Chris Knows

So my foot did not feel so comfortable in regular shoes. I continued to "feel" it or sense some minor pain. Chris and I had discussed going to the St. George over the weekend assuming I was given the all clear from the Doc. I was not so sure I received that and with the way it felt I was reluctant to go. Chris was becoming increasingly agitated with the weather though. He was so excited to head down to sunshine. He  was sensing my anxiety about it though.
On Friday, he said we would try riding and if that did not work than we would just hang out in the sun, throw the frisbee at the park, anything to get out of town. I agreed. He also suggested that I modify some insoles to my riding shoe to see if that would help at all.
I did some research. I went to the store and ended up with insoles and some jelly pad like things for women who suffer  pain from wearing high heels. I thought I could modify that to resemble sesamoid or metatarsal pads I had seen online. We got to the trailhead and start the experiment. I started with the make-shift sesamoid pad. I tried a couple pair of shoes to see which would fit best with the pad. We also moved my cleat down lower on my foot. I got on the bike...and could not feel a thing. So it was a go.
We rode the race course and Zen. It was delightful. After Zen, we bumped into Brad and Craig who had just pulled into town. We chatted for a bit. Then parted ways as we headed out to Bear Claw and Stucki. We rode 3 hours and I barely felt it later that evening.
The next day we did Barrel Roll and ran into a big group from Biker's Edge. We thought about trying the new stuff but it did not look polished enough. We continued on and then headed over to Hurricane Rim-Jem-Gould. We have not completed this loop in over a year. Chris exploded his bike at Camp Lynda last year. We tried to Paul, Gayle and the gang, but ended up with multiple tire issues causing us to head back.
We ran into Brad and Craig again as they were finishing. We again chatted and then headed off. We had zero incidences. It was great. My foot began to bother me just a smidgen, but I was not going to let that deter us. (Note: Chris would have been fine to cut it short, but I wanted to continue). Day two had 3:30 worth of riding and I was spent. I had been pushing for two days and have lost some fitness.
I can't wait to do it again.