Not Quite There

Well, I rode a few times this week with mixed results.

On Monday, I did a nice easy spin through the neighborhood and then a little backyard 'cross practice. The knee felt more-or-less OK, but not perfect. To top it off, I crashed in the backyard going like 2mph. I was making a tight turn from my patio to the yard when my rear tire skipped over a rock, and somehow caused me to fall. Of course, I fell to the same side as my bruised knee. As I was falling, I tried to pull my knee in as much as I could, so I took most of it on my hip. Still, not a good way to get restarted.

I felt terrible on Tuesday night, like I was getting a cold, so I didn't ride. It rained Wednesday night, so I rode the trainer in the basement. I went harder, maybe too hard, and the knee was a little achey afterward, but still not too bad.

Last night, I met up with some Rhinos at Indian Springs and rode the paved trail. I figured it would be a relatively easy ride and a good chance to loosen things up. Frankly, after not riding for the better part of three weeks, I just need to spend time doing anything on my bike. Anyway, my knee didn't feel so hot at first, but it seemed to get better as I kept riding. It was a little cold and rainy, which probably didn't help.

Today, my knee was fairly sore in the area where I bruised it. It felt kind of bad this morning, but it seems to have gotten better as the day has gone on.

So I'm really on the fence about what to do: there are just over 7 weeks left in the season. I could try to push through it, or I could stop now. I don't see how I could rest another couple weeks or so and still hope to do anything at the last races, at least not with all the time I've already missed.

Probably the smart thing to do is to stop for now, but I haven't convinced myself yet...