Day 75: September 25th, 2010 (Route: Yorktown, VA to Mechanicsville, VA)

Day 75: September 25th, 2010 (Route: Yorktown, VA to Mechanicsville, VA)

Technical Data:

Distance, miles: 92.78
Ride Time 6:29:47
Work, kJ: 3615
Average Power, watts: 153
Normalized Power, watts: 186
Average Speed, mph: 14.13

Forecast: Hot and windy...

Woke up at 6:15 and looked at the phone, not sure how I slept through my alarm that was set for 5:30. The plan today was to be on the bike and rolling out of Yorktown at sunrise, however I lost a little bit of time due to sleeping right through my alarm. I had to listen to my body though and go with it. Once out of bed I felt great, ready to ride and get this last leg all wrapped up! I love mornings where I feel energized and ready to go, today was definitely one of those mornings! Must have been all that rest I got at the "RiverView" over the last couple of days.

The "RiverView" is a small house on the Episcopal Church land that over looks the river, hence the name. It's a cozy little place and I was fortunate to have the place all to myself the last three nights. I only planned on staying two, however I lost one day to putting together application information for schools so I stayed an extra day to take in the history. I'm glad I stay the extra day too, I was able to see where the Revolutionary War ended and really just enjoy the day!

This morning I got things ready, had a packet of oatmeal and loaded up BoB for an early departure. I had a small breakfast because I plan on eating ever hour, taking in a banana an hour today, lately I have been feeling a little heavy and I think its because I got into a bad routine of eating one large meal a day, not to mention probably overeating when I had my stationary days in Maryland and North Carolina.

Once on the bike, everything felt great, the sun was already up behind me and I was on my way. 23 miles to Jamestown on the Colonial Parkway I go. The parkway is not a very nice ride to be honest, the road sucks! It's an old concrete road that has stones sticking up, probably unnoticable in a car, however on a bike is rough. The scenery though is spectacular, trees lining the parkway only to open up to a nice view of the river, sometimes on both sides of the road. The duck blinds are obvious in this marsh land I'm viewing from the parkway. The ride goes by quick, passing close to 30 cyclist heading the opposite direct I take a right off the parkway to the connecter that will put me onto highway 5. Once onto five I'm just setting into cruise mode and really enjoying the day, nothing like getting close to 30 miles knocked out in a couple of hours, the weather was nice this morning, head wind was noticeably otherwise I think I would have cruised well underneath 3 hours for 30 miles.

Having downed a couple of bottles of water by now I stop to refill. So nice to have ice on the trip that I don't have to pay for. Didn't stay very long at the convience store as I really don't need anything. I was lucky enough to score some cannisters of fuel at the "Riverview" as a couple cyclist left two cans. I'm assuming because they were flying out and fuel on the plane is illegal so I scored as I still had not picked any up since North Carolina, been eating mostly dry food, bagels, peanut butter, peanuts, et cetera. Off the Colonial Parkway I start to notice my legs are feeling a little better, the left took a little while to warm up as they often do after a couple day off. However, I did ride each day I took off when in Yorktown, rode to the grocery and to the library, had to get some work done!

Now off the colonial trail I was really looking forward to some nice smooth roads where I could really pick up the pace and have a solid day of riding. The weather was going to be hot today just like all the last few, I would imagine it would hit 90's or sure today. Everythings going as planned, then it hits me. A large O' S&*% moment, the right quad is starting to bother me and its not really going away. I figure maybe it was a little lactate passing through, however I haven't really been hitting the power, so I'm not sure what's going on. I checked the power files and really nothing out of the ordinary as to a large effort. It doesn't make since, I've taken the last two days of nice easy recovery riding to the store and the library, the legs should feel fresh, I've had so much time off I just cannot understand.

