Mountain Biking - alternate training 1

It's still officially winter in Europe, but on Sunday, spring-like temperatures were forecast, with a maximum in Chur of 20°C expected. With this infamous leg injury of mine still plaguing me, I decided last week, it was time I started doing so-called cross-training - i.e. other forms of training that will not have an adverse effect on my Iliopsoas tendon. Having bought the mountain bike, in the photo to the left, in 2006, and having not ridden it since October 2007, the warm weather predicted was quite conducive to training the body on wheels.

I set off about 11 o'clock on Sunday morning, heading in the general direction of Liechtenstein. Infamous for my over-doing things - allegedly - I thought I'd best not go too far the first day of cycling this year. However, when I set my mind to something, not much can change it, and I found myself deciding to do that which I really wanted to do. A while ago, when my leg started playing up, I decided to plan out a route for a long run from the north of Liechtenstein back to Chur - this is/was to be my first long run, at a distance of about 52 km. Of course, the run itself has had to be shelved until my injury heals, but I was pretty keen to cycle the route on Sunday. When I actually run it, I'll take the train to a place called Haag, just across the border in Switzerland, opposite Leichtenstein, across the Rhein. On my bike, though, I set off along the Rhein from Chur, along a track I have run and cycled before many times. It follows the Rhein through places like Zizers, Landquart, Bad Ragaz and finally Sargans, before turning northwards still along the Rhein towards canton St. Gallen and Liechtenstein.

The promise of perfect weather was fulfilled, and I was dressed in my summer running gear, complete with Garmin GPS wrist set, and my new and yellow wrist weather station. Here is a picture of the weather station:

and was thus closely monitoring all conditions, both bodily and atmospheric.

My Garmin GPS looks like this:

My bike's computer was also working, and I had my small digital camera with me. I had my iPod with me as well, but decided against using it, as I so enjoyed the sounds of nature, as I whizzed along the tracks and roads towards the small principality of Liechtenstein, currently rocked by a bank scandal!!!! I felt on top of the world, and had not one ache or pain.

In parts, the cycle track was tarred, and headed slightly downhill. I was able to increase my speed to about 50 kph at one stage, which felt invigorating, but I prefer not to ride so fast for fear of hitting a rock, or something, and taking a tumble - I do not want anymore injuries!!!!!!

As the track turned north, I decided not to ride all the way to Haag, but, instead, to cross the Rhein from Switzerland to southern Liechtenstein, where lies a beautiful village called Balzers, with its landmark being a majestic castle (by the way, all the photographs can be seen on my Flickr.com website). I crossed into the mini-country, and had a short rest, while admiring the view. There are no border formalities between the two countries, as Liechtenstein's foreign affairs and defence are conducted by the Swiss authorities (in fact, all of Switzerland's borders with neighbouring countries will be eliminated on 1st November this year; although not a member of the EU, our country has signed the Schengen Agreement, and the borders will come down in autumn. It will be interesting to see if the feared invasion of hoardes of eastern Europeans will actually occur then!!!!!).

Once in Liechtenstein, I headed towards the track which forms part of my planned running route, and, from then on, I was on it all the way back to Chur. This track goes across the border again back into Switzerland, just outside of Blazers, and then over a pass known as St. Luzisteig, which is quite an active military area - not quite the French Foreign Legion, but the Swiss Army will do for now.

I've travelled over this pass several times by car, but had forgotten how steep it is, especially by bike and/or foot. Nevertheless, I still maintained a steady pace as I made my way up the pass, taking a few breaks on the way - to admire the scenery!!!!!! When I finally arrived at the top, I was sweating profusely, and was glad of the summer clothes, and the temperature up there of a few degrees less than the 27,2°C I recorded in Balzers!!!!!!

From here, I set off along tracks and side roads above the picturesque village of Maienfeld, through the region where the legendary Heidi is purported to have lived (it's now a huge tourist industry, with hotels, restaurants and a million Japanese tourists a day (almost)). Along the undulating track, I cycled through the vineyard area of our canton, places like Jenins and Malans, and finally behind Landquart to Igis, where I had a break of about ten minutes to massage my right thigh, which had become subjected to an annoying bout of cramp.

From Igis, it was back to Zizers and down to the track along the Rhein again, for the finally leg back to Chur. Feeling ecstatic, I arrived at home around 15:45 hours (3.45 p.m.). I had travelled almost 70 km (so much for a short ride on the first day!!!!!), and had expended 3084 kcals of energy. It had really been a fantastic ride, and I felt great. My rear end did feel a tad tender, but that will improve, the more I ride. There was no apparent effect on my Iliopsoas tendon, although the dull ache from the injury was ever-present.

I have done rides like this before, even once from Zürich back to Chur (125 km), and down in Carona, we often do the 70-km giro del lago (route around the lake, through Italia). I shall try to use every opportunity I get to go for long rides, especially until my leg heals and I can run again. I do enjoy riding very much indeed; it's just that my greatest passion is getting around on my own two feet.