Notes from a Millennial

[Cassinonorth]

I've done two weekend-long seminars for personal trainers with Stu McGill (2003 and 2012). He's brilliant, albeit a little rough/blunt around the edges, reflective of his rural Canadian roots. I've never encountered a back expert with a more evidence-based approach than Stu. Since he's now completed training as a McGill Master Clinician (one of only 16 worldwide/7 in the U.S.), I have the utmost respect for Dr Camisa. I recommended that my dentist see him late last year after experiencing some debilitating back pain. As far as I know, she hasn't reached out to him...what a pity!

Well said, couldn't agree more. I'm excited to return in a few weeks, I frankly don't trust any other PT to get me back to MTB. And spot on about McGill being blunt LOL. "You deserve your back pain" is a tough pill to swallow but he's not wrong.

Happy to report I'm home resting and just a bit sore from the surgery. Nerve pain is gone and my foot isn't numb anymore. Fingers crossed it's a very linear, stress free recovery.

 

[Cassinonorth]

Whew. Last update was from the day I got home from my microdiscectomy. So nearly 9 months to update.

Soooo...what's been going on? I truly feel great and like I got my life back. Before my surgery I was pretty much laying down any minute I wasn't at work and had a huge pelvic tilt along with drop foot. Walking around the block was super painful. I couldn't even follow the McGill method. Post surgery, drop foot was immediately gone. I was in post surgical pain for about a week but my nerve pain was gone the second I woke up. I was cleared for PT at the 4 week mark which I continued for 6 weeks. Went to a local independent PT which the same Dr. saw me all 12 of the sessions. Worked up from zero to doing light weight lifting by the time I "graduated". Started lightly spinning on the trainer around that time and did a light road ride at the 10 week post op mark. Returned to MTB around 5 months post op starting super slow and listening to my body. I still do my home exercise program my PT wrote for me daily and walk 10k steps almost every single day. Can you pick out the week I got surgery? lol.

In returning to MTB I spent most of my rides on the trainer, working from 30 minutes super light Z2 3x a week, up to starting a TrainerRoad plan at week 10. The TSS per week looked like so:

I'm back to racing, riding 3+ hours on weekends mixing up MTB and gravel. I'll have a race report coming soon from yesterday at Dickerson, suffice to say I'm super happy with how 2024 has played out.

Thinking back to when the herniation pain started coming back was always golfing so I'm 99% sure my days playing are done. None of my friends golf much these days anyway, not a huge loss. In conclusion, modern medicine is incredible. I hope that's the last time under the knife for my back but I'll appreciate this time pain free and take it one day at a time.

 

[serviceguy]

Whew. Last update was from the day I got home from my microdiscectomy. So nearly 9 months to update.

Soooo...what's been going on? I truly feel great and like I got my life back. Before my surgery I was pretty much laying down any minute I wasn't at work and had a huge pelvic tilt along with drop foot. Walking around the block was super painful. I couldn't even follow the McGill method. Post surgery, drop foot was immediately gone. I was in post surgical pain for about a week but my nerve pain was gone the second I woke up. I was cleared for PT at the 4 week mark which I continued for 6 weeks. Went to a local independent PT which the same Dr. saw me all 12 of the sessions. Worked up from zero to doing light weight lifting by the time I "graduated". Started lightly spinning on the trainer around that time and did a light road ride at the 10 week post op mark. Returned to MTB around 5 months post op starting super slow and listening to my body. I still do my home exercise program my PT wrote for me daily and walk 10k steps almost every single day. Can you pick out the week I got surgery? lol.

View attachment 249868

In returning to MTB I spent most of my rides on the trainer, working from 30 minutes super light Z2 3x a week, up to starting a TrainerRoad plan at week 10. The TSS per week looked like so:

View attachment 249867

I'm back to racing, riding 3+ hours on weekends mixing up MTB and gravel. I'll have a race report coming soon from yesterday at Dickerson, suffice to say I'm super happy with how 2024 has played out.

Thinking back to when the herniation pain started coming back was always golfing so I'm 99% sure my days playing are done. None of my friends golf much these days anyway, not a huge loss. In conclusion, modern medicine is incredible. I hope that's the last time under the knife for my back but I'll appreciate this time pain free and take it one day at a time.

Great to hear your surgery had a successful outcome and you're back doing what you love doing.

I'm not good at golf by any mean, I haven't played in several years but the only time I experienced significant back pain was when I started playing golf. Turned out the issue was the incorrect size and flexibility of the equipment I was using only added to it. After stopping for a few weeks I purchased a more appropriately size club set with carbon shaft instead of steel and never had back pain ever again. I couldn't help but wonder if you experienced something similar.

 

[Cassinonorth]

Great to hear your surgery had a successful outcome and you're back doing what you love doing.

