Tha-Th-Th-That's All Folks!

Tuesday I confirmed what I already knew.
 
My race season is over.
 
We flew home Monday. Every person who walked by on the aisle jostled me just enough to show how much they care. I could have cried. I probably did. My young son kicked me a couple times to make sure I was still OK, because I obviously didn't look gray enough. Even the pilot joined in, slamming the plane's landing gear into Seattle's tarmac with such force that I almost wet my pants. Truly a wonderful flight.
 
The doc at the ER didn't cause me excessive pain while confirming my self-diagnosis. A couple of x-rays was pretty much all they needed. I did threaten the x-ray tech with bodily harm if she moved my arm, but even she was gentle. After the outpouring of sympathy I received on the plane, it was a bit of a let-down.


Fractured clavicle. AC joint looks in good shape. No surgery. Six weeks to heal. I considered asking her to surgically narrow my shoulders for better aerodynamics, inserting carbon fiber fairings for torsional rigidity and enhanced airflow. I decided not to push my luck, because she might have considered it.
 
All things considered, it could have been a lot worse.
 
Saturday I input all of the dates for races I was wanting to do for the rest of the season in Training Peaks, to include the Tour of Anchorage, and bunch of crits, and a Point MacKenzie TT/road race doubleheader. Tonight I will remove them.
 
Luckily I hadn't registered for them yet.
 
Tonight or tomorrow I'll start cleaning up the trainer dungeon. As soon as I feel like it, I'll start riding the trainer to try to maintain some fitness. Nothing intense, but solid, steady state workouts to keep the fat down and the legs moving. I didn't ask the doc about any of this, and she didn't come out and prohibit it either. I prefer it this way.
 
What kills me is that the weather is perfect right now. Other than a wildfire burning down the hillside, it couldn't be better out there. I'll be in a garage going nowhere, until I feel ambitious and sufficiently healed enough to push that six-week timeline. My current estimate for that to happen is 8 days.
 
At least now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

Comments

  1. Nick BladesJuly 23, 2016 at 10:08 AM

    Oh no, hope you have a speedy recovery Mike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alaska Fat CyclistJuly 25, 2016 at 10:28 AM

    Thanks. Could have been worse. My racing season is over, but I'll be riding again before the snow falls.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sad

Recently a judge accepted a plea deal. A drunk and stoned young woman backed over a local cyclist, then drove away while he died without rendering aid in any way. This is not in dispute by anyone, on any side of the courtroom. She received 1 year and 10 days in jail.   I've tried to wrap my head around this from any number of directions, and it just makes me sad. Not for her. As far as I'm concerned, she has no place in society anymore. This is not her tragedy, as much as the defense tried to paint it that way while deflecting blame to the victim. I've harbored evil fantasies of vengeance that I'm not at all ashamed of. So much ink has been thrown out there about this that I'll just include a couple links to provide a more complete picture for those of you who haven't followed the story: http://www.adn.com/article/20150812/prosecutor-teen-used-drugs-alcohol-hit-and-run-collision-killed-cyclist http://www.adn.com/article/20150819/anchorage-teen-receives-1-y...
Read more

Perhaps Where I need to Be.

  The last time I was in Biloxi was in November of 2016. I was recovering from a broken collar bone, but otherwise was relatively fit, lean, and getting fitter and leaner. Because I had nothing else to do and energy to burn, I rode a lot. It was wasted effort that translated into burnout during the trainer season, but I really didn't care. I hadn't been riding at all. A handful of road rides before the season ended. A couple fat bike rides when the trails near my house were packed well. Mostly I've hiked, cross-country skied, and sat on my fat ass. Primarily the latter. I knew I was going to be spending the month of February in Biloxi. I swore I was going to get back on the trainer in preparation, but I never did. I came in cold. I packed all sorts of warmers and raingear and stuff that I have yet to use.I forgot all sorts of tools. My tires were excessively worn and my tubes weren't in great shape either. I ended up buying new ones after a horrible first ride led to 4 ...
Read more

No FOMO.

Ever since I fell down, something interesting happened.    I don't frequent Facebook as much anymore. I don't spend time scrolling through other people's posts, scared that I might miss something important. Facebook isn't important.    I don't visit cycling websites obsessively, mainly because it reminds me I can't ride myself at the moment.   If I do get on the interweb, it's to look up parts for the RV or look for how-to articles/videos. Nothing about the bike.   I've even stopped listening to NPR as I drive to work, but that has more to do with the constant stream of negativity that characterizes the world at the moment. Without my daily dose of endorphins to blunt the onslaught and put it into perspective, I find I just can't deal with it at the moment.   I have no fear of missing out, because I've opted to ignore the world for the moment and concentrate all of my energies into a smaller space where I ha...
Read more