Sunday, April 09, 2006

Nittany Classic + New Therapy + Roubaix

Well the Nittany Classic has come and gone, what a quality weekend. I was blown away at the effort our club put into this event. The planning was done well, but was made all the more solid by the people marshaling during races and making tons of food for the kickass dinner on Saturday night. The raffle got us some more cash and garnered excitement on Saturday, while Sunday's roadrace went off without a hitch despite a roadway sized tractor and a neutral rollout through a highway interchange 3 times over. I can't wait for next year. Myself and Andy have already been discussing possible tweeks to our weekend to maximize quality and minimize the chance that any other pretender school would get Easterns. As of now I'm the only person running for Road Race Director for next year, so... I guess I got that job. Schweet.

I also have started physical therapy at a new place. I'm now going to the place near the hospital, Penn State Orthapedics. I like the therapist, he took a good chunk of time to talk with me, and his points made a lot of sense. The biggest issue, which was never pointed out to me before, is that my right leg has NO hyperextension right now. So if you're sitting on a bed with your legs out in front of you, hyperextension is picking up your heel from the bed while keeping your knee on the bed. My left knee can do it for about an inch or two which is normal. My right leg doesn't budge. I also stand with my right knee noticably in front of my left (due to the lack of hyperextension). So I'm doing some stretches and exercises aimed at helping the knee to reach full range of motion (something I thought I had months ago). After a few days it's already feeling better, but I also haven't been really stressing it much. I'm hopeful that this new perspective will help, but I'll try and stay grounded for the time being.

I watched Paris-Roubaix this morning. What a kickass race! Cancellra (CSC) was looking strong all day and took out the win in impressive fashion, while three riders got DQ'ed (2nd,3rd and 4th on the road) for going around a train blocking. Crazy stuff! I figured the days of trains stopping races was long gone. Boonen's group was behind the group that went around the barricades and they stopped. Throw in some crashes (poor Hincappie and Steels) and some gutsy performances (Hammond! never mentioned but the brother had stitches in his knee!! I feel ya buddy). Great race. I'll try and record it. If I can't, I'm buying it. Great trainer viewing material right there.