Tendonitis

So I have tendonitis again. ITBFS, or ITB Friction Syndrome. I have seen three doctors, one massage therapist, and have been fitted a dozen times (though mostly by the same person). I have been dealing with recurring pain for two years now, this is the third summer. If I wouldn't be able to ride this summer, I think I would be crying. But today I found hope, and its name is David Greenfield. I have been asking around for recommendations on who to see in the city that has physiology and bike racing knowledge. Cadence came up, and David at Elite Bicyles. I was hesitant to go to Cadence, from a purely monetary perspective, so I thought I'd at least stop by Elite on my way to Drexel. David saw me and immediately put me through the motions before I could even determine a price. He was more concerned with making sure he knew what the problem was. Armed with years of kinesiology and other physical therapy training that I quickly forgot, he re-aligned my hips, reset my effective leg length discrepancy, and gave me some stretches to do to elongate my ITB. We set up a fit and pedaling assesment for next week. I guess we'll talk money then. But I don't care because right now, I have hope that I will be riding pain free soon!
Until that happens though, I will be short on posts and maps.

Tuesday Am Sprints

So I have been leading sprint workouts in Philadelphia for five if not six years now. During DST, we meet on Resevoir Road between Strawberry and Mt Pleasant Mansions, around 6:40am every Tuesday. It is a two mile, low traffic course, that used to see more prostitutes, used condoms, and weird guys coming out of the woods, or washing their cars for 45 mins, but now, it's more home to bike riders and walkers. Thankfully.
Today, we sprinted in the rain. Drizzle started on lap 3 and by lap 4 we had rain drops. Dmitri showed up a couple laps in and proceeded to put the hurt down from both his lnog pulls and the sprint he can pull out of nowehere. This, after he and I rode 4h15 on Saturday, and him winning the sprint in his race on Sunday. He's incredible. Now, I just need him on my team.
I wasn't feeling super fresh and stayd away from the sprints, mostly working on hard pulls. Next week, right?

E Soles

I have to say, nothing has made my bike riding stronger and more comfortable than my custom footbeds. I have been riding them for a little over a year and I feel so much stronger over the pedals. My ankle doesn't turn and when I push down, I swear that 100% of all power goes straight through my SIDI's into the pedals. I swear by them But I don't know why more stores don't provide them in this area, there are so many good bike shops, but no true custom footbed suppliers.

South of Philly Epic Loop

I am meeting up with BC today at 8am to go South. We head through the Heinz Wildlife Refuge, five miles of dirt and gravel roads, before crossing Chester Pike into Swarthmore. After riding along the Blue Route (476), we get into Ridley Creek Park for one long, really long climb. I'm not sure how we'll ride home from there, either to Valley Forge or home through Goshen and Vilanova. Either way, it'll be epic. I'll post the gps file later.
This ride ended up being 73 miles. A few pit stops and a nine minute tube change after pinch flatting on the gravel, all told it was 4h15. Didn't really fall apart until we got within 10miles of home, so that was good.

May 17 70plus miles

I met up with Dmitri at the Ben Franklin Bridge for a ride over to New Jersey to join the saturday morning group ride led by the Peddlers Shops and Mambo Kings teams. Flat, windy with a steady paceline, we rode for four hours and change. I was back home by 11:10am! GPS cuts off a couple of times, but the picture gives you an okay idea of where we rode.