Anniversary of a year

At this time last year I was laying in a hospital bed with a broken back and shoulder blade.
My clothes were cut off of me and I had no idea where my bike or truck was, nor did I care. Breathing was aided by oxygen tubes and morphine to quell the pain which controlled me with every shallow breath that I took as the helicopter whisked me away to the nearest hospital with a trama center. This "pain reliever" would wear off every few hours and the guy in the hospital bed next to me was ready to beat me with a bat to put me out of my misery - and his.

I have some very good friends who saw that I was okay and helped me afterwards to pay some bills. I won't list them as they, and I, know who they are. I am forever greatful to you folks more than you even know!!

After almost a week in the hospital, two weeks at my sisters, three months in a back brace, over two months of physical therapy, then trying to come back too soon, another month of physical therapy, slowly trying to come back to my previous level of fitness while battling muscle atrophy, trying to start a small business, trying to find a paying job to afford to try to start a small business, finding a job that's draining the life out of me - today I was a slug on the bike. A slug that struggled to finish 45 miles on the road bike today.

Even with a job with life draining hours I must find time to train and regain what I have lost. A new job may be on the horizon - yes, even with every shake of the head and the words - "sorry, we don't have any positions for hire at this time, but you're welcome to fill out an application", there may be a chance to replace the LSJ (life sucking job).

Once again I have safety netters at the ready to prop me up if I fall. Damn, I owe the Karma Gods big time!

Anyway, a year ago today I was laying in a hospital bed with a broken back and shoulder blade and my clothes were cut off of me. Funny what runs through ones mind on the anniversary of a year.

New day

Let the healing begin; or the path back to strong riding anyways. Hung in there for the beach ride of 34.41 miles at an average of 17.4 mph. Not bad for a gimp! Not so sure I'll be doing the St. Pete group rides much as they like to cruise through red lights and the remainder of the pack that gets stuck with cross traffic has to turn it on harder if they want to remain a group. Hmm, wet roads, going against traffic, not so good. I just want to live to ride. So, my return will be on my own terms.

Later today, after stretching and running some errands, I will take my dog Daisy for an energetic walk to continue bringing the ole body back online. With no lightening even if it rains it will be good; gives me an excuse to bathe that crazy dog too. Whatever it takes to speed the metabolism up to where I used to be last year. Mmmm, iced coffee after a morning ride is good by the way. :-)

Two mountain bike rides are on the schedule for this weekend, so it looks like about 75 miles will be had in three days of biking. Sweet! Now hunger kicks in so a little protein snack before it's time for lunch.

Better

I have finally reached a point where the pain is gone, but I still am taking it easy. I have decided that it is time to get back into training. (No pun intended...haha) I want to focus on doing the Croom Crumbler with my good friend Gabrielle this September. That will be a good birthday present for myself. I will have to get the running thing under control and the doc said swimming would be good low impact exercise as I start building myself up again. Geez! I am so out of shape it's not funny. When I say that to people they look at me and say - "can't tell by looking at you." I appreciate that, but I feel like a slug, and my upper body is way out of competive condition.
Anyway, pain free, so that means I can start pushing myself again. July 3rd will be my regular 34 mile road ride. If I can make the time for that 3 times a week and at least 20/25 off road on the weekends I'll have 120/125 miles a week of biking. Throw in some kayaking and speed walking and hopefully my endurance and strength won't be far off.

My bike. Oh my sweet Sugar Race. It has had some transformations of late. Just replaced the main pivot and it is back to it's quiet, speedy, nimble self. I also finally replaced the crankset to a SLX outboard bottom bracket. That should alleviate the occasional chainsuck problem I have had in the past. I have disc brakes sitting on the shelf waiting for the funds to grab a killer deal on a set of Bontrager Race Lite center locks. Abc Bicycles says they can set me up with an unbelievable price for a really nice set. I'll need to act soon or the chance will go away. This is a new frame as of January and is all black. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I really liked my red bike, but it looks cool!

Well, that's my update for now. Excited about training and NOT overdoing it! Croom Crumbler lookout. This should let me know if Spring is good to get back into racing.

Great rides to all.

Update

Finally went to see the Orthopedic this morning after a couple of weeks of Chiropractic didn't help. He diagnosed me as have a sprained left lumbar muscle, which explains why it is so very painful to get up out of bed or up from a sitting position. And turning or twisting? Yeah, not so good. Tough deal as a window cleaner too!
Anyway, a few doses of steroids, 4 more weeks of physical therapy, and then reassess in 6 weeks. He's betting that it is not a herniated disk; I'm going with that bet too because that means surgey!!
Good thing is I get to ride my bike during this time. Bad thing is I can only ride it easy just to keep the joint and muscles of that area fluid. Oh man - rehab all over again!
This past week was a painful one. I'll give the bike a try in a day or two after the steroids kick in. Hopefully this will be a short period of PT and things start to get back to normal for me. The whole idea of scar tissue removal, and/or surgery does not appeal to me at all. A few days in the hospital and a few weeks of recovery is not in my plans!

I mountain bike race a few times a year, but am in the recuperating process from a major bike crash last August that left me with a broken back, scapula,and pulled and stretched muscles and tendons. I'm back on the bike now,but need to build my strength and endurance up.

Still battling the aches and pains from my crash and expect to for the better part of a year from what I’m told. So, I bike when I can, rest afterwards, and try to get myself back in shape again. During recovery you don’t think too much about added weight, muscle atrophy, stretched and shorten muscles, and the time and effort it will take to make all of that go away. I’m thinking about it now!

I am also President of the SWAMP Mountain Bike Club and enjoy building mountain bike trails for the SWAMP Club at Balm Boyette Nature Preserve.
We have about 25 miles of fun trails there that are hidden from the average eye. It's a cool place because it is a huge nature preserve, that unless you know where to look, or follow the map, you will probably not get to all of the trails.

I have 3 rideable bikes and one that needs a frame replacement from GT. Of course, finding a GT dealer that is even willing to work with Pacific on a warranty is little more than a dream. So basically that is a place to hold my spare parts...LOL

My main ride is a fine Gary Fisher Sugar Race 9000 aluminum with carbon rear triangle. This bike I race with and at an XL frame with Bontrager Race wheelset weighs in at 27 lbs. I love the feel of this bike and they way it accelerates when I want to go fast. My other mountain bike is a 1997 Gary Fisher Mamba cro-moly. This is a comfortable large frame with upgraded wheels, fork, drivetrain and saddle. It’s very race capable the way it is set up, but I mostly use it for commuting around town on; sometimes I like to hit Croom with it as it is a fun ride on the more flat and subtle climbs found there. My road steed is a carbon fiber Specialized Tarmac Expert. This 17.5 lb. racer is sleek, fast, smooth and fun to ride whether it is a 24 mile group ride or 100 mile event ride. I’m looking to purchase a fixer upper of a single speed beach cruiser that I can just bum around town on, or hook a little trailer to and go spend the day at the beach with, or tote my kayak behind. I think it’s safe to say I have a love for the bicycle.

Before getting severely hooked on cycling I used to do a lot of fishing. That will be getting thrown into the mix again as my kayak is set up for recreation and fishing. I look forward to dropping it in the local waters and paddling out to some old favorite, and newly discovered, fishing holes. High cost of eating out? No, fish cookout in the back yard or Ft. Desoto would be grand. Why do we live here? Paradise year around.