I did today. I grabbed my old 35mm film camera and shot some stuff for fun. I use a simple compact digital most of the time. It works well, but I miss the selection, control and options an SLR gives.
Look at all that glass! This thing weighs a ton, is fully mechanical (except for the exposure meter), and makes a wonderful *snap* when the shutter is fired. I wish I knew how many photos I've taken with this old friend. There was a time I was shooting several hundered frames a week.
I'd show off some of the photos... but... must wait for them to be developed...
Since my arm's been out of commission cooking has been a challange. This weekend I went on a quest to find things I can cook using fresh ingredients, that don't require two-handed prep. On VeganYumYum.com I found this receipe for Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup. Sounded good, but slicing cabbage out of the question. On my trip to the grocers...
TADA!~ pre-prepared cole slaw mix and pre-chopped onions!!
Perfect! Although I'm not vegan, it doesn't prevent me from eating vegan food. In fact, I really like vegan food as it relies on spices and natural flavors rather than resorting to the "throw some fat in it to make it taste better" method. Nothing prevents me from taking some pan seared chicken into the soup. And that's exactly what I did.
Otherwise... I followed the receipie, but added VN chili sauce in lieu of the chili flakes. I liked this soup. A wonderful mix of hot, sour, and sweet notes to the pallet.
Also from VeganYumYum... I made some homemade No Kneed Bread.
This also worked well. One change. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 all-purpose flour. I've never scratch made bread before. This was a great experience and quite tasty!
There's something about fresh from the oven bread. Another high recommend from me.
Is it too early for a 2009 retrospective? No. My season's been over since November! As audited by the accounting firm Dewey, Cheetum & Howe here are my non-impressive stats for 2009:
Miles ridden... 3,405
Calories burned... 138,457 (equal to about 480 donuts)
Time in saddle... 290 hours, 2 minutes, 6 seconds
Maximum level speed... 42.7 mph (not for long!)
Longest ride distance... 102.3 miles
Maximum heart rate... 191 beats per minute
Coldest temperature... 36°F (January 28th)
Highest winds... 22 mph gusting 30+ (February 8th)
Best race finish... Pffft! not worth mentioning!
Number of DNFs... ZERO!
Best Cycling Experience... Mas-o-Menos in Terlingua!
The only real surprise is how much road riding I've done. Need to put more trail time into the plan for next year. Hard to do living in the city... hmm... I see much travel in my future. Keep in mind because of my injury this is only 10 months. It's going to be difficult to compare next year's stats to these.
The slothiness has to end! I haven't stepped on a scale. Too scared. Don't need to. My eyes tell the tale. My shoulder and elbow are functional enough to no longer be dangling in the way of moving other parts. Can't put any weight on the arm, but I can move it out of the way. I sat down with a couple of core exercise guides yesterday to pick out a menu of things I can do one-handed. More than I thought. I can hit legs (squats, hamstring curls on ball), abs (reverse crunches w/ball), obliques (windshiled wipers), and lower back (leg levers). Next, a few yoga stretches for the body. Followed by my elbow stretches. Not a complete workout, but better than couch intervals. The result was good. Slept much better last night. And feel much better today.
I'm dedicating the rest of this recovery period to working on core strength and flexibility. Two things that always need improvement and I can never find time to address during cycling season. This is a golden opportunity to do something special.
Rehab proves to be tough. Extension (arm straightening) coming along nicely. Flexion (arm curling) is not as good. My tricep is very tight. Almost like it's too short! So bending the elbow feels like a rope being tightened across the back of my arm. My therapist worked this over on Monday. It was sore yesterday. Movement was only marginally better. Felt like negative progress, and I was pretty down last night. Today feels much, much better. The motion range is better today, too. This is my range as of this eve...
I may... might... possibly... perhaps... chance of... mebbe... put the bike on the trainer this weekend. Not sure how comfortable it will be with my right arm in a sling. More importantly... I'm a bit torn as to whether this will make me feel better, or more deprived of riding.
Coming up on five weeks post-op. I haven't been away from a bike this long in almost 3 years. For anyone that trains with purpose... the process creeps into all areas of your life. The 'training lifestyle' eventually invades your food, your friendships, your schedule, your relationships, your clothing, even your choice of home town. It becomes intrinsic to your personality. Abrupt involuntarily removal of training has left a big hole in my life. I've felt a bit lost at times.
I confess that in the days following the accident; I found myself questioning my desire for cycling. I recalled the informational warning about the anesthesia- "don't make any big decisions today." So I didn't. I've avoided thinking about a return since then. Naturally, many folks have asked "Are you going ride again after this?" I always answered "Yeah"; but it was a reflexive mindless answer. Any return was too far away to think about.
Riding is still a long way away. However, I've begun to think about it. Despite some wavering in those first post-op days, I am absolutely certain I will resume cycling as soon as I'm able. I have concerns about being gun-shy. Taking things slow will be important. But I'm ready for that day to arrive.
