Woohoo - felt like my old self today!

[emily_in_nc]

Just had to tell you girls that I had a great ride today, considering that I'm not even quite five months since my accident (fractured my pelvis in three places in mid-April in a cycling accident and had to have surgery to pin me back together, for the newbies!)

I did a 30-mile club ride, tacked on five extra miles, and at one point early on was actually averaging 18 mph! Admittedly, we had a tailwind at the start, and I latched on to a "tandem train" for a few miles, but it still felt SO good to go fast again!

I rode with two guys for most of the ride; we battled some pretty ferocious headwinds, but I was able to hang on and draft some off a strong guy (who would normally have left us in the dust, save for the wind). I even had guys drafting off me from time to time!

I ended up averaging 15.7 mph. I was very, very pleased with that! My rides since my accident have ranged from 12.5-14.9 mph, with most in the mid-upper 13s, so to finally break that 15 mph barrier felt incredibly good!

I got lots of comments from others who knew me on the ride about how well I was doing and how amazed they were. The nicest comment was from a guy who knew what had happened to me but had never ridden with me until today; he said "I could tell you were a strong rider just by watching the way you ride". Woo-hoo...that made my day! I didn't have any pain either!

I'm planning to do the 50-mile option at an event in two weeks that my husband is doing (he'll be doing the full century; there's no metric option), and after today I know I can do it. I don't plan on pushing for speed as I'll be waiting for him at the end for quite some time, so I can go nice and slow, enjoy all the rest stops, and just poke up the climbs. But it's nice to know that I can turn on the jets when I need to. No, I'm not back to my normal speed yet, but I've come so far and feel very, very lucky to be where I am. I can even stand and climb out of the saddle again!

Thanks again for all the support I've received here over the past months. You gals always lift me up so high.

Love you all,

Emily

[Pedal Wench]

Oh Emily!!!!!!!

That's terrific!!!! I am SO happy! You're really quite inspiring to us. I think about you every time I even hear the tinkle of a dog's collar when I'm riding. I doubt I would have the courage and perseverence that you've had!

You rock!!!!!!!!!!

Leslie! (formerly AudioA!)

[doc]

Way To Go

[shewhobikes]

You just amaze me. We are all so proud of you and so happy you had a great ride today!!!

[latelatebloomer]

Hey, I could tell you were a strong rider just from the way you wrote! What great news, Emily. Your recovery time seems amazingly short. Once, after patching up our dog, our vet told us that animals heal faster than humans because they have no ambivalence about getting well. I reckon you didn't either. Ride safe & strong forevermore!

[Dogmama]

YAHOO!!! Way to go!!! Great job!!! <claps hands, bounces up & down, wakes up dog>