Skiing?

My first ski of this season was on October 22nd--I was out for an hour and a half and had such high hopes for a good ski season. Since then, no significant snow. So . . . nothing but rollerskiing and bicycling. Being on sabbatical this year (and the Pandemic), I was free of my bicycle commute, so when I ventured out for some exercise, I had the time to explore some different routes. Usually, I take the bike path over to Gooseberry Park and ride the single track trails there. One day, I rode the bike path along the river to Lindenwood Park, then continued south on residential streets until I came out at University and followed that bike path to Iwen Park, where I hopped on to some single track routes south of 52nd Ave South. These trails were really fun, winding through the trees next to the river. I followed them back all the way to Lions Park and then returned home. I heard there were some additional single track trails on the Moorhead side of the river south of the interstate, so one day, after riding the Gooseberry trails, I headed over there. One has to go up on the bike path for a bit, but I followed the path of other riders and reconnected with the singletrack trails. These were also a lot of fun. I began remembering my technical skills from when I was younger and started doing some of the obstacles--so fun! 

When my sons came back from college at Thanksgiving, I was eager to show them these great trails, so the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I took Massimo out to the trails south of I-94. We were having a great time, and then as we were rounding a corner, I was suddenly thrown violently to the ground. I did not even see the obstacle. Fortunately, I did not hurt my shoulder, but my right foot did not release from my toeclips. I lay there for a moment to get my breath and Massimo caught up to me. I tried to get my foot out of my pedal, but I couldn't, so I asked him to unlace my shoe and get it off for me. I had landed on my hip and it really hurt, but I could stand up. I looked around the trail, and I could not see anything that could have caused my fall, except a little stick. It must have been knocked up into my spokes or something. The fall had been sudden--the bike stopped, but my body was still moving forward, but it was a flat section, so I did not endo. I found I could walk, so we began walking back. As we did so, I began to see stars, so I asked Massimo to call my husband and ask him to drive to meet us on the other side of the bridge between Gooseberry and Lindenwood Parks. I wanted to go to the walk-in clinic to check for concussion--I was really not feeling okay, and my hip felt weird. At the clinic, I was answering the physician's questions, and I realized I had no memory of Massimo putting my shoe back on, though he must have. I didn't lose consciousness in the fall, but I was missing some recall. They x-rayed my hip--not broken. No significant concussion (I was wearing my helmet). 

The next week was extremely painful. I had not hurt my ribs, but where my ribs connected to my sternum had been hurt. Every time I had to sneeze--extreme pain. The second week was not much better--all I could do was go for short walks. Week three was much better, and yesterday, I went out bicycling on my fat tire bike. I took it very easy--my groin muscle is still tender from the twisting sudden fall. It felt so good to break a sweat again! And it was beautiful out with the light dusting of snow. I rode for an hour and it was a joy. I hope we get some more snow soon, so we can start skiing!