I haven't yet mustered the courage to ask doc when I can ride again. Too afraid he'll say something like... a year. That would be crushing. I need to keep my spirits up. But... I've progressed enough that I can kinda piece things together. I figure the fracture won't be closed for another 4-6 weeks. Then I can start weight bearing exercises. I'm guessing around 12 weeks until I'm able to fully support my bodyweight. By then I should be pretty close to being cleared.
Snow in Houston. Didn't accumulate much because it rained all night preceeding. But it snowed solidly from about 8AM to 1PM. An unusually long time. Neat. I stayed home from work and drank lots of warm coffee.
That's right 3-5" of snow in Houston, Texas. We had a good snow last year too. If this happens it will be the earliest Houston snow ever. Currently the earliest snowfall is December 10... that happened last year. Global warming? Glad I'm not trying to push training through this cold weekend!
Being one-handed has been ok -so far. It's been an interesting experience. Rewarding, even maybe? Yes really! Let's face it. We take so much for granted. The majority of our lives are mundane, routine, and boring. Now, try it one handed! Suddenly life is full of challanges that require your thought and creativity. In a strange way it's stimulating. But... it's only fun if temporary. The novelty is falling away in a sea of inconvience. But for now I'm making the best of it.
My stitches are out...
Out of my splint for a week, reveals a glimpse of the road ahead. That road is going to be difficult. Rehabbing has proven to be difficult and slow. There are good days and bad days. I had woderful movement on Friday. Only to awaken to an elbow that's stiff and only mobile with pain. It's not unlike weightlifting. Strong workout, followed by soreness, followed better performance.
I've been measuring progress by the grout lines in my shower. Last week, I could lift my hand two lines. Last night four lines! But I can't touch my nose yet. Which would be a great milestone.
Because progress is so varied there's no way to predict how long recovery will take. I'm trying to not set a timetable... just do as much rehab as my body allows.
Visited with my surgeon today. We take off the splint. Whoa nelly that felt great! "I make a lot of friends this way" says the tech. Wound check is good. No sign of infection. A relief. I lost a co-worker two years ago to staph after "routine" surgery. Doc and I debated on suture removal. He gave me a choice: remove the stitches today and keep the splint, or come back next week to remove stitches and move to a movable brace. That's a choice? Let's get it movin!
I'm now in a removable brace. Halley-looo-ya I can remove it and shower normally. That's a huge QOL improvement! Right now my arm is stiff. Including my uninjured wrist. This is from some (little) swelling and immobilization. Joints like to move. The elbow range of motion is pretty small. I've got exercises to do. I played around with it for about an hour and it's improving already. Although the ends of my motion range are kinda painful, the middle is pain free and smooth. Doc said "Not to brag, but it's a great repair." I don't mind him bragging.
I'm out of the splint, but the arm's pretty useless. No movement restrictions, but I'm not allowed any weight. But considering I'm 11 days out of surgery and out of immobilization is pretty awesome. I'll have more to report physically, and philosophically over the next few days.
This is what my elbow looked like right after my crash. As you can see... that don't look right...
Technically I broke my Olecranon, and had Open Reduction and Internal Fixation (ORIF) Surgery. Here's some tech info on the surgery. First how they flense and filleted me. Warning surgical pictures! Elbow - Surgical Approaches from eORIF.com
Ortho surgery is cool. The way you have to take into account structural loading and repair, it reminds me of auto body work. If I were to be a doc, this is what I'd want to do.
Surgery went smoothly on Monday. I wish there were more to say, but there wasn't anything remarkable. That's a good thing when having surgery! Seven screws and one plate has me back together. I'll have pix tomorrow after I go to work and scan them in.
Very little post-op pain. They place a nerve block in my shoulder. This was a teeny tube connected to a pump that continuously pumped novacaine on the elbow nerve. Supercool! I kept that until Wednesday morning; I pulled out the tube out. No pain medicine since Wednesday night.
At this point its more inconvience than pain. Everything takes longer. Showering is an hour plus event. Dressing no longer takes 10 minutes. More like an hour. Prepping food is a feat! But I'm making it okay. Just slowly.
I recall a conversation I had sometime ago with a former pro-racer about crashes. His advise was to accept them as inevitable. They are just part of the sport. And you need to accept their consequences or consider other sport. I've firmly kept riding, so you know my decision.
Tuesday the inevitable happened to me. I was riding, after dark with poor lights, while fiddling with my phone in my jersey pocket. Focused on getting my dang phone put away...I looked up and was surprised to see a curve 2 yards ahead. No way to make it, I took evasive action by trying to tail skid around. I locked up the rear wheel on the bike. I steered into it, then ran out of talent - I high-sided the bike and landed mostly on my elbow. Don't worry, the bike made it through fine.
Being almost 20 miles from home and alone... I gathered my wits and rode about three miles to the nearest gas station and called a cab for a ride home. I cleaned up my roadrash, and iced my now engorged elbow. I had no trouble moving my arm, and it didn't hurt any worse than any other fall. But there was a distinct 'clicking' when I moved a certain way. Worried things would get worse... I drove myself to the ER.
