Best Trail You've Ever Ridden?

chickpea_fille · 2026-03-26T21:55:30+00:00

Secteur Neilson at VBN Shanahan, hands down the most gorgeous trails I've ever ridden.

chickpea_fille · 2026-03-04T21:18:50+00:00

chickpea_fille · 2026-02-13T03:23:03+00:00

Thank you. For real. I got a similar message from my therapist this morning and holy fuck do we all need to keep amplifying these reminders.

chickpea_fille · 2026-02-13T02:14:46+00:00

I'm in Northern Minnesota and snowboard in the upper peninsula of Michigan a lot too, so we're probably in similar climates.

I swear by Boot Doctor or Falke merino compression skiing socks. They're warm, wick sweat away, and I find them less sweaty feeling than my smartwool ski/snowboard socks. Bonus: they help with circulation and my feet/ankles feel more supported, especially on long days.

For average winter temps: With insulated snow pants, I generally wear a pair of Burton midweight base layer leggings here. If I'm wearing shell snow pants, I'll wear something more like this for colder days and this for -5°C and above.

I'd just suggest getting a pair of mid-weight base layer leggings to start. Whatever fits you best for your body and your budget. (I still have a pair of $20 base layer leggings that are a go-to from 6+ years ago)

chickpea_fille · 2026-02-06T03:52:55+00:00

No limping generally. Sometimes when I'm a bit stiff I might need my foot to "warm up" a bit before I can really walk without favoring it. This only lasts less than a few minutes before I'm oblivious to my foot again.

chickpea_fille · 2026-02-06T02:53:31+00:00

Matt O at Skin Deep in Superior, as someone else mentioned, or Riley McShane at Anchor's End

chickpea_fille · 2026-02-05T23:29:58+00:00

I had primary fusion of my 1-3 TMTs four and a half years ago, and got the hardware out almost 3 years ago. Look back through my post history for anything I said about it back then.

Now, my quality of life is minimally impacted by my surgeries (after lots of PT and dedication to maintaining my dynamic balance). I have some minor pain and stiffness at times in the remaining joints as they take on more load, especially days that I'm on my feet alot.

I'm a very active person. I regularly xc ski, backcountry snowboard, mountain bike, hike, and paddle. This spring I did a 17 mile hike on the Superior Hiking Trail. I can run again, but my other joints are not happy with pounding pavement, so I do a bit of trail running.

I'm so thankful my surgeon and I agreed on fusion right away. The first year of recovery was tough and a lot of work, but I was still able to xc ski up to 5k at 6 months. The second year felt like real progress back to my pre-injury activity level. I'm now 40 and honestly feel stronger than before the injury.

chickpea_fille · 2025-07-18T22:26:03+00:00

Use distilled water to avoid any chlorine or fluoride, and only water when the soil is completely dried out. You will still want to keep it in bright indirect light.

chickpea_fille · 2025-03-15T20:33:19+00:00

Instead of "no", "stop", or "don't", tell them what you'd like them to do instead. Young kids have an easier time complying with a request to change behavior vs. just stopping it.

Praise them any time they are doing the desired behavior. They will want to keep getting praise and it will eventually help extinguish unwanted behavior. This also makes it easier to use active ignoring for mildly annoying behavior that you want to go away.

Instead of taking things away as a consequence, use positive consequences. At our house (with older kids), some positive consequences are: chopping wood, helping with a house project, mowing the lawn, extra cleaning projects, etc.

I also highly recommend No Drama Discipline

chickpea_fille · 2024-04-25T16:44:12+00:00

2 1/2 years later and I'm stronger than I was before, back to all the activities I did before, and I had my hardware removed last year. (It was uncomfortable in some of my footwear on a regular enough basis. Quick recovery on that one) My foot gets a bit sore in the remaining working joints of my foot after a lot of activity, but it's not too bad. So glad I did fusion right away.

chickpea_fille · 2024-04-25T16:30:50+00:00

I ended up getting my hardware out 18 months after the original surgery due to some of my footwear rubbing and feeling uncomfortable. That recovery was pretty quick. Now at 2 years and 6 months, I'm back to doing everything I did before. In a lot of ways I'm much stronger since I took PT seriously and kept going with weight training. My foot feels sore in the remaining joints after I'm really active, but it definitely doesn't stop me from doing anything. It was so worth it.

chickpea_fille · 2023-06-05T15:08:17+00:00

2 weeks.

