It was supposed to be 100 miles but the crazy California weather this winter led to a slightly shorter course than was originally planned. So there's an event here in Bakersfield called 'The Rock Cobbler'. It's a crazy gravel race/adventure ride/suffer fest. I ride a lot of mountain bike but spend almost no time on the pavement. This race mixes the two and adds considerably with craziness, difficulty, distance and shenanigans. It's a really good time but very, very, very difficult. I participated in the first 'Rock Cobbler' a few years ago but haven't been ready for it since. When I booked my bilateral surgeries for April 2016 I was already tentatively planning or, better yet,
hoping, to possibly recover enough to take part in 2017. Even though I knew maybe I was biting off more than I could chew in that amount of time I desperately wanted to accomplish this task if at all possible.
Very early in my recovery I began riding a spin bike a bit at home for very short periods of time. Over the summer I rode as much as I felt like I could, including more time outside in the mountains than I should have for my early stage of recovery. I learned quickly that this 'recovery' thing was going to be a long process and I had muscles that still had plenty of healing to do. I over did it plenty of times and learned a lot about how hard to push. I had big plans to put in the time and effort to get back into shape... and then, winter arrived. Let's just say riding outside, in the dirt has been difficult. So, back to the spin bike I went... HARD. I rode the thing 2-4 times a week for months and tried to put in a few big weekend rides. Sometimes these rides were in the dirt, if the weather permitted, or I jumped on my hardtail mountain bike and logged miles and climb. My last training ride was from my house to our mountain cabin. 55 miles and 7700 feet of elevation gain. It was a long day but I pedaled well. I was as ready as I could be.
So the Rock Cobbler was Sunday the 12th of February. 300 entries from as far away as Canada from what I hear. Over the course of the day I rode with guys from the Bay Area of Ca, San Diego, and a big group from Las Vegas. I set very realistic goals for my race/ride and that was simply to take my time and finish the race and check it off my list of recovery goals. Holding back was difficult as I'm usually a pretty hard-charger but 'racing' wasn't the goal today. We've had an incredible amount of rain here this year so the course was a muddy mess in many places. There were two creek crossings, one with water deep enough and fast enough that they put up safety ropes. The water was nearly waist deep and moving very fast. There were two several hundred foot tall 'Run ups' that we all basically crawled up, with our bikes, while being cheered, heckled, and having beach balls thrown at us all to be applauded at the top and offered water, or pineapple juice, or a beer, or a shot of Fireball Whiskey while a DJ blasted party music. Many of the climbs that accounted for the 6,000 or so feet of climbing were very, very steep and the scenery was pretty amazing. While the rain made for slow, sloppy, sticky conditions it also made for beautiful lush green foothills which is nice in such a dry area.
Seems like I'm rambling a bit so I'll try to wrap it up. I know I still am recovering but for where I'm at I pedaled well and could not be more pleased with how it went. I finished very respectably about mid pack I'd guess. My hips were never, ever an issue and things like the 'Run ups' were much easier(than before) with properly functioning hips. I am so incredibly humbly grateful to have been offered another chance at athletic activities like this following my hip replacements that I have a hard time putting it into words. Anyway, I'm going to take a couple rest days to recover and then it's back on the bike and to the gym to keep up the progress! My girlfriend and I and our dog have lots of outdoor adventures planned for the summer if the rain ever stops and the snow melts.
I hope everyone else here recovering well and/or enjoying their new hips as much as I am.
Topic: 10 Months Later. 90 Mile 'Suffer-Fest' on a bike! (Read 4024 times)
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