My First Good Day...

In a minute...

I measured my quads last night, because my left leg looks shriveled to me. It turns out that I lost 1.5 inches (circumference) of girth off of my left quad during the last 4 weeks (two of which I have been riding... or something like riding). This is in comparison to the right quad (measured along my cycling short tan line), which also lost some muscle for sure. I thought that was a lot... no wonder I can see a difference and it really looks a lot better than it did a week ago.

I knew it was bound to happen and it finally did. I felt weak all weekend, but still managed a 3 hour ride... the NP result? A measly 210 watts and I felt like I was really working. Both legs were fried after the effort, which was my main goal for the workout... I want to make sure that my left leg is getting a hard workout regardless of what else happens. I know I am overcompensating with my right leg to keep up with whoever I am riding with, but the power meter results are horrible (left leg measurement only on ergomo- that is the leg I fractured). Obviously, this shows my left leg is not putting out.

After two weeks of 150W to 205W efforts, I went out for the Tuesday night group ride. Within ten turns of the cranks and I new that I had turned the corner. My power meter lit up in front of me and showed 220 Watts while I was warming up. I cant explain it really, but it seemed more like I had purchased a new meter that was now working. The perceived effort was the same as throughout the last two weeks, but my left leg was putting out.

It was great... every additional watt that my lefty will put out is obviously needed. I went out with the race team and held through several hills. I broke off before I got dropped and did some work on my own while waiting for the slower group to catch me. After 20 minutes, I had a NP of 260Watts or so and wound up with an hour and a half at 230 Watts I think. I spent some time over 500 Watts for the first time since the injury and even sprinted up to 700 Watts for a spell.

This is the first week of my retraining program. The program will be separated into two sections... aerobic and anaerobic. The 4-5 week aerobic program will consist of two key workouts per week... Tuesday will consist of VO2 max intervals (increasing from 3 to 5 intervals, in duration from 3 to 6 minutes, and in intensity from 1.1 % to 1.13% FTP) and Thursday will consist of FTP workouts (working toward 2 intervals of 20 min and 98% FTP). The prescribed VO2 intervals seem too tough and if they are, I will adjust as I go.

My Protector... Madonna del Ghisello

I am Catholic. This is not as popular in the bible belt as it is throughout the rest of the US and the world. Many rumors are spread throughout the southeast about what Catholics believe and don't believe, and I am certainly not interested in discussing these in this forum. One practice of devout Catholics is the wearing of medals. The Church's stance on this is that we are honoring a saint or holy figure by wearing their picture... almost a walking shrine in honor of them. That it is similar to keeping your grandmother's locket in your pocket... or a loved ones picture close to your bed... it is a item for remembrance and honor for the person depicted in the image.

Now... legend says something more. For many years, people have claimed protection from demons, protection from wrongdoing, and protection from injury and sickness by wearing a certain saint's medal. Sometimes they go even further than that... You may have heard that by burying a statue of St. Joseph (the saint of lost hope), your house will sell. I can tell you, by the way, that this has worked for nearly everyone in my extended family... houses that were on the market for 3 months and longer sell within a week of burying the statue... it really is freaky.

As a cyclist and a Catholic, I am obviously a madman... cyclists are almost always superstitious as are Catholics as are Italians (I am only 1/4 but most of my family tradition comes from that side), so why not work that into a religious belief and let it run. That was what I did nearly a year ago... I purchased a religious medal of the Madonna Del Ghisallo (the patron saint of cyclists).

The legend and back story are as follows...

Madonna del Ghisallo is a hill close to Lake Como in Italy. It is named after a legendary Marian apparition. According to the legend the Medieval count Ghisallo was being attacked by bandits when he saw an image of Virgin Mary at a shrine. He ran to it and was saved from the robbers.

Madonna del Ghisallo became a patroness of local travellers. In later times Madonna del Ghisallo became part of the Giro di Lombardia. In 1949 the local priest Father Ermelindo Vigano proposed to declare Madonna del Ghisallo the patroness of cyclists. This was admitted by Pope Pius XII. Nowadays the shrine of Madonna del Ghisallo contains a small cycling museum with photos and artifacts from the sport. There also burns an eternal flame for cyclists who have died. One particularly notable artifact is the crumpled bicycle that Fabio Casartelli, a native of the region, rode on the day he died in a crash in the Tour de France.

I would be shocked if any serious cyclist had not heard of the Madonna del Ghisallo shrine in Italy (pictured). Here is my story and why it applies... Since I purchased the medal, I have worn it on nearly every ride. I have ridden an average of 6 days a week for the past year so we are talking about around 300 rides. I figure that I have forgotten to wear the necklace with the medal on maybe 15 rides and it is probably closer to 10.

I know this is dragging out, but walk with me a little longer.

The day I wrecked, we were out with the team plus a few on an 80 miler or so. I wrecked at around mile 65 or so I think. When we were 20 miles in, we were rotating in an echelon when three large, junk yard dogs ran right in front of us. Now, we all know that more than one dog in a group of cyclists is trouble... the three dogs cut our group to pieces... brakes locking everywhere but there was no time to stop... we all slid through the dog pack... cyclists dodging both sides of all three dogs... and we all came out the other side unscathed. It was amazing... I threaded the needle between two running and dodging dogs and I had 5 inches to spare on either side and avoided the guy in front of me who had braked hard. I reached inside of my jersey to see if the Madonna had saved me and realized that I was not wearing it. I actually thought to myself, "well I guess I don't need it after all."

