Revised summer plans

Earlier this spring I was pondering what kind of solo bicycle adventure to undertake this year. For the most part I've satisfied my curiosities of southern Utah road touring in 2009 and 2010. I mulled some ideas... Denver to the West Coast? Vancouver to San Diego? Tour the northern Rockies? But I'm sick of riding on roads, around cars... I do that every day at work.

Then it hit me solidly: mountain bike the entire Colorado Trail, solo and self supported- 475miles from Denver to Durango, almost all off-pavement and a vast majority on singletrack in the remote Rockies. 63,000ft of elevation gain (more climbing than going from sealevel to Mt Everest's summit twice) with a highpoint at 13,334ft. A very tough ride, I arranged for 3 weeks off work in August and tailored my training to this goal. I'd already been lifting weights and swimming since last autumn, then expanded to also include running, strength circuit training, and long road and mountain bike rides. At the time of my elbow mishap I was training 6 days per week, in addition to riding for work. And still I was nervous I wouldn't be in good enough shape come August to complete the CT without major suffering.

Clearly I won't be attempting the CT this summer. Instead of pushing myself to new personal levels of physical endurance and strength, my world is now going to focus on pushing myself back to what I once took for granted. The CT will be there for me next summer and I intend to tackle it then, in better fitness than I could have achieved this summer and with my bike and equipment situations better thought out. Maybe it's an ok delay. It's a different approach to my summer for sure, but an interesting one all the same.

This week I came up with a rather arbitrary, somewhat haphazard timeline of goals for my elbow rehab. Weekly goals of what I hope to accomplish, more or less. Some are probably overly ambitious, others maybe sandbagging a bit. I basically listed all the things I like to do, ordered with some respect to how difficult they might be given my injury recovery. (goals are cumulative)

Surgery is Wednesday, June 15th. I hope I'll be getting the sutures removed and starting physical therapy about a week later.

6/15     Wk #0     surgery
6/22     Wk #1     "Colorado Bike to Work Day" and sutures removed
6/25                     hit the gym- strength work on legs, abs, lower back, core muscles
6/27                     return to light bike duty at work
7/2       Wk #2     hiking in the mountains and running 3+ miles in the city
7/9       Wk #3     switch from riding mountain bike at work to my Bianchi cyclocross bike (faster, more efficient)
7/16      Wk #4    swimming at the gym, freestyle if possible
7/23      Wk #5    road bike ride on flat terrain, 20+ miles
7/30      Wk #6    ride my track bike for work
8/2        Wk #7    lift weights for chest and shoulders
8/9        Wk #8    start practicing my upright bass
8/16      Wk #9    road bike ride with climbs - ride Lookout Mountain
8/23      Wk #10  do pull-ups
8/30      Wk #11  do push-ups, triceps lifts
9/3        Wk #12  re-join my chamber orchestra for fall session on upright bass
9/10      Wk #13  easy mountain bike ride
9/17      Wk #14  strength circuit training
9/24      Wk #15  moderate mountain bike ride
10/1      Wk #16  road ride up to the Peak-to-Peak Highway
10/8      Wk #17  vigorous mountain bike ride
10/15    Wk #18  ride the Kokopelli Trail (142mi) and/or White Rim Trail (100mi) on my mountain bike
10/22    Wk #19  full free-weight lifting regimen
10/29    Wk #20  back to 'normal' !?

8/4/2012              ride the Colorado Trail !

I'll keep this list updated with my accomplishments and setbacks!