Three weeks ago I wrote about being attacked by a goose and I hurt myself. I am glad to mention that I feel full strength now.

Let"s recap, I encroached on the goose's territory and the goose flew into my head. Then hovered over me flapping his wings. I lost my balance and fell over. I tried to keep the bike up and myself standing, but I could not regain balance. The distance of my fall was not more than two feet from the ground.  The temps were cool and I had tights with a jacket. These protected me from scrapes on the gravely asphalt. Both the bike and myself were able to finish my planned route.

I finished my ride traveling another ten miles. When I got done I took off the jacket and I did not see any abrasion, but I did see some bruising. After I sat relaxing , I could feel soreness and sensitivity in my upper right thigh and lower glute.

This illustration helped understand what was hurting and I could guess my right leg was under a lot of unusual stress while trying to hold me and the bike upright. I did not notice any bruising or swelling on my leg or butt.  I think that would indicate a more serious injury.

​          What should I do to help the healing?
1.  Check with a medical professional. I do not have one in my household, so I ask the internet .
2. Follow the directions and advice.  In this case:

• Avoid intense stretching.
• Gentle mobility with easy movement.  Walk on flat ground if the pain is low.
• Light strengthening, maybe isometric
• Use ice
• Rest.

What did I do besides the rest and ice?  How long should I take?

• See a doctor if the pain does not subside after a couple of days.
• I must emphasize the importance of rest.  The body is designed to heal itself.    Those who exercise regularly are most likely to try to do too much too soon.  I was going off on  a multi-day tour in a few weeks  and I wanted this to completely heal.  It is hard to believe that taking any time off will be good for us.
• The first three days I just walked around the house. I was also careful not to do sudden movement which would use those muscles. Luckily I do not have to deal with steps. 
• On the fourth day, I walked short distances in the mall and used the bike trainer to see how the muscles felt under the stress of cycling. My progression over two days went 2.7, 7.2 miles and my leg felt comfortable to try outside the next day. 
• On the sixth day, I rode outside for less than an hour on terrain without challenging hills.  After three days at this level, I felt that I could get back to longer rides at my pre-injury stress level.  
• I also began my chair exercise routine which would allow general strengthening  and stretching.  I this environment I could easily lighten up on the work load when I felt too much stress.

This plan worked for me in this case.  I hope that you found this useful.  What advice do you have to pass along on injury recovery?

The Adventure Cycling Association created Golden Gravel Trail as part of the 50th anniversary of the organization. This trail is beyond my abilities for a bike tour/ bikepacking. A few weeks ago the presented the trail and if you are interested they are offering the RideGPS files free.  Help yourself at https://www.adventurecycling.org

Adventure Cycling will provide you with great information to get ready for your excursion.  From the pictures you can see the remote areas and you will want to be prepared. This trail was routed with a gravel bike in mind. Best to have wider tires (2.2-2.4"). A tubeless set up is recommended also. There is no single track. There are options for you to do a drop-in ride to just do segments.  They estimated 72 ride days for the whole trail and doing a rest day per week.

Every ride can be an adventure and an opportunity to learn something.  My ride this last Sunday was just that experience.  I hope that sharing my tale can be a lesson for you.

I decided that a Sunday Ride in an industrial park would be quiet. I did not see a single car. I did see many Canadian geese. Do you see them ready to cross the road.  There are many ponds throughout the park.  Several young goslings were evident.  I tried to give them plenty of room as I went by, but one came charging at me! I never had that happen.

I was startled and fighting for balance. I hopped on my right leg, but I could not keep the bike standing upright and I fell to the ground. I got up and I was ok.  The goose had rejoined the family.  My bike was okay. I really did not imagine that the goose would fly  into me.  My past experience always had them walking and especially when crossing the road, very slowly.  The next day I looked up the computer about my experience and below is what I learned.

Even though my distance was what past experience told me was safe, it was obvious by the reaction I was violating their territory. I learned that when a goose is running toward me, they mean business. They usually will try to avoid you and keep a safe distance. 

I should have stopped when the charging began.  Face the goose and slowly back away.  I will be more cautious in the future. What I experienced was a classic case of violating their territory when the little ones are around.

I did end up straining a leg muscle in my right thigh from hopping and  I will have to allow that muscle strain to recover.