You know the rest of the story... fractured femur later in the ride...

Out of 300 or so rides in the last year, I have not worn the medal 10-15 times. I have wrecked twice during this time frame and was not wearing the medal either of those times...

Needless to say, it has not left my chest since...

1st Week Back... Patience... Patience...

First day back was Tuesday. I rode a lack luster ride that night and really came away feeling like it might be a long recovery regardless of what I said in my last post. I took off Wednesday (trying to come back slowly)... I went out on a group ride on Thursday night... felt better, much better. I went out with the A group... a group of guys that are all great cyclists, but are no longer interested in riding with the racers that have developed in middle Georgia over the last few seasons. I hung in there for over an hour and had some decent efforts along the way... I dropped for two reasons... 1) my muscles felt tired in my bad leg, and 2) I bonked horribly. I don't know what the deal is, but since I have come back from injury, I seem to burn calories at a faster rate than before... even though the wattage is half what I am used to...

My NP for the effort was a little over 200Watts... up from 150 on Tuesday. I took off Friday and went out Saturday with Bret. My legs were not into it... my hip could feel the rain and cold when I got out of bed and I was disappointed with my effort. Sunday was better... I could sustain 200Watt+ efforts for the first time and even ventured into the 400 Watt range. My CTL is shot and I don't know what my FTP is now... I think I will list out some issues of interest... most of these are of interest because I am shocked at how far my fitness has gone down in three weeks...

• My legs and endurance suck, but my cardiovascular and respiratory system seem to be OK. Obviously, they are not stressed much in this condition, but even when I make a big effort, I am not winded nor does my HR shoot up.


• A two hour ride post hip injury feels like a 6 hour ride for me prior to injury. My neck, back, arms, and ass feel like I have never ridden a bike...


• I have heard/read that you lose half of your muscular fitness in 10 days of inactivity versus 20-30 days to lose half of your cardio fitness. I think this is right after this past week. I can see a major difference in my leg muscles... it is really shocking. When I look down on the bike, I barely recognize my own legs... especially my left. It shows me that when you talk about time to recovery for sickness and injury, sickness is not the same as injury unless you are bedridden with sickness. I had no weight bearing on my left leg until I got back on the bike, really. After 2.5 weeks with no activity, my legs are sickly looking and it is a major disappointment.


• I am projecting that I will be back to painless activity in one week. The difference day to day is still impressive. Today, for instance, I could stand on the bike and almost forget that I am hurt. Thursday, I was not close to that. I am only putting out around 300-350 watts, but it is still promising...


• I am walking with a cane now... I think Ronnie and Causey will enjoy knowing that I have officially joined the "old guys on bikes" race club...


• As a way to pass time while I sat on my ass for two weeks, I made some new purchases. I bought a new frame (below) and a new groupo... both slightly used, but both in great shape. I will be building up a new racing steed over the next few weeks and I am super pumped. I have never owned a high end bike... the one I currently ride, I purchased on Ebay for $1150 and the one before that, I bought used for $500. I am moving up from that.


• I am not bitter about this injury. I thought that I would be, but I am not. It is strange, but I am already looking forward to this winter. I know that I will be good again this season, but the way I was progressing, I wanted to see where my peak would be from a power perspective. I think, without injury, that I might have hit 330Watts or so for my FTP this year. I was at 317 Watts NP for one hour when I got hurt and I was on a steady rise. My CTL was at an all time high... with some rest and some racing, who knows... either way, I am looking forward to a good season and then really stepping it up in the off season to see where it can go... could I really be talking about winter in the spring... I need my head checked... I did break my helmet in that wreck... maybe it knocked something loose...

Back in the Saddle...

Went to the orthopedist today... he gave me a good report. I can go as hard as the pain will let me. After two and half weeks, he was surprised with my progress and wants to see me back in three weeks. So, of course, I went out on the group ride for my first ride back...

First off... my power meter is by ergomo so it only measures left leg efforts. Since my fracture is in my left femur, my power meter will be all but worthless unless I make sure to utilize each leg equally. This proves harder than it sounds...

I started with one group easier than I usually ride and steadily worked my way back throughout the ride to the stragglers in the last group and quit the ride early. My NP for the 1.5 hour ride was 150 Watts. I would guess that the actual effort was closer to 200 Watts. I noticed how hard I was working with my right leg (trying to compensate for the bad left leg) around halfway through and decided to let up a bit and concentrate on using both legs equally. This made my speed drop off considerably showing that my right leg was overcompensating.

If I was concentrating on equal effort between legs, my typical output was between 100 Watts and 120 Watts. This was comfortable and could have been sustained for hours. I did a few 300 Watt efforts (actually registered there on the screen... God knows what my right leg was putting out, but it was enough to get me breathing hard) and that felt OK I guess.

I will be using my blog to chart progress so that I can track where I am through the rebuild process. It will be boring for readers, but it is all I have to say right now and it will be nice to see improvement by reading past entries.

My spirits are still high, but there is a long way to go. Mentally, I want to attack everyone that I am riding with, but today I could not hold wattage long when I pushed...