Durango Knee Recovery Program

Bum left knees on the both of us. But LOOK, we are pedaling bikes together, finally! The last ride we did together was back in Boulder.

I turned around after five minutes of easy awkward pedaling on this ride, but it’s only been up from there. For both of us.

Less riding means lots of computer time, which is a good thing with Tour Divide coming right up and after a week+ spent camping. But I can only take so much before my brain turns to mush and longs for less time indoors, more time outdoors. I was knee deep in a fabulous quagmire of javascript, php, and C, working on new raceflow features for the divide, when one word came to mind, “Enough!”.

“Let’s go camping!”

“OK!! When do you want to go, tomorrow?”

“No, I was thinking today…”

30 minutes from “Let’s go camping!” we were in the Sports Van, pulling out of the driveway. 30 minutes after that, including a stop at City Market, we had secured the prime spot at Hermosa Creek.

Bikes were unloaded, and 1:20 from “Let’s go camping!” we were on the trail.

Hermosa Creek is only fun if you enjoy zooming through the trees. Luckily, we most definitely do, especially after a dearth of such things.

“I haven’t ridden in the deep dark wood for soo long!” We camped at Hermosa for more than a week, and Eszter never got to ride it; stupid knee!

I woke up several times to the soothing sound of the wind rushing through the trees, and each time I was glad not to be in the too-hot house trying to fall asleep (we’ve been too stubborn to turn on the A/C at the house — it’s not *that* hot!).

We set out in the morning for something of a dubious plan. Climbing Jones Creek may or may not be considered “knee friendly.” Turning off to explore a new trail may or may not be considered a knee friendly decision. But we went for it anyway.

Controlled pedal strokes in ye old granny gear brought us to the top of Jones, and this meadow, still happily filled with dandelions and greenery so bright it hurts the eyes.

Strict adherence to a Durango Knee Recovery Program would have dictated a 180 degree turn and a ripping descent. But come on, who are we dealing with here?

We knew we were pushing it, but the temptation of a new trail, a loop, and an adventurita proved too hard to resist.

Had we turned around, we would have missed ridgeline trail like this.

Hike-a-bike like this.

And a never-ending descent, shockingly chunky and just enough to wake the adrenal system up. We both joked about sitting in the creek while the other fetched the car and camp (sitting out of a 1000′ climb), but we both pedaled it, to surprisingly good knees.

Finally, a real mountain bike ride. Together.

the view from sleeping pads, just imagine whoooshing of the wind to accompany

We collapsed in the shade, spent a few minutes packing up camp, then headed back to town for plates full of tacos and a soak in the river. Ah, yes, summertime, and the living is eaaaaaasy. A 24 hour mini-vacation, perfect for renewing ability to sit indoors and hack tracking code.

This morning, the knees aren’t showing any ill effects, happily. A few more town rides and hopefully we’ll be ready to get out into the mountains that continue to call LOUDLY.

Back to trackleaders. 140+ riders in the divide this year. It’s going to be huge, and it’s going to be super fun to watch. Can’t wait.