I'm not good at golf by any mean, I haven't played in several years but the only time I experienced significant back pain was when I started playing golf. Turned out the issue was the incorrect size and flexibility of the equipment I was using only added to it. After stopping for a few weeks I purchased a more appropriately size club set with carbon shaft instead of steel and never had back pain ever again. I couldn't help but wonder if you experienced something similar.

I'm thankfully a very standard sized person (5'11") so I can play basically anything off the rack. I used to work at a golf shop so I have been fit for clubs as well.

Issue was mostly the violent twisting of the spine during the swing. My swing speed was well over 110 mph last time I tested it at a simulator. There's been a few pro golfers that have had back surgeries, Tiger being the big one. It's just a rough, rough thing for a spine. While I liked playing, I certainly don't love it enough to risk getting further surgeries is what it comes down to I guess.

 

[Steve Vai]

Great to hear your surgery had a successful outcome and you're back doing what you love doing.

I'm not good at golf by any mean, I haven't played in several years but the only time I experienced significant back pain was when I started playing golf. Turned out the issue was the incorrect size and flexibility of the equipment I was using only added to it. After stopping for a few weeks I purchased a more appropriately size club set with carbon shaft instead of steel and never had back pain ever again. I couldn't help but wonder if you experienced something similar.

I also have back pain issues caused from having huge equipment, I’ve never considered having it replaced with carbon.

 

[serviceguy]

I'm thankfully a very standard sized person (5'11") so I can play basically anything off the rack. I used to work at a golf shop so I have been fit for clubs as well.

Issue was mostly the violent twisting of the spine during the swing. My swing speed was well over 110 mph last time I tested it at a simulator. There's been a few pro golfers that have had back surgeries, Tiger being the big one. It's just a rough, rough thing for a spine. While I liked playing, I certainly don't love it enough to risk getting further surgeries is what it comes down to I guess.

Well, that explains why I don't get back pain as I do all things in 'moderation' AKA 'slow'...LOL

 

[serviceguy]

I also have back pain issues caused from having huge equipment, I’ve never considered having it replaced with carbon.

I'm glad I could provide you with a different perspective. You should try, I'm sure the wife will appreciate...but leave my mom alone!

 

[qclabrat]

I'm thankfully a very standard sized person (5'11") so I can play basically anything off the rack. I used to work at a golf shop so I have been fit for clubs as well.

Issue was mostly the violent twisting of the spine during the swing. My swing speed was well over 110 mph last time I tested it at a simulator. There's been a few pro golfers that have had back surgeries, Tiger being the big one. It's just a rough, rough thing for a spine. While I liked playing, I certainly don't love it enough to risk getting further surgeries is what it comes down to I guess.

I'm guessing you had a lower disc herniation? I also played a lot of golf during college, for about 15 years, then just fell out of love with the game. Started playing casually a few years ago when I was training my kids while they played on the high school team. Still don't love it like before but changing my swing from less torque and a faster hinge release has really taken off the stress on my joints. Loss a few yards but was more accurate, so fine with the trade off and I wasn't competing on long drives anymore with friends. I learned the 'lazy swing' from a coworker who quit work to join the senior circuit. He qualified by never got far, but would have regretted it if he didn't. Great to see you back in the bike and riding fast.

 

[Cassinonorth]

I'm guessing you had a lower disc herniation?

Yep, L4/L5 was my surgery. I also apparently had a small L5/S1 herniation as well that they didn't seem to be worried about.

 

[Cassinonorth]

"I need to ride"

I remember that thought enter my head repeatedly. My sister lost her battle with cancer that we thought she won 4 years ago. 2 weeks later my dad diagnosed with colon cancer. This year has sucked.

I thought riding was a crutch. Really not so sure anymore. This video is the perfect watch on Thanksgiving for me. I'm positive her presence is going to be missed dearly today.

 

[Jeremy]

"I need to ride"

I remember that thought enter my head repeatedly. My sister lost her battle with cancer that we thought she won 4 years ago. 2 weeks later my dad diagnosed with colon cancer. This year has sucked.

I thought riding was a clutch. Really not so sure anymore. This video is the perfect watch on Thanksgiving for me. I'm positive her presence is going to be missed dearly today.

Thanks for sharing, That was a powerful video. Lots of thoughts and takeaways.

 

[Patrick]

Wow. No words. They said a lot.

 

[mattybfat]

Beautiful powerful inspirational and relatable! Ty

"I need to ride"

I remember that thought enter my head repeatedly. My sister lost her battle with cancer that we thought she won 4 years ago. 2 weeks later my dad diagnosed with colon cancer. This year has sucked.

