November 18, 2009

New Faces, New Places

The best thing about the sport of triathlon is the people who do it. During my short 1.5 years training and competing I've met upwards of 30 new people, all of whom are interesting, fun and incredibly nice. Some are just acquaintances that I see from time to time and others have become good friends, some having shared my first Ironman experience with me. It's exciting to think I've barely scratched the surface and will have many more opportunities to continue meeting others who share this common interest (or obsession).

Through the series of events that my injury put into motion I've come out of it with not only a hefty dose of perspective that allowed me to discover a lot about myself and what the Ironman really meant to me, but also with the chance to meet some more great people in the sport. A friend I met through the Brooklyn Tri Club referred me to an ART therapist, who referred me to my podiatrist. Over the course of my three-month recovery we've become friends and Sunday I got a chance to meet some of his friends on a small group ride. I haven't been on the bike with a group since my trip to Vermont in July and forgot how much fun it can be. Even though I didn't know anyone I felt as though I were amongst friends. That's the beauty of this commonality we share. We drove up to Bear Mountain, about 45 minutes north of the city. Bear Mountain is situated right next to Harriman State Park and is stunning. It's also incredibly hilly with some fairly long and difficult climbs. While I never hesitated to say yes to the invitation, I was a little worried my foot wouldn't hold up and would slow me down. I hadn't done anything since the morning of my PRP last week and was hobbling in the walker boot. I figured if my doc invited me it must be ok, right?

I ditched the boot for the day and hoped for the best. The weather was great. It was in the upper 50s and overcast with tiny breakthroughs of sun. If the sun had made its way out more it would have been perfect. With all the climbing, the 38-mile ride took us just under three hours, but the time flew by. We tended to ride in pairs, alternating who was in each pair throughout.

After the slight PRP setback it felt really good to be back on the bike. I'm not sure if the weather will give me another chance for a day like that before Spring. One can only hope.

2 comments:

  1. nice ride! how did you like the hairpin turn @ the bottom of those 2 hills? really humbling how you can go from 45 mph to 0 and and then immediately start up a steep hill.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...