like clearing a weapon -- check it once, twice, friggin 10 times!

Anyway, the fire is contained up to about 90-95% today and the air is clearer earlier in the days now.  

A few pics always trump words....


Base camp elsewhere for a few days....

Once back home, still nursing a tender knee, I thought early the next morn would be the best time to get in a road ride assuming the air quality wouldn't be too bad . . . up the canyon to spin the legs and to see the carnage.  (The road would otherwise be closed for the next month since they're doing construction at the switchbacks/top anyway....meaning less traffic too...an added perk!)

Taken from just north of town looking up the canyon; you can barely see Midgley bridge here.

Below...as I posted on IG:  "Expecting the worse but found some of the best: still lots of green, no traffic, songbirds and ravens flew alongside, two herds of deer, a few skunks, lots of chipmunks, rested firefighters, clean air by 0830, oh and an un-achy knee.  #makinglemonade #slidefire #sliderock #cycling #pleasedontsmokeinaz#pleasewearajacketnotacampfire #ijustwannaride"

(Slide Rock....a little over an later on my way back down the canyon...wind had picked up and much of the smoke had lifted. First time I've EVER not seen hordes of people playing in the water...it was awesome to say the least!)

There was definitely some carnage up there but with all the green foliage in full bloom, it was hard to see.  (But you can scour the internet for pics the crews took of the burns; personally I didn't leave the pavement....still not allowed to anyway as the fire is not 100% contained.) Surely the carnage on the eastside of the ridgeline (west of road) will be more exposed in the winter.

Please burn responsibly.

* Links: 
 - Schillingsworth's tale of our recent traverse of the top of the canyon along the rim which btw during the fire was all totally closed off and perhaps burned (definitely the Woody area); 
 - Half-Dirty Century  - an old post of mine.




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An Update, Some Pics, a PSA & Tribute to Repo...

Because I haven't been able to handle the suck-factor of saying over and over and over and over: "Thanks for asking, but no, I'm sorry I can't go ride/run/play/etc w/you today either because....knee...old....no there's nothing docs can do....patellar...osteo...broken bone-chips....blah blah blah", I've pretty much gone off the social grid for a while. Saying it over and over doesn't exactly reinforce optimism so I opted to just not be faced w/having to answer everyone's questions , although I really do know you/they all mean well).

So, yeah yeah yeah, all is fine, and at the end of the day, it's a grand old world out there and maybe sometimes better appreciated at a slow speed (boring! ha!).  I've got some awesome friends and family and I couldn't be better blessed/lucky in that department!!
Thanks for the invites and don't give up on me....I plan to join in again soon!  Life is good!  61+ years to go still!

So, same ol same ol....ol knee is really no better/worse than 1 week before/after surgery. $30K wasted and humility gained.  I've accepted laying off certain activities for a while, and I've been able to incorporate some hiking, some decent riding miles although mainly road (new roadbike!), the canals and fireroads and a few miles of singletrack here and there.  No real singletrack, definitely no descending.  And every few days, there've been some short "runs".  I definitely miss running the most...the freedom, the speed, the simplicity and definitely the runner's bod (and the nightly cookies)! :)

Shonny & Wild Horses @ Salt River

Donkey

 

Some canal riding down in the valley....still amazes me that this is so close to Urbania.

Schilling leading the way on a lil exploratory ride.

Hiking "Hangover" w/Turner dog and his mama Timoni.

GET STRONGER / FIX YO'SELF (PSA) . . . 

Also,  have been working on LOTS of work on STRENGTH/MOBILITY - the other reason for this post.  If you're my family reading this (or even some blog-cruiser), listen up....  

Over the past few years, I kept thinking, I run I ride I climb blah blah blah why in the heck would I need to touch weights and gain strength?!  I'm already strong!!  Why? ...well because I most likely could've avoided -- or at least postponed -- a lot of the permanent damage in my knees.

As triathletes/runners/cyclists, we hear this all the time, but most of us or like "whatever...won't happen to me, I'm invincible! I'm strong! I'm a bad-ass!"   And sometimes WE need it most, because we're always only moving in one direction...forward!  Our lateral mobility, our core strength, dynamic strength, etc is generally lacking sorely. And lord help us if we ever have to jump vertically! We further neglect what we don't use and any little idiosyncrasie is amplified and before ya know it, joints aren't tracking properly, muscles/tendons/soft-tissue/etc might get all mangled and simply trying to adapt to our bad form. Of course, this leads into a zillion topics and lessons, but I wanted to at least highlight a few steps to improving yourself ASAP!

