26 Weeks To Go: Trans Mni Sota Wheel Race 2021

 

Deep into the school year and the never ending COVID-19 pandemic, the glow of future summer days or maybe the hopeful end of the virus' reign has crept into my mind.  The challenges of trying to teach during these days have become a normal part of life and seems less daunting now than a few months ago.  There is space in my mind again to think about more than getting through the day... which, historically, can be a good or bad thing.  In early December I committed to a carrot, the Trans Mni Sota Wheel Race.  

It begins in approximately 26 weeks from today.  I started training two weeks ago, and it isn't going well.  In November I had grabbed a copy of Kurt Refsnider's 6-month Bikepack Race Training Program, was thoroughly impressed with it, and jumped into it after a week of review.  Having spent the September, October, and November biking easy and focusing on strength training I thought it would be an easy transition... which was wrong.  The big increase in hours on the bike during that first week of the program, along with changing the pedals and my shoes on the Fargo, has left me with a pretty angry right knee.  Radiating along the medial side of the kneecap, its hard to walk down stairs.  I've been taking it easy- with lots of stretching, saunas, ice and easy spinning.  It seems to be improving after a week.  With some cleat and seat adjustment on the power trainer setup I was able to do an easy spin at 110W for 1.75 hours 1 week after the injury... which is better than where I was earlier this week. 

The training program is mapped out to begin on January 3rd, so I will continue with the easy spinning, stretching, and icing till then, gradually increasing my pedal time as long as the pain is not increasing.

Also of note, and increasingly worrisome, is the numbness in both my hands from the summer's Midwest adventure from the UP to home.  And sometimes my left middle toes.  They seem to spend more time in a state of numb tingling than not.  I re-wrapped the Fargo's handlebars with some plush Fizik Bondcush over gel pads to help when riding.  But the numbness only seems present when not riding... when my heart rate is low.  Being 4 months since this started, I finally made a doctors appt for this week to explore whats going on.

So here I am... an almost 39 year old asthmatic dad, with a bum knee and numb hands and toes, trying to train for a 1200 mile road race that I'll be riding a Fargo on, a steel adventure bike that is more suited for tackling unknown mountain ribbons of questionable state.  The mocking doubter in my mind rolls his eyes at me with a face that says "this is a dumb idea... you are setting yourself up to fail."

But there is a much louder voice who hungers for the challenge and the unknown of tackling something of this magnitude, who reminds me of the wisdom gained since that first Tuscobia 160 race a few years back, who is excited by the prospect of chasing a challenge guarded by so many opportunities to fail.  Right now, if asked the likelihood of pulling this off, I would realistically answer 50/50 given all that stands in the way... but privately... well I guess that stays with me.

I look forward to the June 20th roll-out of the Trans Mni Sota race.  I have no intentions of being anywhere near the front of this race, but I fully intend to finish it in the fastest fashion that I can.  I look forward to sharing those miles with kindred souls and wish them luck over the next 26 weeks.  I look forward to the process of mentally and physically preparing for this challenge and am intrigued by opportunity to become a little bit smarter and hopefully a smidge wiser through it all.