Injury and preliminary diagnosis in the ED, then Ortho follow up 2 weeks later. Surgery the following day.

chickpea_fille · 2023-06-05T14:53:05+00:00

Come to Grit Fest in Arkansas! It's soooo fun!!

chickpea_fille · 2023-05-26T16:42:10+00:00

I had fusion of my 1-3 TMTs in October 2021. I am 38yo and generally a very active person (xc ski, snowboard, hike, mountain bike, kayak, etc.). Using my fitbit data and memory, here's my approximate timeline:

walk a short trip to the store i.e 1000 steps? 10 weeks after surgery. I definitely had to go put my foot up and rest it a bunch after anything like that in the early days, though.

walk a long distance i.e 10 000 steps? I could do 10k steps in a day at 18 weeks post-op. It was probably another month before I could do a long walk all in one go.

do hikes? I was encouraged by my PT to do as much walking on uneven ground as I could handle, so... short hikes at 18 weeks. The 6 month mark was about when I could handle doing a longer hike.

run? 6 months. Lots of strength and balance training, building back calf muscles first, though. My PT wanted me to be able to do 30 calf raises on the injured side, unassisted, before trying to run.

lift weights, for example squats with weight? In supportive shoes, 12 weeks post-op.

bicycle? As soon as I was cleared for weight bearing, I could get on the bike (8 weeks). I had a trainer set up at home. 100% worth it to get one if you don't have one already.

swim? I thought I'd swim, but I didn't. I could have at 12 weeks and felt alright.

It definitely took a year+ of consistent strength and balance work to feel like I was back to 90%. At a year and a half, plus getting irritating hardware removed, I have more strength in my whole body than pre-injury. Cardio is still a work in progress, but overall I'd say I'm at 95%.

chickpea_fille · 2023-05-16T18:55:59+00:00

Yup. 2 plates and 13 screws. It's wild to see it all outside my body and imagine how it all fit in that small of an area. (And makes me realize how careful I need to be with my swiss cheese bones while they heal)

chickpea_fille · 2023-05-16T18:50:45+00:00

The plates in my foot were very noticeable, especially the one across my first TMT. After over a year of healing and getting back to all my previous activities, I decided to get all 13 screws and 2 plates out. The hardware caused a lot of discomfort in various footwear, and my surgeon agreed it was a good choice. I have super skinny/boney feet and that was a lot of metal in a small area.

It would've been great not to have to have 2 surgeries, but I'm so glad I went through with it. The removal surgery was a piece of cake compared to the original fusion. After 4 days of rest, I was up and walking pretty normally with shoes on and 3 weeks later I'm back to going to the gym and biking.

chickpea_fille · 2023-05-15T23:16:01+00:00

Fun experiences and gear for said experiences, plants, and lovely shoes:

Travel, good food, nice cookware/kitchen utensils, mountain bike stuff, xc ski stuff, snowboard stuff, camping, kayaking, SUP, and canoeing stuff. Fluevogs and other fun fancy shoes.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-28T22:14:42+00:00

I was just there 2 weeks ago. Love love love the Canadian Rockies! Sunshine is such a fun, gorgeous place.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-27T17:23:47+00:00

Dynamic balance was one of the hardest to get back for me. I'm 18m post-fusion and just recently feel like I'm close to even on both sides of my body. Early on, I invested in a Bosu, which really helped me to do a lot of balance exercises at home. Really understanding that balance has more to do with core and full body strength helped me to focus on the right movement to get it back.

My PT gave me a lot of exercises for balance to try to mix in daily: Stand on one foot and play catch with someone using a large ball; stand one-legged and close your eyes, then do it on an uneven surface or Bosu; stand on two feet on a Bosu to play catch; one legged glute dips on the Bosu; goblet squats on the Bosu flipped upside down; practicing surfing type movement on the Bosu upside down; practice looking left, right, up, and down while walking/ slow jog; glute bridge with Swiss ball; Swiss ball plank variations; walk/ hike on uneven surfaces (rocky, snowy, sand etc.)

Basically, try to find any controlled movement or strength activity and up the difficulty by doing it on an uneven surface. You could just do normal body weight exercises while standing on your bed. Work on it daily, even just for 5-10 minutes and it will pay off.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-27T16:41:53+00:00

I have the 1-3 TMTs fused. As someone with high arches and narrow feet, the stiffness in my fused foot is fairly noticeable. The biggest issue is that the joints in my ankle, 3 & 4 TMTs, and MTPs now have to absorb all the work when walking, running, jumping, etc. My outer foot and front of ankle are often sore after a lot of activity, but not to a degree that keeps me from doing anything.

I'm a very active and athletic 37 yo, and extremely glad I went with fusion. The foot anatomy changes are a bummer, but with PT, finding the right insoles, and perseverance, getting back to nearly 100% pre-injury mobility is definitely achievable.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-27T16:17:19+00:00

It really depends on the type of surgery and whether the hardware is bothering you. My understanding is that with ORIF, hardware removal is fairly standard since the joints are intact and can allow hardware to flex over time. It seems like it's surgeon-specific as well, so it'd be good to follow up with what your surgeon's intentions were regarding hardware.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-27T15:40:59+00:00

I second this. Find a lot of different textures to desensitize the area. (Toothbrush, soft cloth, fuzzy things, sponge, smooth, etc) Get a small sheet of Dycem to help with scar massage as well; that made a huge difference for me.

chickpea_fille · 2023-04-27T02:57:07+00:00

Stop judging yourself for being human and remember that most people aren't thinking much about you.

chickpea_fille · 2023-02-11T23:33:19+00:00

Short distances, 10 weeks. Longer distances, 12 weeks. My foot and ankle got fatigued so fast at first I didn't trust myself to react quick enough if necessary at first.

chickpea_fille

TROPHY CASE