Zero to One Hundred day zero.

I moved all my bikes out of my basement and into the garage. It will be months before I ride them again and they are just crowding and overcrowded basement. Tomorrow I say goodbye to my left knee. It has served me well in spite of a severe injury in 1974 and four repair surgeries over the years. After ripping out ligaments and cartilage I still was able to spend 1000s of hours powerlifting, swimming, running, and cycling over the years. But now the time has come, the last four years my knee has told me when I can ride, how far and how hard I can ride. Yes I did have 126 mile days, grueling hill climbs and 350 mile weeks on the bike this year but I also had weeks and weeks when I could not ride, cortisone shots, days walking with a cane, and hours on the couch with ice bags.

I am compulsive. I have been making notes for weeks in preparation of everything I need to do to get everything ready to make a house livable  when walking is difficult, stairs hurt, and high powered pain killers race through my bloodstream.

My indoor bike waits in the dining room for my return from the hospital for rehab.

 

 

So tomorrow morning a team of medical professionals will remove what remains of my damaged left knee and replace with titanium alloy and polyethylene parts. I am going into this as strong as I can be; I’ve kept bicycling up to this weekend. I am scheduled for 6 weeks of therapy afterwards and my goal is to conquer every challenge my therapists throw at me.

I plan to chronicle my journey, the ups, downs, and everything in between of a cyclist whose goal is to work hard and get back on his bike and ride, one mile at a time until the day I can ride 100 miles again.  Hence the title “0 to 100”