Down Time...

I've been literally down for the past 3-weeks due to a pinched nerve causing huge issues in my left leg - like continuous numbness and very painful burning sensations from my knee cap to my foot, uncontrollable and very severe muscle cramps above the knee in my quads, groin area, and outer hip areas, plus massive pressure sensations in my knee when I walk (when I can walk that is). I've found that sometimes there is nothing to relieve these symptoms (medication, topically, or re-positioning) and reality is that I just have to live through the pain.

After 3-weeks of pain I'm very humbled and beyond ready to be done with it. The real kicker is that I have received ever differing opinions after consulting with chiropractors, physical therapists, and several doctors - Why is it that no one is on the same page with this kind of issue? We all suspect the same cause - either a bulging or herniated disc in the lower back pinching a nerve (I think it's that Saphenous nerve personally). After much research I have determined that surgery is only helpful in 10% of the cases and that these things typically heal themselves on their own in 3-6 weeks, which is defined as 3-6 weeks of essentially no activity (including no work).


I'm sick of sitting (laying) around doing nothing and feeling helpless...Donna (the love of my life) has really done a super job of keeping me contained and well cared for. In the mean time I am dreaming of riding my bike(s) again while at the same time contemplating selling most of my bikes just to pay the bills while I'm not working. Hmmm...reality...


Just to make myself feel good I have gotten on a bike mounted in a trainer for 3-5 minutes at a time when I can (which is typically 1-2 times a day if at all depending on the pain). In the mean time I will continue to dream of riding again and drool over new bikes.

Update: An MRI done today reveals I do have something that is actually causing all this pain. The report states, "At L3-4, there is a massive far left lateral disc extrusion...(that) markedly impinges the exiting left L3 root..." Now that we know the cause, the next step is the treatment options - conservative or surgical? Will know more on Monday after I get a chance to talk out both options with prospective practioners. In the mean time - ouch!

Hot Huckleberry Times

Yep it's stupidly hot out (106-degrees yesterday, near the same today)...the time of year when I need 4-liters of water per hour, but can only absorb 3-liters, I'm always thirsty, my tongue is constantly swollen, my jersey has white salt stains...I'm flat-out baked well-done on any ride!


So the only recourse is to give up the bike (yes, I actually said that), head to the mountains (in the fuel-guzzling-noisy-diesel-monster-Bubba-truck) and pick those delicious little purple berries that have a cool, refreshing taste...better known as huckleberries!


Can you say yum!!! Bikes can rule another day, today is Huckleberry Day!

The Century Mark

Once again down here in the Valley of Hell we're hitting the century mark on the daily temperature scale...


Every year I'm reminded that on the bike 2-3 liters fluid per hour is not enough and that more than that my body simply can not absorb fast enough to stay hydrated. I'm also reminded that riding early in the morning is a good idea as is night riding...I'm not sure why we reserve most of our night riding around here to the late fall and winter months.


The final option is to escape into the baby mountains we have here. At 6000-ft the temps are at least 15-20 degrees cooler, but riding up to that elevation from the valley floor (780-ft) takes a serious toll on the hydration status. The flora is always worth the ride though...

Pinkham Ridge Trail

The Pinkham Ridge Trail is one of my favorite single-track trails in this area. It is short (by my standards), but fun and it provides some nice vistas.


Getting there requires some grunt effort since every possible route to the trail head is uphill which is at a wee 5000-ft elevation (for reference the starting elevation of Asotin is 780-ft and the starting elevation of Headgate County Park (up Asotin Cr. Rd.) is about 1500-ft. There are other starting places that are closer if you're truly that lazy. From Headgate Park it is about 18-miles via the easiest route (all uphill) to the trailhead. The trailhead is not labeled or easy to find and maps (including GPS) are not accurate - truly you just have to know where to go or be willing to do some bushwhacking and hike-a-bike exploring, which is how I found it several years ago. Now I have 3-rideable routes in from the top - no more bushwacking for me.


I've found 5-rideable routes to this trail and 8 different ways down (some of which could also be routes up, but I highly recommend against all but 3 due to the shear pain you would endure climbing them). You can loop this trail down into the Asotin Cr. Trail on 2-different trails down, but the down hills are very steep and technical until you reach the creek far below, so beware and make sure your brakes are in good condition if you ever decided to take this route (I do this route a few times a year just for fun and a good adrenalin rush).


The remaining routes (loops) down are not too technical, but do require some braking if you're fearful of too much speed. There is also the occasional log-hop (or stop, get off, and walk bike over the log) on the way down on 2 of the best single-track routes.


You do have to be aware that the the neighborhood bear may be on the trail (yep, I've met the bear family more than once) so making noise with a bell, talking loudly to yourself, or whistling (which is what I typically do) on the fast down hill is a good idea I've learned. I'm sure the bears do not appreciate the sudden surprise any more than we do, so unless you really get a thrill from running into bears make some noise.

Who's in My Domain?

Out on one of my standard wandering, indecisive, rides up in "my domain" I find someone has invaded my territory...Doug Goodenough was up here somewhere...I could smell him (yeah right, like my nose is that good, but his truck is beyond obvious)...


