Chartier's and Chicago's

Alright, I know I'm a few weeks behind on my race reports now, but I've been busy (for me). Since I last wrote, I raced the Chicago Crit and Elk Grove, as well as cut a rug or two at the Chartier wedding in Bloomington the Saturday before the Chicago Crit. If I asked you which of those 3 events was most likely to result in injury, you might guess right, but I bet not.



So we all know I touched down at the Bloomington Crit and had a bit of road rash and some back soreness. I went about my daily activity for the next week and felt fine, like I said, just a bit sore. Last Saturday rolled around and after Kim and Chris tied the knot the dancing began and didn't stop for a half a day or so. I took a cab home and woke up the next morning early to drive to Chicago. I got out of bed and could barely walk. I guess all that dancing had seriously upset my already unhappy lower back. I guess that's what happens when you use such extreme and innovative moves.



Oddly enough, my back was feeling better on the bike where the saddle was taking some of the load off. Standing and sprinting was hard on it, but I decided to try to work through it. I actually felt pretty good in the race and was in good position on the last lap when I got taken out by yet another crash. Annoying to say the least. My back was definitely in worse shape after the race than before, so I went home and iced it and took a few days off to see if it made any improvements. Wednesday rolled around and it wasn't getting better so I took a trip to the Chiro for my first ever "adjustment". They took some X-Rays and could see that my pelvis was shifted thanks to my wreck in Bloomington and my SI joint in my lower back was also out of alignment. Now, I'm not much for bone popping, but it really wasn't that bad. He worked on me every day and even twice on Friday to try to get me ready to race at Elk Grove.



With a whole week off between Chi-town and Elk Grove I didn't have much in the way of expectations. I used some topical numbing gel and about 47 "Pain Skittles" to get me through the races in an extremely mediocre and lackluster manner. Made a few bucks for the team on Saturday and Sunday was pretty average as well. Surprisingly enough, I felt miraculously better on Monday after another "adjustment" and also a bit better today. I've got another appointment tomorrow and a nice routine of stretches and strengthening exercises that will hopefully have me functioning fully by Downers Grove in a week and a half. What I'm really worried about is my big hiking/backpacking trip to Colorado at the end of August with my bro and dad.

I'm kind of bummed about the way this road season has gone health wise, but I've still got a few more weeks left to pull off a nice season saving result.