Down but not out

A sprained thumb while warming up at the first cross race of the year is a little bit of a physical blow and a pretty big mental blow. Sadly this is what happened to me at the USGP in Madison about 6 weeks ago today. My fitness up until that point was decent and starting to ramp up for cross season. The funny thing is it was a routine corner I washed out in and just by reaction I put my hand out to break by fall. When it broke it all right! It felt like I destroyed all the tendons and ligaments in my right thumb to the point where I couldn't hold a water bottle with that hand and have it not feel like it was 50lbs and ovular in shape. The medical tent attempted to wrap it so I could attempt to race on it but the tape job was anything but good enough and the pain was anything but dull enough to ride. It only took 2 more practice laps after wrapping the thumb to know the racing for the day was over and quite possibly the next couple weeks.

Although I was down mentally with the thumb I made myself useful and worked the pits that day for Tristan. It's a totally new perspective not racing even though you want to so badly but still being in the middle of the race and watching it unfold. The guys in the pits are pretty hilarious and are some of the best hecklers out there. They not only rip on every rider that is not there own but also the other guys in the pits to keep themselves entertained. I'm glad I helped in the pits just to keep my mind off the thumb and help out Tristan a little along the way.

The next 3 weeks were some of the hardest for me mentally trying not to freak out not racing and trying to train and do workouts as much as possible with the thumb permitting. 3 weeks doesn't seem like that long of a time but when you can barely hold onto the bars of the your bike to ride its an eternity! Slow but sure the thumb was healing and I could actually hold onto the bar rather than lifting my hand off for every little bump. By the end of week 2 I was gutting through through intervals on the road where the pain in the thumb was more than in the legs. One day at a time the thumb was getting it's range of movement back and starting to get better.

It wasn't until last weekend that I was able to do a cross race.... 5 weeks after nearly breaking my thumb off of my hand! The good news is my legs hurt a lot more than my thumb did that day. The bad news is my legs hurt a lot more than my thumb did that day lol. It wasn't my best race by any means but that's for many other reasons and leaves lots of room for improvement. 6 weeks ago today is when it all went down and now I feel like it's healthy enough (85-90%) to resume any type of workout and racing I can thrown at it.

Next up is the annual Halloween cross race at Washington Park in Milwaukee. I'm still not sure if I'll have a costume or not but I'm there will be plenty of other people wearing them.

Some goodie from Youtube....

Found some clip of our Kuhl rider at Sun Prairie USGP Day 1 @ 2:00 mark

Consistency!

Jesse Rients had a great weekend at the cross races bringing home two 2nd place finishes. Don't hold it against the promoters for placing Jesse on the wrong side in one of the shots. Congrats to Jesse!

Great Photo by Travis Miller

Travis Miller is a local Wisconsin rider currently racing with KS Energy/Team Wisconsin and will be present at many of the cross races near Madison racing and snapping photos. He also likes long walks at sunset, has no hair on his head and once skipped like a stone in a bike crash but walked away fairly well unscathed.

I would like to thank Travis for his great photo below and you can find all his photos here.

.

CarboRocket!!

I would like to thank Brad Keyes of CarboRocket for sending me some samples of his great products. I received in the mail from CarboRocket some single serve packets of Raspberry Half Evil Endurance Fuel as well as two 25 serving pouches of Lemon-Lime and Kiwi-Lime flavored CarboRocket spot like sport drink.

Shying away from Gatorade over the past few weeks has led to me to some new and interesting products in sports nutrition. Prior to receiving my shipment of CarboRocket I received a ton of HerbaLife 24 product in the mail and can happily say that the only products I endorse are their Strength and Endurance rebuild mixes. HerbaLife's on the bike drink mix is Prolong and falls in the same category as Accelorade containing ingredients that upset my stomach and quickly find their way to my garbage can.

My experience with CarboRocket's products is limited to only the past week but will say the Lemon-Lime flavor is great, light and easy on ones stomach during a ride. One bonus to CarboRocket is their all natural approach and simple ingredients, from what I can tell there are no preservatives, no chemical compounds I can't pronounce and no artificial coloring, bottom line don't mix your bottles the day before and store overnight. I do look forward to cracking open the Kiwi-Lime and await for the orange flavor to be available.

My opinion on the Half Evil does need some extra time to mature as my taste buds adapt to a new product, not just the Raspberry flavor by type of product. Half Evil is not a post ride endurance recovery drink but an on bike calorie replenish-er, the product has a slight fizz, strong but good Raspberry taste with a little extra kick. Be sure to check out CarboRocket.com for new developing products and new flavors. I personally assure you that if you order a 25 serving CarboRocket package you will be pleasantly surprised and if you do like it be sure to drop CarboRocket an email!

Till tomorrow night after 10PM.... good day good evening and good night.