Some years ago I skied over to the midmountain lodge at our local ski resort. On my back, I carried a pack with a box of wine and a very large bag of marinating teriyaki chicken. Conditions were infinite blue sky and heavy, wet, gloppy spring snow known as "Sierra cement" (remember this vital fact...it's important).
Leaning on skis outside the lodge, someone cracked a joke. I laughed. Guess I shouldn't have. I leaned back to hoot, threw myself off balance and started to slide backwards downhill. No problemo to an old ski hound like myself. Right. Went to casually pick up my ski to edge into the snow. But the tails were submarining into the glop. No go. I went into a slow, unstoppable split. The wheels of Fate ground slowly closed. I "heard" or at least felt the knee ligaments pop like piano wires.
Took me almost a year and lots of leg extensions to be able to get full flexion and recovery in my knee. As some of you can attest, physical therapy can be a painful pisser. But I'm back. It's a funny story now that people sometimes tell. Except for the occasional tendinitis (like right now) that fires up and throws me off training routine. Right now I'm doing 10-15 miles a day and look forward to a few months of "getting it back".
While sometimes frustrating, it humbly reminds me of my mortality out there on the road and gives me an opportunity to keep starting over Rocky-style and returning to whatever form I have locked inside of me.....even if I do sometimes appear to be Sisyphus endlessly pushing his rock up the hill.
So, anyone care to share their "I've lived a full, active life and have the dents-and-dings to show for it" experiences. Might be encouraging (or, maybe too revealing) for us to share some of the nagging impediments we overcome to follow our cycling life-style.
I realize this is long and an off-the-wall thread.
