23 Days Later…

It was 23 days ago that I last rode, and exactly 21 days ago that I had the first of two rounds of excisions done to remove moles from my leg and scalp. It was only 14 days ago that the one in my thigh and scalp right over the temple were done. And only 7 days ago that the stitches came out of the head. But today, I said enough waiting was enough waiting. I threw my leg over my Gazelle Champion Mondial, clipped one foot into the pedal and started off. I was back in the saddle. It took the first few minutes for me to settle into the saddle, I pedaled softly and slowly just to see how the leg would react. Soon the initial roughness in the saddle disappeared I became once again accustomed to the feel of the saddle. The leg felt surprisingly good. I didn’t push hard, focused on keeping a smooth light spin and took advantage of the downhill slants in the road more often than I normally would. I went around the block twice, just around a 1mi loop each. Then decided I was good enough to make it to the local bike shop and back, which I knew was about another 5mi round trip. I remained focused on taking it easy, but still feeling out how the leg felt a bit. One new scar or another would periodically let me know that it knew what I was up to. Nothing more than a slight twinge though, that soon disappeared as quickly as it would appear. I certainly could tell the hit that my fitness took over the last 3+ weeks. Granted there was a decent head wind on the way back to the house, but I could tell that I was certainly not able to push the tempo nor gear that I had been able to a month ago. In time though, it will come back, I’ll ease back into it slowly, but I want to be ready for the summer and fall rides. Hotter’N Hell Hundred isn’t too far away – and that ride takes more than determination and insanity to complete.