Instantly I was more decisive on the fork in the road I needed to take for toady's ride. I pedalled up South Fork Asotin Creek following bike tracks that were not mine (a rare thing to see on one of my rides up here), I was curious to say the least. I made a few irresistible stops to admire some of the scenery (aka flowers)...



Up on top (above the 5000-ft elevation level) I decided that I was not going to catch them anytime soon, plus there was an obvious rain cloud preparing to make a direct dump on the area I was in...so I decided to bail since I did not have any rain gear (what can I say, the day started out looking rain-free). The downhill was ultra fast and I was not using much brake since I was trying to outrun the rain that was coming fast. At the fork in the road near where Doug's truck was parked I hung out beneath a pine tree to stay dry as a mild downpoor proceded to soak the area. I spent about 30-minutes there napping and eating (like any good cyclist would do). Remarkably Doug showed up with Bill Arnold (both were slightly wet) and smiling after having such a great ride (see there story and pic here--> Click).


I finished the day with 70+ miles of mountain bike fun, a smile, plus I didn't get wet and I got a nap in...can it get any better than that?

Evening Rides

The single-speed (SS) bikes are back...the Ellsworth has been hogging all the action lately with my race events, but now I'm happy to be riding my SS bikes again.



Lately I've been going out later in the day for some cool sunset rides up in the local mountain areas. The life up there is quite different this time of day and the views are spectacular.



Of course I have a hard time not stopping to look at all the beauty around me...



However, all rides must end sometime (got to sleep sometime to get ready for the next adventure)...

B-day Riding

I've been told by some of the locals that on your birthday you're supposed to double your age and ride that many miles...well I think that is a cool idea, but I have not accomplished such a ride this year. Instead for my birthday I rode the Think Pink SS for a nice long MTB ride up some 6700 feet over 71-miles just for fun. I loved every minute of it and enjoyed the wonderful scenery along the way.


The flowers once again provided some great uplifting sites...



At the high point of the ride I celebrated briefly then turned it towards home for the sweet, fast downhill ride.


I did stop once to check out this little guy...


Small, but powerful I'm sure (I did not provoke him to find out). Rattlers up in this area are quite small for some reason (this one has 6-rattles but was all of 13-inches - note the Ponderosa Pine needle beside it).

8-Hours of The Mad Dash

In my last post I eluded to my next adventure, which was the Mad Dash Mountain Bike Race I did this last weekend. The Mad Dash is a short 8-hour mountain bike race and part of a week long series of events put on by Adventure Sports Week (do click on the name and check out all the incredible events they put on - biking is the least of it). I did this race even though my legs were telling me that they were not nearly recovered enough or ready for this so soon after the 24-hr race a few short weeks before.


We (Scott, from Ride-On Bikes, my trusty friend, mechanic, support-person, chauffeur), arrived the day previous and setup camp with some good friends from Sandpoint, ID, Chris and Leah.


It was another great time around the fire with friends.


The next morning we set up our pit area in the choicest spot there. Scott once again provided support to others, since that is in the spirit of these events and besides we really like everyone we meet.



The background scenery at this venue was the best, most distracting ever...I constantly wanted to stop during my ride (uhhh..race), lay in the grass and just take it all in...


...but instead, I rode for 7-hrs 44-min. during the 8-hour period for a total of 85-miles, which placed me 3rd in my highly competitive age category. What is up with all these 40-49 year old biking animals?


I fueled with real food (home-made bean/rice burritos, some potato chips, and a few datenut bars) and hydrated exclusively with ELETE, an electrolyte suppplement added to water giving it a nicely plain, simple "water" taste. I've gotten to where I hate anything sweet in my drinks and I seem to survive best on plain tasting foods and drinks. I've used ELETE to finish many long events when the sweet drinks were making me want to barf. So this time I decided to start and finish with ELETE and I must say it worked so well that I am having a hard time figuring why it took me this long to just drop all the other sweet stuff my body always seems to reject. Hmmmm...

I had one mechanical, an unsealable flat from a monster nail, which set me back on my 5th lap far enough that I never really recovered from time-wise. This is the second time I've had a large nail puncture that my tubeless sealant (Stan's NoTubes) just could not seal up. Both times the tire was a Bontrager Jones ACX - a super dependable tire for traction, but seems to be a nail magnet. In fact this same tire type, I've had 3-other nail flats when tubed. So the end result is that I'm a bit wary of using the Jones ACX anymore in an event even though I love the consistent traction it provides in corners. Hmmm...I have the think about this some more.


I truly had a great time during this ride, the course was fun, as well as the friends I had time to visit with. I did end up getting some time to lay in the grass...caught a little nap also while enjoying the ultra eye-pleasing background, dreaming of my next little (non-racing) adventure...

Finding My Legs Again

Now that my bottom is feeling better, several days after my recent painful adventure, I'm back in the saddle trying to find my legs again. Warm, sunny days and fields of color definitely help distract from any pain and provide the motivation to keep going.


I just can not say enough about how uplifting a field full of flowers is to me...I could ride in such scenery all day and never feel tired.


But every blissful, flowery day must end for the there is always a need to return home. It's always a dreadful trip since it seems that the route home is always a hot one via one of several blast-furnace pipeline options...the roads home become stupidly hot, parching experiences starting this time of year.

The good news today is that I found Jiminy Cricket alive and well...time for some song and dance, just in time for the next little adventure...