fleacer ridge redux: b’s knees

once i made the decision to “divide”, and after prep miles began, a persistent thought lingered: “what about my knees?” the divide represented 160,000-feet of climbing and 2,600-miles of “here to there”, and while the beautiful hills and single track of cook county provided a great training venue, the divide is different.

truth be told, fleacer ridge scared me, partly because of its reputation, but mostly because of its physics. the descent especially is a downhill plunge that requires sure footing, good balance, and adapting quickly whenever those are compromised. after two knee replacements, the dynamics of my legs have changed. gone are my anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments and with them, most of my quadricep functionality. quads, that knot -like muscle group above the knee cyclists are most famous for…well that and wheelies and doping and crashing and saddle sores and ignoring traffic rules…are kind of important.

the quads are the lever, the fulcrum, and the jake brakes of walking/running uphill or downhill. they define youthful bounding and movement and happy engagement with life, with sports, with everything.

all the things i heard about fleacer ridge, it’s down hill portion especially, posed the greatest challenge of this journey for me. anyone who has had a tkr knows doing things “down”, be they steps or slopes, are where you miss those muscles the most.

at the same time, cycling is the perfect exercise, going short or far, up or down. but fleacer ridge is not cycling, it is an attempt to defy gravity.

heading down, i rode as far as i could, then began my measured descent. horse flies feasted, sweat dripped and i made sure every foot plant was firm before engaging another.

it wasn’t fun, and was accented with pain and exhaustion, but like every physical challenge of this journey, it was soon over and the next challenge took place in the divide queue.

we make big things out of little things and maybe that is what i did with fleacer ridge. it is probably what i have done with too many things in my life, but succeeding anything, anywhere, is a pretty good feeling.

our ride to elkhorn today presented the physical aftermath of fleacer ridge: my patellar tendons were tender and my knee joints tight. for the first climb in a while, i shifted into a big cog and “granny-geared” up and over the 1,400-foot climb. i was a tourist, enjoying the scenery and without a care in the world.