The good, the bad, the ugly (and unknown...)

Howdy from the Atlanta airport,

I hope everyone is rocking. Lots has happened since last time here. Last week followed up the with some real good training. Mountains, a 4 hour tough day, and some racing. As the week wore on I started getting more and more sensitive to the insulin. I was down to 13u basal, and less than that of rapid. Life was good, and metabolism moving. Did most of my training with Daniel Holt, and until last Thursday he was practically forcing me to ride. Weather was bad, and motivation not so high, but as the sun came out, I started getting really stoked to ride.

The Good:
Saturday came around, and it was race time in the Big B (Birmingham.) Joe's home town, and on a real cool speedway, so we were motivated to win. Joe, Dan, and I lined up with 50 others for the race. We were aggressive all day, and covering a bunch of moves from Cleve... Joe said he was feeling good, so we banked on a sprint for him. I got in some move for a few laps, and looked like we might stay away. With about 2km''s to go, we got caught, and Dan went straight to the front with Joe in tow. I stayed on the big man's wheel, while Dan kept things in check. On the last little rise 2 guys attacked, and Joe was on them like white on rice. Then came the kick to the line, and My boy Joe lit that sprint up to win by close to 5 bike lengths. It was the first time we had raced together in a long time, so to pull it off was nice. Real stoked for Joe. He has been knocking on the door for the past few weeks, and is definitely riding better than he has ever gone before. Expecting some good stuff from him come Speedweek.

The Bad and the Ugly:
So all this riding has been good, and my form was coming around nicely, but all with a little hint of doubt. During my last day in Taiwan my leg went numb for the first time since surgery last May. I was a bit freaked, so took 8 days off the bike, then every time I went hard since it has repeated. So I go in to the Vascular lab at Emory to do an ABI, or blood pressure in arm, relative to leg. At rest I am normal, 3 minutes after exercise I am normal. BUT, immediately after intense riding I have 33% less blood flow to my left leg than I should. Functional ABI is anywhere from .85-1.00 during exercise. Before surgery last year I was at .68, and at retest I was at .66. I am much stronger than last year, but still at a big disadvantage. I go in for an MRI of the arteries next week, which will determine if the surgery is recommended again, at which point I am unsure of what I will do.

I am a firm believer in the old "everything happens for a reason," yet I am also not happy about this at all. I had a problem, had surgery and a pretty brutal climb back, only to be standing at the same ledge again. Screw it though! I can still pedal, and still like riding my bike, so I am gonna race. This weekend is the Tour of Battenkill which will be a brutal 200km race with 30miles or so of dirt. Should be a real slug fest, with some of the best in the country. To get through it will be tough, but we have some guys going really well, and I want to do as much as I can to help set up another W Team Type 1.

Also, a quick thanks to all those who drive on Johnson Ferry that read this last week ... Dan, Colby, and I rode to the crit again on Thurs, and only got honked at 2x by people who weren't happy about where they came from, or where they were going... Maybe a honk free ride next week? Is it possible??

Thanks for reading, and I hope to have some good news to report next week, on a multiple levels.

Phil
http://twitter.com/PhilSoutherland
www.teamtype1.org