Biking

Mary and I before the big ride.

This is the York County Heritage Rail Trail.  It is a 19 mile trail that runs from York down into Maryland.  This is a picture I took when Grace and I walked it one day.  Last Saturday, Matt and I went with Mark and Mary to New Freedom to start the trail.  Matt decided to run and the rest of us rode bikes.  It was so much fun until we turned around to come back.  I didn't realize the decline we were going until I had to go back up it.  Truly, it's not that big of an incline, but it was steady and constant.  My seat wasn't high enough, so a few hours later, I was in a lot of pain right above both of my knees.  I think we went somewhere around 15 miles in total.  Matt probably ran close to 13 miles round trip.  He's never ran that far.  He didn't have a watch on him.  We ran into him on our way back and couldn't believe how far he had come.  

That night, I fell asleep out of exhaustion and woke up at 2 in the morning in so much pain I just couldn't get back to sleep. I went downstairs to find the paper my doctor had given me on the medications I could take.  I didn’t have Tylenol and just started crying.  Matt woke up, came downstairs and tried to console me.  He put ice on my legs and went to the grocery store to get me Tylenol PM.  I am so grateful for such a loving husband.  I stayed up until almost 4 until I felt like I could fall back asleep.  After much research online seeking to self-diagnose myself, I concluded that I had damaged my quadriceps tendons. 

Thankfully, when I woke up at 7, I felt 100% better.  The pain came back that night, but I haven’t had any problem since.  So, lessons learned:

When you haven’t ridden a bike in years, take it easy. 

Turn around while you are feeling really good.

Make sure your seat is high enough so that your leg extends completely as you bike.

Have your medicine cabinet stocked! 

Take medicine as soon as pain is coming on.