I was released by my doctor yesterday, but with the words “Take it easy”.

I intended to, I really did. But sadly, I did not.

Just over two weeks ago, I had three Ti screws removed from my ankle. They had been inserted when I broke my leg in November of 2009. My doctor told me that this should not be a difficult procedure – they should come out easily. They did not.

It seems that the bone adhered well with the screws. In addition, the soft tissue surround the screws was not that soft. What should have taken five minutes took 45 minutes.

As such, my ankle is still sore, quite sore. But this does not affect my peddling; putting lots of force on the peddles does not bother the wounds.

The Salem Bicycle Club was offering two routes today, both to Silverton but one was mostly flat and one was not flat at all. The sky was cloudy and threatening, the temperature was in the low 40s F. and I rode the Litespeed, the bike with really fat tires on it. All of this should have directed me to the shorter, mostly flat route. I did not want to ride with the large group that was doing the mostly flat route, so I joined the smaller group of nine doing the not flat at all route.

The first big hill of the day was State Street out to Cascade Highway. I worked hard bringing my heart rate up to 163 at times and I was the third one to reach the top. Five of us regrouped and continued on as it began to shower. The next hill was Doerfler Road, a short and very steep hill. I was last. In fact, I was last for the rest of the day. The final big hill was Fox Road with inclines of 16% and greater. I was in my granny gear, a 26 x 25 and I spun up the hill working moderately hard.

On the descent into Silverton, I caught Alex and we stopped for coffee and snacks at the Silver Creek Coffee House. Since I intended to ride directly back to my house, I left Alex and rode back by myself, into the wind, a really fierce wind. It was a long way back from Silverton.

Distance: 51.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,265 feet
Average Speed: 12.6 mph
Average Heart Rate: 124 bpm

I will take it easy tomorrow – I promise.