I was going to do the Oval Ride yesterday, but I decided it’d be better to take matters into my own hands and go hard only when I wanted to due to the fragile state my knee has been in. Yesterday was the first day that it wasn’t hurting, and I didn’t want to make it explode on a lung busting group ride.

Instead, I took the mountain bike and rode Blue Sky Trail in Fort Collins. Unfortunately, executing this ride wasn’t so simple. I have Stan’s in both my wheels and Jeff lives about 45 minutes from the trailhead. Halfway there, I felt something wet spewing up my leg (get your mind out of the gutter!). I kept going hoping the tire would seal. Denied. I tried to add air to the tire with hopes of the hole sealing, but Stan’s would erupt like a geyser if I got above 10psi. Mind you, I flatted on pavement – guess I ran over a nail or something.

Somehow I am able to clean technical sections with ease on my mountain bike, but in real life, I am very clumsy. I trip over cracks in the sidewalk and if there is a chainring in site, it usually claims some skin.

After a few tries, I decided to add a tube. I just had one spare, so I decided to head back to Jeff’s, get another tube just in case (after almost getting stranded a month ago, I didn’t want to take my chances), hit the reset button like when you’d get pissed playing the old school Nintendo, and headed out.

I actually saw the Oval Ride in Horsetooth Park on my way out. I barely recognized Jeff – he was off the front from the main pack. He looked so itty bitty on his road bike.

Horsetooth Park

and then I reached the trail….

My knee wasn’t hurting at all, and coach told me I could go hard if I felt ok. I have not done any intensity since September-October. I have been in a zone 2 euphoria for quite a long time, so I started to give ‘er.

It was so warm that I was riding in short sleeves and knee warmers.

I tried to ride at XC pace and would explode after 5 minutes, recover for a minute, then throttle again. I definitely have some building to to do on the intensity front. Back in August, I could ride 50 miles at that pace. ha ha The distant memory of suffering always seems to be worse than I remember for the first couple efforts every year after base. I was drooling a little bit, tasting iron, and had the suffer cough after I got back. I couldn’t completely let it go because there were a lot of people on the trail, but it was good enough.

A little excitement on the way back – doggie on the loose. The dog catcher was out in full force.

And Kerkove kooked up some yummy dinner. mmm hmmm.