Surgery, July 19, 2007
My leg has been blowing up (the muscles in the ankle getting swollen and sore) about once every 4-6 weeks. It takes 7-10 days to get the leg to calm down (with 5 aleve a day and lots of ice). So after the last time which took almost two weeks I decided it was time to remove the hardware from my ankle. Originally the plan was September or October but I've been off the bike as much as I've been on the bike...so the time had come. I scheduled my Surgery for July 19th. So that meant not riding for the week before surgery. I didn't want my leg to blow up before surgery...that would just make the healing process worse. The surgery happened on schedule. The surprise was the amount of pain the first day. The bone is healed (although it does have 7 little holes in it...where the screws were). Because I've been having problems with it the surgeon decided to remove all the hardware. Originally he was going to leave a couple of hard to get to screws...but it all came out. The incisions were larger than originally planned for. He opened up the bottom half of the scar and then left the middle sewn and opened up the top half. and then made one small incision in front of the scar (2" in front) to get the last screw.

Update. It has been 9 days since surgery. I've been laying low...lots of Aleve and ice. The healing went a little slower than I hoped. I was on the couch with my leg elevated Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon and Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was much more mobile. Saturday my stitches looked pretty good...healing nicely...so I got the breezer bike out and took a short spin around the neighborhood. My lower calf complained and swelled up a bit...but it was good to just remind my left ankle that riding is going to happen. Today I hope to go for a walk. I only have one pair of shoes that don't come in contact with the stitches...so I'm wearing my slip on Borns. So far my walks have been about a city block or so...so we'll have to see what today brings. Tomorrow (Monday, July 30, 2007) I get the stitches out. I'm really looking forward to having my ankle totally healed. I know it will take a little time...but to not have it blow up anymore will be great.

The instructions from Surgeon is no mountain biking, no running, no clip in pedals, and no golf for 3 months. In other words (or in his words) no jarring, no twisting and no Mountain Biking. The deal with the mountain biking is that sometimes you lose balance and put a leg down to catch yourself. The bone has been relying on the plate for support...so it should take about 3 months to stregthen and for the bone to fill in the 7 little holes left from the screws.

So my plan is to be back in the pool (in a week after the stitches are out...and the skin is totally healed), to start walking again (work up to 4 miles 3 times a week), and to start road riding again. My plan is to ride the Pac Tour again this Spring. So I'll start off easy and slowly work up to some decent distance again.

July 7, 2007
Rode Tiger on the Nomad. This was the first time I've been up Tiger in two years (and the first time on the Nomad). The road climb was tougher than I remembered. Ascent 1421 in 3 miles. Julie and I left my house late, so I was really nervous about running out of daylight. It took an hour and 12 minutes to climb (and push) the hill. Once I got to the top, I debated riding the trail or just riding down the road. It is hard to do that much climbing and then not get to ride the trail. So I headed down the trail as hard and fast as I could. Ave HR was 85% MHR was 93%. The Nomad ate up the trail. I bombed down the trail. The Nomad was the perfect bike. I didn't have to set up the drops or brace myself over the roots....the Nomad just floated over the roots and the drops were nothing with 6" of travel. I had a great ride. I didn't eat much (1 pack of jelly bellies...the sport version) on the descent and nothing on the climb. I was worried about time...Tiger is not where I want to be when it gets dark! Preston was fast and swoopy and the road over to the The NW Timber trail was fine. but NW Timber Trail itself sucked....it is mostly climbing. the total trip was 11.1 miles and took 2. 1/2 hours.