When I walked in there was a lady that made "that" face. You know... that face your mom makes. I told her "hey don't do that! Makes it hurt". We shared a nice laugh over it. I had only a short wait until the Xray tech took me back. Kathleen was supercool. She looked at the growing hemotoma, shrugged, and said "with the way you're able to move that, you may have just hit a blood vessel. Hope! She left and quicky returned and said "You've completely f*cked up your elbow". Here she's pointing to my bone which is supposed to be attached to the horizontal piece...
They splinted me, set me up with some pain killers and sent me home. Obviously surgical. By the time they got around to splinting me, the swelling was worse. I could no longer bend my arm. The splint had my arm pretty straight. Put it this way, when I stood iy looked like I was gabbing my crotch. OK for standing and lying, but horrible for sitting. My shoulder was hurting more than my elbow(!) because of all of the ackward positioning.
Fast forward to today... I met with the surgeon today. First words out of his mouth "lets get you out of that splint!" I let out a "hooray!!" He had me lay down, cut away my splint and told me to relax my shoulder. I hadn't enven mentioned it was tight, but he knew from an across the room glance. He bent my arm and said "feel better?". I like this guy! We took some better xRays, and went over the gameplan. His surgical block time is on Thursdays, but he's scheduled me for Monday. Hoorah. I'm anxious to get that part over with.
So here I am. First broken bone, first surgery looming. Already I miss riding. But I'm trying not even think about how to bouce back. After surgery, and good bone healing will be the appropriate time. Time... fot once... is something I suddenly have plenty of...
Today was one of those days you don't want to end. Perfect weather. Trails in perfect shape. Legs feeling fresh and spicey. Regretting not driving up Saturday and camping out. Expected the place to be packed, but it wasn't (?).
I'm happy. I spent the majority of my awaken hours this day outdoors! And I can look forward to commuting on bike all week according the weather man... I hope he's right! .
The weather changes fast this time of year. The pics in today's post are from Tuesday. It was cloudless perfection. No pics from Wednesday's ride because it was raining. About 2:00pm it was bright and sunny. By 5:00pm leadout, misting rain later turning into steady rain. The rains have not yet grown cold. No complaints. When doing a challenging threshold ride, they feel nice and refreshing. The slippery roads make the normally boring road ride much more mentally engaging. I'm glad I'm a mountain biker when the rains come.
I'm still reeling from the Terlingua cancellation. Perhaps if there is anything good about it, it forces me to evaluate my goals for next year. I have never had specific goals about racing, but I want them now.
I worked out some very meaningful goals that related to Terlingua. They can't readily substitute into another race. There is only one Tres Cuevas! It's great to have ONE BIG RACE in big red letters on your calandar to keep you going through the long winter months.
My goals have to morph. But to what? I'm not quite sure. .
It is with a heavy heart that Desert Sports must announce the cancellation of the 2010 Starlight Theater Mas O Menos 100k Moutain Bike Fest.
It's been a great ride, since back in teh day (way back i n'04) when we first convinced the fine folks at the CASI site that this whole mountain bike thing was a possibility. We had visions then of how great it could be... but we never truly imagined how fabulous it would turn out! Dancing! Riding in sixty foot rattlesnakes! Racing! Eating!
CRAP! This is my favorite race of the year. There's nothing better than getting away from the cold, rain and spending a wonderful week camping out in the desert!
It was a festival-like atmosphere in one of the most unique places I've ever been. I've been excited about going back since I turned north on Hwy 118 last February. It's the perfect way to light the fires and kick start the spring season. Alas, it will not be... and. I. am. sad.
Spilled the bike yesterday on the way home from work. Luckily, I was wearing commuter shorts. That saved me from the road rash. Didn't save me from the bruise and pains on my hip. I'm seriously sore today. Enough to not want to get on the bike, or drive to Ruston. Blah. After beaucoup asprin... I decided fix the headlight motor on the MR2. I pulled off the headlight motor, which was not working at times.
I suspected an electrical problem. And after removing the cover, this was what I saw...
Lotsa corrosion. Some brake cleaner and working over with a scrub pad yielded this...
Still a lot of corrosion. The copper plating is gone at the parking spot. But I though why not try. No go.
Hmm... Here's why folks that work on old cars are packrats. I saved a motor that had a bad bearing on the worm gear. Let's see what's inside. First, I have to get out the power tool to get the stripped screw loose...
After some efforts, a small abrasion, I crack it open and find...
It's pristine! Glad I saved it. Now I simply remove the lift arm, and tap out the gear. Be careful here. When you loosen the arm bolt, hold on to so you don't torque against the plastic gear. Sure way to crack it.
Much better condition here...
I just swapped the gears into the good housing, and put it all back together. The result...
It was a good afternoon on a picture perfect fall day. This job took twice as long as it should have, but I'm moving pretty slow today with the soreness. I did a lot of planning to ensure all my tools were within arms reach today!