I thought riding was a crutch. Really not so sure anymore. This video is the perfect watch on Thanksgiving for me. I'm positive her presence is going to be missed dearly today.

 

[moose35]

"I need to ride"

I remember that thought enter my head repeatedly. My sister lost her battle with cancer that we thought she won 4 years ago. 2 weeks later my dad diagnosed with colon cancer. This year has sucked.

I thought riding was a crutch. Really not so sure anymore. This video is the perfect watch on Thanksgiving for me. I'm positive her presence is going to be missed dearly today.

Thank you for posting this. Definitely needed to see this.

 

[ekuhn]

Pretty solid reminder of why we ride. Thanks for the share.

 

[Cassinonorth]

Early Season Musings (nerd alert warning)

After a long, seemingly endless winter in my basement staring at Blue bars on Trainer Road finally got out to race my new Epic 8. Rockshox SID/Sidluxe suspension, X0 Transmission drivetrain, Hayes T2 brakes, Wolftooth Resolve dropper, WTB Gravelier saddle, Racing Ray/Ralph 2.35 tires, Bikeyoke Barkeeper stem, Raceface Next R bars, Nextie Omega rims/Industry Nine 1/1 hubs,Xpedo CXR pro pedals. I think that's just about for the build. It's absolutely amazing. It's all I want to ride.

First race of the year was Cat 2 Mayhem in Medford. Not too much to report from this race. I didn't push during the holeshot and got stuck in the singletrack accordion behind probably 25 people I ended passing. I need to practice my starts especially for XCO. I settled in, put out consistent power. Probably had a little more in the tank. Finished 7th/14th in Cat 2 19-39 at 1:07, 2:06 off the lead. Would it have made the difference if I hung with the leaders at the start of the race? Probably. Probably could've been competing for a podium. Nutrition was great for this race, though at only an hour you really can't screw up too much.

Yesterday was Rattling Creek Marathon in Weiser State Forest in PA. This was my first race 2 years ago, missed it recovering from surgery last year. I got absolutely destroyed by this course. I blew up with 10 miles to go...nutrition was my main focus this time around. I had my 1.5L hydration pack, 4 gels, 2 bottles pre-mixed and a satchel of high carb Tailwind in my back pocket. ~1200 calories and 280g carbs on board. I figured if I could get 90% of that down I would be in good shape this go around. The start here...well...I wasn't worried about the hole shot. It's a 20 minute FTP test on a blown out gravel climb. Ow.

First descent after that is very fast and rough....and I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. I could hear the rattling so I stopped at a point to inspect, didn't see anything somehow....kept riding for another 10 minutes, stopped again...found the broken spoke, wrapped it around another spoke and continued on. The wheel was quite out of true but wasn't rubbing so I considered dropping or cutting down to the 25k option if push came to shove. Also had bail out options at the aid stations of 8/18 miles. The climbs on this race are really quite simple gravel climbs. Between the climbs are absolute ass kicking rock gardens. I definitely cleaned more of these this time around but there was still plenty of walking. I was definitely a bit more tentative with my rear wheel as well. One more broken spoke and my day was over.

Ended up finishing in 3:37, 39 minutes faster than 2023. I don't know how much time I lost to the repair...somewhere in the 3 minute range based on elapsed/moving time. I think sub 3:30 is in reach...I'm probably 15 lbs too heavy right now. Is that enough to pull me back here next year again? My body is absolutely beat to hell typing this right now so I'm leaning no. I'm sure I'll forget about all of this in December when registration opens up again.

 

[JDurk]

Early Season Musings (nerd alert warning)

After a long, seemingly endless winter in my basement staring at Blue bars on Trainer Road finally got out to race my new Epic 8. Rockshox SID/Sidluxe suspension, X0 Transmission drivetrain, Hayes T2 brakes, Wolftooth Resolve dropper, WTB Gravelier saddle, Racing Ray/Ralph 2.35 tires, Bikeyoke Barkeeper stem, Raceface Next R bars, Nextie Omega rims/Industry Nine 1/1 hubs,Xpedo CXR pro pedals. I think that's just about for the build. It's absolutely amazing. It's all I want to ride.

First race of the year was Cat 2 Mayhem in Medford. Not too much to report from this race. I didn't push during the holeshot and got stuck in the singletrack accordion behind probably 25 people I ended passing. I need to practice my starts especially for XCO. I settled in, put out consistent power. Probably had a little more in the tank. Finished 7th/14th in Cat 2 19-39 at 1:07, 2:06 off the lead. Would it have made the difference if I hung with the leaders at the start of the race? Probably. Probably could've been competing for a podium. Nutrition was great for this race, though at only an hour you really can't screw up too much.

