Summer Break 2015

Right at the beginning of riding season (shortly after doing Paris to Ancaster) I broke my foot!
And no - not from a spectacular bike crash...just from slipping on the stairs in my house & slamming it into the metal spindles.  Really very lame.  So lame I given up even trying to cook up a better story.

After I did it I went through a period of denial.  Pushing aside the fact that my foot hurt a LOT & got worse every day.  Various friends told me it looked bad/might be broken/go get it looked at/xray/etc (even a physiotherapist & a nurse).  I ignored them. Though even to me I had to admit my foot looked terrible.  All toes were black, black on the top & left side & even black on the bottom. 

For a week I held on to the notion that I just bruised it really badly.  No way it's broken. It even felt better in my bike shoe & pedaling hurt way less than walking.  Plus the snow was gone, trails were finally dry & it was just the start of riding season!!

And for a whole week I kept on stubbornly riding like normal.  I even raced the first Ocup....

which was the final straw.

Holy $%^& that was painful.  Advil & adrenaline can only do so much.  Even clipping in my foot into my pedal  OUCH  Pedaling hard up hills OUCH  Riding over rocks OUCH... So much OUCH.

2015 Ocup #1 Woodnewton - Being stubborn - but psyched I was killing the big rock garden this year OUCH

I finally surrendered & limped in to the hospital.

Sorry it IS broken

And a cast & 6 weeks of couch time to start.  A highlight was getting switched from the plaster cast & crutches to a space boot cast. I could make coffee & carry the mug to the couch so easily without crutches!  Then when the cast came off fully I was allowed to road ride for physio.  I could carefully mountain bike too - but absolutely no falling/banging my foot around because even after the 6 weeks in a cast my bone still wasn't fully healed.  If I rebroke it only way to fix next was surgery which I was lucky to have avoided in the first place.  It still felt really delicate too (the bones were movable - so gross) and I was super happy to be able to do fun little rides again with my kids in the woods. 

So then for the rest of the summer - gradually getting back at it. Back riding.  Slowly.  Holy smokes...6 weeks plus 4 more in hard flat sole shoes only & being careful & much grumping around & probably too many cookies... thank goodness bike shorts are stretchy... feeling like I'm starting at the bottom...

But also I've come around to feeling OK with being at the bottom!  I was so upset at the start.  But realized not only was I really lucky just a minor injury but my life with bikes is a forever thing & this was just a blip.  Just another hill to climb.

And now I sure am dying out there but I am so happy & thankful to be BACK!

Aug 30, 2015  back racing again - Provincials at Duntroon Highlands - awesome tough fun course - hills were killing me but my foot felt good!