Quick update on my knee and I’ll move on.  I would say that overall my knee is about the same today as it was yesterday, which is good news.  It means that my bike ride on the trainer last night, didn’t result in a flare up.  I will keep moving forward with the balancing act of recovery and working out.

When I finished work for the day, it was time for my workout, an easy 90 minute Zone 1 / Zone 2 bike ride.  My bike was still on the trainer from last night and it would have been so easy, to just get on it and ride.  The weather outside though, was really nice, and my mind drifted to the thought of all the rides that I will have to do on the trainer in winter.  My mind was made up…. I was riding outside.

I took the bike off the trainer, put the rear wheel back on and put the bike in the car.  I decided I would drive to the local park and do some lake loops.  By driving to the park, instead of riding down there, I would avoid the need to do a significant hill climb to get home.  I didn’t want to subject my knee to that climb, because it is quite demanding.

Riding at the park is quite good for teaching me situational awareness.  Even though there is a dedicated lane around the lake for cyclists, it’s amazing the things you have to watch out for in a public park.  This evening I had to dodge geese, a deer, several dogs on long leashes and the usual groups of people walking four wide and all over the bike lane.  I even had to brake quite sharply to avoid a collision with a mountain biker, who entered the bike lane right in front of me at high speed, without looking.  Even after I screeched to a halt and then rode past him, I still don’t think he realized what he had done.

This practice of avoiding issues is actually good practice for races.  The bike course in a triathlon race can become quite crowded and unexpected things can happen, particularly around water stations.  The ability to quickly change direction or slow down, without losing control of your bike, is an important skill to learn.

You don’t want to wait until the middle of a race to figure out how to handle a bike. You need to practice and tonight I got a lot of practice….