View attachment 259936

Yesterday was Rattling Creek Marathon in Weiser State Forest in PA. This was my first race 2 years ago, missed it recovering from surgery last year. I got absolutely destroyed by this course. I blew up with 10 miles to go...nutrition was my main focus this time around. I had my 1.5L hydration pack, 4 gels, 2 bottles pre-mixed and a satchel of high carb Tailwind in my back pocket. ~1200 calories and 280g carbs on board. I figured if I could get 90% of that down I would be in good shape this go around. The start here...well...I wasn't worried about the hole shot. It's a 20 minute FTP test on a blown out gravel climb. Ow.

View attachment 259937

First descent after that is very fast and rough....and I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. I could hear the rattling so I stopped at a point to inspect, didn't see anything somehow....kept riding for another 10 minutes, stopped again...found the broken spoke, wrapped it around another spoke and continued on. The wheel was quite out of true but wasn't rubbing so I considered dropping or cutting down to the 25k option if push came to shove. Also had bail out options at the aid stations of 8/18 miles. The climbs on this race are really quite simple gravel climbs. Between the climbs are absolute ass kicking rock gardens. I definitely cleaned more of these this time around but there was still plenty of walking. I was definitely a bit more tentative with my rear wheel as well. One more broken spoke and my day was over.

View attachment 259938

Ended up finishing in 3:37, 39 minutes faster than 2023. I don't know how much time I lost to the repair...somewhere in the 3 minute range based on elapsed/moving time. I think sub 3:30 is in reach...I'm probably 15 lbs too heavy right now. Is that enough to pull me back here next year again? My body is absolutely beat to hell typing this right now so I'm leaning no. I'm sure I'll forget about all of this in December when registration opens up again.

Great recap. This place has a way of making you question your decision to race, then make you want to come back and challenge yourself to do better next year when registration opens up. You'll be back.

 

[Jeremy]

Early Season Musings (nerd alert warning)

After a long, seemingly endless winter in my basement staring at Blue bars on Trainer Road finally got out to race my new Epic 8. Rockshox SID/Sidluxe suspension, X0 Transmission drivetrain, Hayes T2 brakes, Wolftooth Resolve dropper, WTB Gravelier saddle, Racing Ray/Ralph 2.35 tires, Bikeyoke Barkeeper stem, Raceface Next R bars, Nextie Omega rims/Industry Nine 1/1 hubs,Xpedo CXR pro pedals. I think that's just about for the build. It's absolutely amazing. It's all I want to ride.

It’s that the Satin Blue Onyx/Dune White Evo 8?

 

[Cassinonorth]

It’s that the Satin Blue Onyx/Dune White Evo 8?

Yep

 

[Cassinonorth]

12 Weeks

While breaking (heh) in a new DH bike at Mountain Creek on July 11th. I shattered my collarbone. Feeling my best on the way to the ER:

The reason for the ride at Creek was a camping/DH trip next weekend in Vermont that was obviously not going to happen. Not sure if I stopped tumbling down the trail before I started calculating how many weeks I had until Little Sugar/Big Sugar in Bentonville, the reason I've been putting in 10 hour weeks religiously. 12 weeks. Just about the exact number everyone settles on when it comes to collarbone fracture back to MTB recovery time. Lovely.

I had about an hour drive to the hospital (Thanks @ebarker9) to contemplate what the chances of racing were, what recovery could look like etc. Thankfully the pain was incredibly mild. All things considered the worst pain I experienced was them cleaning out my wounds in the ER. Bruised ribs didn't feel too great either but the collarbone although a bit tented seemed to be okay. ER was unsure if I needed surgery so I was sent to the Ortho Monday. I was given the choice and one of my goals of 2025 was no surgery so I opted for conservative treatment. Ortho gave me a 10% chance of a non-union since being a healthy younger person will help I decided to roll the dice. Here's the 4 week post crash X-ray:

So while I was on the couch, @ebarker9 continued training for LS/BS when he had his own injury. Unfortunately less straight forward than a collarbone break, he was not going to make the races with the amount he was able to train battling the infection. So I was on my own for this one and decided a 10 day trip was a bit much and scratched the Big Sugar Gravel race. I was able to hit the trainer in a sling 8 days after my crash. Breathing heavy sucked but I knew the only chance I had was to get back training ASAP. I built up to 6/7 hour weeks within the month and felt OK about my fitness knowing the mental side of the crash and technical skills would be looming when I got back on the real bike.

I was fully cleared from my ortho at 9 weeks. Minimal pain at the break, bone was pretty much healed. Some shoulder crankiness from being in a sling for 4 weeks but generally fine especially while riding. Thankfully I was able to preserve my fitness within reason and was able to get 12 MTB rides before I made the call to drive 40 hours solo round trip Bentonville for Little Sugar.

Making it to the line felt like an accomplishment but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have some goal times in mind.