If you're super-athletic or happy in retirement and fishing from a boat....take care of yourself, keep up your strength, your mobility,...!  At least do some basics. Use weights....they need not be supremely heavy, but use some.  And really, it's all about your FORM and ENGAGING PROPERLY.

Over the past 10 yrs, I actually thought I was doing the best things...kept 'working out' and even regularly did lots of strength yoga; but looking back, there were a lot of subtle form faults I had...more like "workarounds" that I invented.  From the outside, it looked fine, but I wasn't "engaging" what really needed to be engaged.  Form, form, form!!   Start w/your body weight for the first few weeks if that's all you can do. Then work on weights, more dynamics later.  Make iT fun, just do it.  Women in my family....this is mainly for you!!!  Either way, I feel obligated to put this out there.  I wish I'd been pressured/bullied into more of this sooner.  Yes, there's so much we should be doing, but at least start here....the absolute basics! All ya might need is a band ($5), and you can improvise w/everything else til ya get it dialed in.  You'll notice a difference after the first session or two!  Do it!    (Got questions? hit me up! I'll bombard you w/references/ videos/whatever...I want everyone healthy!  And family: next time we're all at the river-house, there shall be group sessions on the dock! :-)

LIVIN' . . . 

Ok, so after that PSA, here are some obligatory photos of the warmest/driest winter I've experienced in AZ.  For immediate selfish reasons, it's been awesome.  For the potential problems in the future (drought, summer fires, forest closures, wildlife dismay, etc.), it's really not been ideal.  Hopefully, we'll get some precip soon.

Up Mingus on the roadbike.

Went out for my first "big" day on the MTB and was just gonna stick mainly to old jeep/mining roads and play it by ear.  Had my first ever sidewall slice (actually my first flat in 4+ years) so of course I was ill-prepared and got to walk 4 miles to the "main" dirt road (was walking on it for an hour before the first truck rolled by...dusted me out), then I hitched a ride w/a local landscaper and his wife for another 20 mins on dirt then about 20 mins back into town on hardball.  I sat happily in the back w/a bunch of rakes, hoes, shovels, chainsaw, weedeater and ol caballo.  Somehow, I was still absolutely stoked about finally getting a healthy dose of sunshine and challenge, both which I've been lacking lately.

Just a mere moment before the torn sidewall. Pedaling out of that wash below, I heard pshhhhhhhh, for all of about 10 secs. When I took this pic, I thought, wow, what a gorgeous day, then...pshhhhhhh. Ha!

At least I had a good view when walking the carbon caballo.

Last time that we (me & the mtb) had to hitch a ride, I met/found one of the coolest guys all the planet.  (Not really the case on this day though, or at least I don't think so....they didn't speak much english nor I much espanol. I think they thought I was nuts.  Yeah, prolly.)

1st venture on singletrack in over a month. Some hard-earned views way up there (ie. HAB)

Back toward Mingus.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't post one more pic of Repo who lived his last day last week and was laid to rest today.  Always making us laugh, contributing to the world and living his life fully...
Respect.

Out.

Makin' Lemonade Outta Injury/Recovery...

Well, knee surgery has come and gone. 

I was on the bike the very next morning.  Of course it was just a stationary trainer at the phys therapist's office, but I was surprised (and excited, and scared) that they'd wanted me on it so quickly. Seven whole minutes.  

I was pretty optimistic the first week.  But it's been three now and it still hurts.  The worst of the pain is gone (the bone fragment that had gotten lodged in the joint), but the bone-on-bone dead front/center of the kneecap....ouch.  Trying to be optimistic, trying to be patient, definitely being conservative.  I realize this is NOT one of those times to "suck it up" and push through it, as doing so would just fracture the bone further. I've been super lucky to be in the hands of the team at Athlete's Performance, although they can't help when it comes down to my impatience, my "wear and tear" and now travelling again.

Was so hard to go from all day of riding/playing this summer to nada, zip, zilch.  All that altitude/base/climbing work...gone.  The positive, however, though is that AT LEAST I GOT SOME AMAZING RIDING IN THIS YEAR!  Keep having to remind myself of that!  Colorado multiple times, Chile/Andes and home sweet home Arizona.  Definitely earned some good dirt this year (and a few podium spots somehow).  I'll savor that, but we all know it's really all about TOMORROW.  So, I'm hopeful I won't have to rely on past memories.

