I sure have far to go before I get back to my pre- hamstring injury fitness, although I\’m not about to abandon my poor bicycle in the middle of a field when the process is frustratingly slow.

I\’ve been gradually increasing the distance that I ride, but am still taking it easy. That muscle isn\’t quite ready to to resume the gearing and speeds that I had been using.

My cardiovascular fitness had most definitely taken a hit. I had been able to ride up the access ramp to the top of the levee and barely get into heart rate Zone 3. This morning the climb put me in Zone 4!

Because I wasn\’t going to be out there for hours, I skipped the Camel-Bak. I took along a cereal bar just in case, but didn\’t use it.

For a long, long time I had been somewhat aware of a quirk of mine: tensing up the left ankle, pulling the heel down, and jabbing at the pedal. I\’ll bet that had a lot to do with the tendonitis I got in the foot! I suspect that a weak quad is involved.

So now is a great time to keep aware of what my left leg is doing as I ride. I must make a constant, conscious effort if I don\’t want to drift right back into the old habit. The harder a gear I use, the easier it is to start using \”old-style pedaling\”, so it makes sense to stay in easier gears.

Here and there I\’ll shift up to the big ring for a bit; but as soon as that ankle starts to misbehave, I shift back to the small ring.

Years of incorrect habits aren\’t corrected in a few days, so I\’ve still got far to go.