Trek Demos

A fleet of 2012 models will be out at Murphy Oct 1 & 2. Come on out, trade your drivers license for a bike worth more than your car, and ride.

On a personal note, my knee is getting better, but these tendon things take time. I've been riding a lot on my new Cronus CX Ultimate. Doing some gravel. The bike is pretty and sweet, pretty sweet. Not as stiff in the front end as the Focus Mares was, but that is a good thing for rough cross riding and all gravel centuries IMO. When it comes to the BB, the 90mm shell with press in bearings provides a lot of go when you stand up and mash. Another neat feature is the fork mounted cable hanger, which does away with fork chatter.

Will I be out there at the CX races this season? I don't know. I am terribly out of shape, I have lost weight but it certainly didn't come of my belly, and my knee hurts when I ride hard. But, yes there is a but, after every hard ride I do, given a few days rest, my knee feels better than before.

See you at the demo!

Progress

Breaking up scar tissue. Tendon gonna be smooth as butter, the good stuff. None of that I-can't-believe crap.

I'll admit, there was a time in my life, not too long ago, when I couldn't believe. Everything tasted like margarine (mainly because I was eating a lot of margarine). But no more. No more, I tell you. Things are changing. Life is starting to taste like good ol' saturated fat again.

What gives? Well let me tell you: blood doping has worked wonders; as well as butter-knifing (as they say [whoever "they" are]); as well as using every possible punctuation mark in one sentence.?! But there is one thing, above all else, that has catalyzed my recovery. . .

It was not this non-believer; that's for sure (burn in hell, Fabio). . .  

. . .It was this little dude, reminding us what it's all about.

Enjoy.

PRP

Fed up with the PT I was seeing, I saw an actual sports doc last week. An MRI the same day showed that his diagnosis of tendinosis (hey, that rhymed) was correct. He recommended a procedure called platelet-rich plasma. Dr. Moser (that's my doctor) told me all about PRP: hemotobin-this, growth-factor-that, mumbo jumbo, insurance doesn't cover it. . . . The internets, however, told me that PRP is an injection that pro athletes have been getting for years, with very promising results. If the pros do it, then it's got to be good, especially if the internet says so. It didn't sound too painful or anything. It involves having 10cc of blood drawn, which is then spun in a centrifuge in order to separate the super awesome blood from all the other stuff. The super blood is then injected into the tendon. A technique called needling is used during the injection, which is a euphemism for viciously stabbing the tendon in various areas for what seems like 10 minutes. At no point during my brief internet research did it say anything about "needling." No where did it say I would nearly pass out from the pain. Do the pros pass out? My vision went grainy like the picture on an old TV that has a coat-hanger for an antenna. I tried tilting my head in different ways for better reception. The florescent lights were very bright. The ceiling tiles were the kind with the little holes in them. "Almost there," he said. I was breathing as if I were having a baby. The similarities were obvious. I was on a table, and a man was standing between my legs. He coached me on how to breath: "Deep breaths now. That's right. Good." I heard someone start to cry, maybe myself. And then it was over. It was the happiest moment of my life. As I hobbled out, taking those first baby steps, the patients in the waiting room looked up from their magazines, pretending not to be amazed. But they were. I could tell.

What the Physical Therapist Said

One week in PT and I think I'm getting better. Initially she said it was quadriceps tendinitis, which is very rare, and she has never seen it in 15 years as a PT. She gave me a take-home electro-shock therapy kit; told me to do some eccentric exercises--stepdowns with 30lb in a backpack.

I think I am getting better. Maybe. One thing for sure is that the pain has become more localized. What used to be a general ache/burn in the upper knee area, has subsided to an area I can pinpoint on the upper medial portion of the knee. What does this mean? It meant we sat there ($100-an-hour sitting) and looked at an anatomy book for something other than tendinitis. It is not reassuring to hear the therapist say that she doesn't know what to do with me. I don't know what to do with me either. Is there anyone who knows what to do with me?

Keeping my hopes up. I know I'll get back on the bike eventually. Worst case, I'll become an avid canoeist.

What the doctor said

The joint is fine. The pain is coming from the VMO musculotendonis junction. There is a strain where the tendon meets muscle. With physical therapy, it should be a quick recovery.

Getting Good at Being Lazy

It's not easy, this inactivity, this couch-sitting, this watching people jogging outside my window. The trick is you have to be orderly. No dillydallying. You have to schedule your inactivity in order to make the best use of time. Intervals are the key. This is what works for me: (3 hours laying on the couch @ HR of 58) x 3 reps. In between reps, un-rest for 5 min by going to the bathroom, making tea, eating spinach, etc.

I think I have quadriceps tendinitis. People have informed me that the burning sensation I get above the knee cap while driving points to tendinitis. Thinking I had a patella tracking problem, I had been doing exercises to strengthen the quad, which is not what you want to do if you have tendinitis. Currently I am experimenting with intervals of RICE, foam roller, and light stretching.

Advice welcome

Don't Do What I Did.

I did it, single speeded myself into the ground. Or maybe it was xc skiing, or pugging, or running, or_fill in the blank_. As some of you know, my right knee has been messed up for a few months now. It isn't all that painful, more like a dull, background pain that is always there, and flares up with activity. I do a lot of driving commuting to school, and strangely, just sitting in the car is when my knee bothers me the most. It might have something to do with the many fine movements one has to do correct speed. Cruise control would be nice.

I haven't seen a doctor or specialist, but have talked with a number of cyclists who have had similar problems. Rest they tell me. Listen to your body. They tell me to do these stretchy-band exercises. And I do. I do the stupid stretchy-band exercises. But my knee doesn't get much better.

Having a high deductible insurance plan, I have been ambivalent about seeing a doctor. I think I am ready though, ready to shell out the big bucks. But you know what they are going to tell me? I just know what they're going to say: "Well, Cody, your symptoms point to a number of possible problems. Without an MRI I can't be sure just what it is. Go home and rest for a few months. Strengthen your quads. You know where the quads are, right? Here--take this stretchy-band. It's free."

If you don't see me at the races this summer, I'll be at home, in front of the TV, drinking beer, maybe a tear running down my unshaven cheek, maybe not, but certainly there will be a giant rubberband fastened to a chair leg, the other end shackled around my ankle.

I am young and stupid. I did not listen to my body. It's a lot like having a girlfriend or a wife--you have to listen to them (not just once in a while; all the time). Ignore her too long and she will slam your head in a door, throw spike-healed shoes at you, make you watch American Idol. Listen to her or she will make you hurt.