And not that I like lap-swimming (hate it!), but I was really looking forward to getting the stitches out and at least getting back in the pool. Was craving getting my heart-rate up again.  The the Dr said "no"...wait another week for the ports to close/heal up.  Ughhh.  

So, I loaded up the truck with my bike/trainer, all the cold-weather clothes I own and my buddies' dog who I was supposed to dog-sit for anyway (I love me some Turner!), and headed back to Colorado.  I figured I could sulk at home or sulk at 9500' elev and w/a new view; also knew I would never go there if I weren't injured as I hate the cold and feel limited in snow.  So, this was a perfect time to see its awe, pedal in place and try something new. 

In the interim, some random shots of what kept me occupied before/during/after surgery.  Thank goodness for good friends and amazing canines! :)

Buddy Jen & me. Two desert rats trying out some SUP (paddleboardin'). 

Looking for wild burros out on the paddleboard the night before surgery. (A redrockchica "tradition" it seems.) 

One of the several loose bone fragments Dr pulled out.

36 hrs later on trainer. John/Jen's back deck...w/loyal ol' Kelly-dog.

Loaded up and heading to the Rockies. Turner-dog in tow.

Of course, a blizzard hit immediately. Turned out to be kinda fun.

Vid - Turner lovin' it!

The next morning.  Ooo la la.

Then back to AZ...

My first "real" ride.  My buddy Schillingsworth gave me a tour of some of the canal routes and hung back at my snail's pace. Flat but at least outside!  Happy to have wind in my face again. (Don't mock the kit, I was out of practice and it was surprisingly freezing down in the valley. Whatevah!)

Extra big thanks to the crew who put up w/my injured ol' bootay and who cut me some slack on me being jealous every time they talked about their adventures outside!  Especially thanks to Jen, John, the girls, Dredd, Ed, RE, BP, Matt, MB, JZ,...gracias!!

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Rambling...

 Looking up toward (and longing for) Four Peaks.

for those with whom i've been slack on comms recently....sorry.  no valid excuses.  just some insight....

w/this injured hinge, i'm living inside a body in which i'm not familiar, not at home.  it doesn't do what the rest of it wants to do.  it wants to sprint up a mountain, pedal over a crest, a million other things that it doesn't even yet know it wants til it gets its urge.  

but now it's just a shell that the girl inside is trying so hard not to be mad at, trying to stay loyal and thankful because that same shell -- and broken hinge -- is pretty much solely responsible for the best days of her life, biggest/hardest lessons learned in life, and surely for some of the biggest grins ever.  

the heart and soul and legs and lungs and wild eyes want to run as hard as i can, but the hinge won't have it. that little millimeter of "ouch" is a meteor-size NO!   so while i have all this time on my hands, it'd seem easy, practical actually, to just take advantage of doing other things, and perhaps to get to know someone/something new.  but it's not that easy.  i dont want someone learning this version of me.  i dont even like this version of me.  it's foreign.  it's so far out of my element and comfort zone.  it's a lot to handle up in the ol 'nogin.

spoiled i must sound, and spoiled i surely am.  my life has been about movement about freedom about doing what the body wants....and now the emergency brake is on and i dont want it to be.  time is ticking and i've got to relearn a rhythm...hopefully a temporary one in hopes that this is fixable, that I myself will be fixable.

i rely on no one but myself for contentment, for fun, for grins, for satisfaction....and right now i've let myself down.  but i can't be mad at that little worn-out hinge.  i've surely abused it, and i'm sure it's already given me, in my short lifetime, far more than most would ever dream of.  so woe is me and my spoiled rotten little pity party, haha.  i'll survive.  it's not cancer, i realize. life is not over.  but it is a big deal for me and showing myself in this light is ill-advised.  while yes, it's the real me, it's not the best me, and it's really not even a passing grade.  i'm too distracted w/HEAL HEAL HEAL...

in the interim, there's a big ol purty world outside and i need to admire it...and figure out how to either get me running on its ridgelines and/or just exploring it while letting the lil hinge heal up.

And finally, the sun setting upon Four Peaks....a special few moments of pure chance that I was able to see the sunkiss upon the peaks in the one saddle where the peaks peaked through.  A sweet ending to a sweet day....