I'm about 40-45 miles in at the moment when my right quad wakes up and I'm not sure what is going on. Every pedal stroke its like a razor blade is cutting away at my muscle fiber. It's rather painful, however I can't stoke pedaling I'm thinking. I think it will go away, but with no luck. I stand on the pedals and that's not good either, actually more painful when I load the quad. Since I really don't have an idea on what muscle it is I decide to text a good friend of mine and see if he can help me out. Waiting for an answer I get back on the bike and continue to ride. The goal today was to ride as far as possible, grab another 100 miles and see where I land. The pain is now coming and going, however only when I load the quad and on the up stroke of my pedal stroke. Standing is not going to be an option today, I know the terrain so I'm going to be okay, however in a few days when the Appalachians hit, I'm going to be in deep trouble I keep thinking. Not sure what to do I continue to pedal slowly on down the road. When I mean slow I mean slow, I've switch to a higher cadence to avoid a large load on the right leg, however I'm not sure that's going to work either at the moment, if this is truly an overuse injury then more rpm's should only make it worse correct, well maybe depending on the load as well. Maybe it's just a strain, maybe its a micro tear in the muscle belly? What could it be?

I continue to pedal and remember Kirk mentioned there were a couple places to stay on the trip out East via text the other day. I remember a place called Bumbass where I could pitch a tent for free so that's what I've been shooting for all day. I continue to ride and miles fade away with the most comfortable pedal stroke one can imagine. By now my mind is telling me I must continue, however the body is helling something different! I stop for more water and down some calories, then continue pedaling as I really want to make it to Bumbass.

About 10 miles out from Mechanicsville, VA I really cannot tolerate the leg and decide that I'm going to shut it down for the day when I arrive in Mechanicsville. According to Kirk there is a church near the route he camped near so I'm just going to do that. It's about 3PM in the afternoon and its hot out, I text back and forth with Kirk as the gentlmen across the street helped Kirk out when he was there so I thought I would give this a try. The reason why was I got word from my friend in Tulsa that I should really ice, elevate, rest, and compress if at all possible as this could be serious. I hope that the diagnositics over the telephone are just there to scare me, however I always listen to my body and there is something definitely going on with my right quad, medial, and 3-4 inches proximal to the knee cap. I'm wishing I was a PT right now so I could diagnose and treat!

After sitting at the church for a couple of hours and just relaxing, I thought about the website I have not used in some time, warmshowers.com. I look up Mechanicsville, there is one couple listed, Clyde and Carol Mackey so I give them a call. I tried the cell number and no answer, then I try the home phone. Clyde answers and I tell him my situation and he agrees to allow me to stay the night at their place. I ride over there which was another 8.5 miles and the leg felt like it did at the start of the pain, I just grin and bear it as I am not liking the discomfort. Once to the Mackey's they great me with open arms and that Southern Hospitality one remembers the south for! Both are great and treat me as a honored guest in their beautiful home. They ask me what I need and I really just mention I need some ice for an ice bath! I don't want to take any chances with this leg to be honest, the legs have been full of fluid for a couple days now, well to be honest I think they have had swelling in them most of the trip. Ice bath, elevation, and more ice was on the agenda for this evening.

I grab a quick shower, and down the dinner Carol so graciously bought me from the store when picking up the ice. After dinner I head to the bath to have a nice cold ice bath, its been a while since I have had one and boty I wasn't ready for that burning sensation when everythings going numb. I know that it will be well worth it! I read 50/50 a while back and they said he took ice baths every night, well if I only had the support these guys have on sponsored trips! After the bath I head straight to bed to elevate and crash for the evening. I'm so grateful for connecting with the Mackey's!

I wake up the next day to an empty house, the entire family has headed to a triathlon out near the coast. Both boys were competing which I thought was cool, the note on the counter read a lot to be honest, but the message was make yourself at home and take a rest day if you want. I decide this is the best thing as the leg going up and down the stairs was not feeling 100% so I head right back up stairs after having a small bowl of cereal to ice the leg and elevate some more. I decide to read the book my Uncle gave me while in Raleigh as I really haven't touched it. I spent all day reading, and I mean all day, I didn't come out of the bedroom, unless to get some water or use the bathroom. I read all but 40 pages that day, it was one of those reads where it just sucks you in! The title of the book was the "The Killer Angels", all about the battle of Gettysburg. I'm wishing now I would have taken a few more books with me as this book read so fast...