Not An Ideal Start

The season of gravel riding for 2026 is very close to starting. March will be here before we know it and with that comes the longer days and warmer weather. I've been itching to get out again now that the cold weather snap which ended January and began February is over.

Trouble is, I got off on the wrong foot, as far as my strategy to get fitness tuned up goes. I had decided a week ago today things were warm enough I'd ride into work. There was a lot of snow around yet from recent light snowfalls we had experienced. And Waterloo doesn't clear the streets at all, or if they do, it isn't done very well, at least in my neighborhood. So riding can be a little treacherous when snow gets compacted into what amounts to a sheet of ice. 

I had removed the studded tires from the Twin Six Standard Rando v2 in anticipation of getting clearer roads soon. So, I rode the Ti Mukluk into work instead, which went well. However; coming home I hit the only patch of black ice around. In between Doughy Joey's and Carpenter's Restaurant there is an alley. I tried steering into this and there it was. There I went down. Quickly. 

I went down so fast I didn't even get my hand out of the pogie to break my fall. My left arm was pinched between pavement and my rib cage. It was then I felt something very unusual. It was a s if a large band under my left side moved upward, then snapped back into place. My whole abdomen shuddered, it was so violent a movement back where whatever it was belonged. And it hurt like the devil, as we say here in the Mid-West. 

Now, I smashed my kneecap on my left leg hard into the pavement as well, but this was a trifle compared to my rib cage. I was stunned for a few moments but able to string together curse words like a sailor. So, I could breathe, and I could stand up. Barely, hut not because of any injury. Because of the ice!

I remounted after walking away from the scene. I was able to pull on the bars, push the pedals, and both with no pain. It felt harder to breathe a bit, but not really significantly. Tuesday was better, Wednesday was okay, and so was Thursday. A steady diet of ibuprofen and Mrs. Guitar Ted's CBD roll-on pain medication worked nicely. My ribs were painful where they joined at the sternum in a couple of places. Then Friday came and I was feeling more pain than before. 

I did a quick ride on the fixed gear Gravel Bus. It made me feel a whole lot better, but this obviously has slowed me down a bit. No sharp pains, nothing like that, just dull, achey pain and stiffness. I just have to take it easy and work back into it. 

Not an ideal start to the effort to get in shape for the Legends of Gravel ride in April. Men my age are not supposed to be slamming themselves into pavement. Well, if they do, it usually breaks things. I am very fortunate I did not break anything. 

Ari, my friend from Chicago, says I need studded fat bike tires. He said, "We need you in one piece!" 

Looks like I'll be getting some new fat bike tires for the next Winter season