Cinderella advice, please

[mariposa]

Hi,

Well, I am not going to weigh in on the debate re: Should-I-start-knowing-I'll-need-the-sag-wagon, versus not starting at all. I am just going to say that if you DO decide to start, have a 'mental plan' to force yourself to stop early. Don't let yourself get caught up in the excitement and finish the whole thing. Don't rationalize that your knee will be fine.

How about reading through the website and figuring out a convenient place to stop. That could be at a food location, or a medical tent location, or someplace where the race directors do expect many people to stop their ride and take the sag wagon. If you are not sure where you will stop, write down a few possible locations (such as Mile 30 and Mile 40). Decide the absolute farthest you will allow yourself to ride. If you do reach that point and find yourself thinking "Why not go the whole way," ask: What would be worse - giving up the full 65, or giving up Italy?

The last time I rode 'too long for my knee,' I was forced off my bike for 4 months! The knee just wouldn't recover. When I started up again, I avoided hills for 3 months and never increased the distance of my long bike ride by more than 5 miles in any given week. That seemed to do the trick of building the muscles back up without injuring the knee.

Good luck!

[Geonz]

That's what I was going to say. There's a real potential here for setting yourself up to lose Italy. I'd probably find something else to do Cindy day - something really fun - rather than "sort of almost" doing something that you wish you could do differnetly.
Or, I'd volunteer to help at the rid.e

[Adventure Girl]

Will you be alone? Have you considered going to the start, getting checked in and getting your route sheet. Then have a friend drop you off at the 30 mile mark or at the lunch spot and ride only the back half.

This way you will still get to participate. You would be less temped to go further than your knees should. And you wouldn't have to rely on the sag supplied by the organizers.

[ace]

Thank you all, you all have a lot of collective wisdom.

My New Year's resolution this year was: I will be nice to myself. Sometimes it is very, very hard for me to figure out how to do that.

But I think in this situation (with your help) I've figured out what constitutes being nice to myself. I won't do the ride and risk hurting myself. My real goal is being well enough to enjoy riding in Italy, so I'm keeping my eyes on the prize (and the gelato).

Cinderella will wait until next year