What a difference

A few hours can make.

This was the morning commute:
(31 degrees)












This was the afternoon:
(58 Degrees)












Note the lack of tights, jacket, balaclava, booties, etc. Of course you can see my ever fashionable geeky pager. :)

Unfortunately instead of being out riding more enjoying the great weather, I'm stuck at home doing work so I can get enough hours in to take off early on Friday. It's all good though as I can finally swim again! If it rains tomorrow you can find me back in the pool moving about as fast as a manatee.

On another note, the Headshok on the mountain bike is looking more like a Deadshok these days as it has an aversion to holding air. Rather than rebuild it, I'm going unconventional and trying a 100mm travel SID and Double XC headset to make it fir the large headtube. Finishing off the package will be some cheapo stem, but the rear brake will be getting a Juicy Ultimate upgrade to match the front.

Just in time for the Addison 12 hour????

Rest time!

The past three days have me feeling like I've been cramming for a test, a test that just does not exist at this time so a couple days rest it is.

WTF am I talking about, three days of riding, three intense workouts, only one that was a easy pace. Wait a minute, three days, four rides? Yepper, I did my first commute via bike on Wednesday. The ride in was perfect, the first two miles of the return trip were into a 30 MPH wind so I decided to just give it an all out effort for the entire trip home, after turning east it was 20+ MPH all the way to my door. :) Not the smartest thing after the Tuesday Night Worlds ride out of Cycle to Fitness. :)

Today was a hard ride as well, I learned I'm not ready to keep up with an expert level rider after four months of not doing a whole lot. The first eight miles were groovy, 22+ average on the BMC, but I blew up on a hill and it was over, I could barely muster anything after that. Next time I'll get a better warm up and give Mark a better run for his money.

All in all a great day still, got to ride with my tri peeps, saw Greyhound Jeff at ILRA and probably close to another hundred cyclists today. Spring is here, the grass is getting green and my legs are getting a break.

Back at it on Sunday!

Woah!

I had no clue I was on the weather channel. It's true, the camera does add 20 lbs. :)



20 miles tonight at a mild pace, will start turning up the intensity next week!

Bike journal is no longer blank!

Wednesday 3/12 for hill repeats and yesterday was a super fun Sunday morning ride of just over 25 miles with the gang from Cycle to Fitness. We rolled out on Hines, looped through Northville via the five mile road hill and down Sheldon to seven mile.

I'm starting to feel like a slacker though, we had a young guy show up on a mountian bike with a slick on the front that proceeded to keep up with the damn pace line. Granted we were only rolling at 17.5 to 18 MPH, but he hung tough with the front chain ring stuck in the middle and was just spinning away.

Cargo shorts, check. Tennis shoes, check. No front dérailleur, check. Keeping up with the mild pace roadies, no problem. That guy was impressive, hopefully he buys a road bike and we can get him on the Greyhounds.

What the ride told me is that I need to get back on the stick, charging up the five mile hill took more effort than I remember from last year. I expect part of it to come back quickly, but I can't wait for those super long base building rides that I need a few of right now.

I rode!

My first outside ride since getting hit by a car on November 13th of 2007. Sure it was only a mile back to my house from the mechanics doing an alignment on my car, but it was a ride none the less.

Everything is melting in Southeastern Michigan right now and the temps are perfect, unfortunately the big puddles of water make speed undesirable so I took it easy to keep dry. I'm so excited, the outdoor rides will begin on a much more regular basis in just a couple weeks!

The shoulder

Beware of the pics, contents potentially graphic, don't enlarge if you don't like blood. :)

So far today I'm in awe at my progress after the surgery on Thursday.

Yesterday DPG and I removed the bandages and pulled the 6" long tube from the pain pump out, fascinating as I was expecting to feel all kinds of tugging and weirdness when it was removed, but there was absolutely no trace of it at all as it just glided right out.

First, the bandages:













Next, the removal:













Pain pump entry:













Pain pump tube:













Right now I can't really lift heavy object high at all, but I can roll over on the shoulder and my range of motion is coming back quickly. I can lift my arm to a 90 degree angle with minimal pain. To express my delight I showed DPG I could do the chicken dance with my new healthy shoulder, some how she was not very impressed. ;)

My tribute to the Who

Shakey has a squeeze ball that hangs from his wrist.

It's pumping in meds because his shoulder's pissed.

And the pain is alright, with the Vicoden in sight.

Shakey has a squeeze ball just so he can sleep at night.