A grand weekend in Markleeville

Well, I finally rode my bike up in Markleeville, and it was good.

A bunch of us got together a couple of weekends ago for the BikeJournal "mini-reunion" -- I saw a lot of homies up there (Kim, Glenn, Daniel & Julie), a lot of friends that I haven't seen in quite some time (Twain, SloJoe, Pansy, Randy, Nancy, Edna, Dave) and met people whom I only knew online until now (Jana, Steve, Steve). A really great bunch of people.

Riding up there was pretty challenging, especially the first day. We were over 5000 ft elevation at the base of the climbs, and since I live at about a dozen feet about sea level, I got out of breath pretty quickly at first. It was noticeably better after a day or two.

It was absolutely glorious up there. Twain warned us that this time of year is a real crapshoot in the Sierras, and the weather leading up to that weekend really bore that out. Still, we lucked out in a big way. It was sunny and warm all day Friday and Saturday and most of Sunday. And the landscape was a leaf-peepers dream.

I'll post pictures sooner or later. In the meantime, here's a bunch of them.

6 months ago today

Six months ago today, I started the day out on a training ride around Pt. Reyes with the TnT Death Ride Team, and ended the day in intensive care at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

It was a freak accident, I must have hit or run over something that caused me to go over my handlebars while I was descending fast down a short, steep hill. To this day I remember nothing of it, and have only a vague recollection of my four days in the hospital.

I've been incredibly fortunate, and I'm deeply grateful for that good fortune.

I had immediate care from passers-by trained in emergency medicine, and I was airlifted to the hospital. My helmet did what it's supposed to do. Over the last several months I have come to learn that I have excellent health insurance, and the fact that I wasn't laid off early this spring (like many of my co-workers) meant that I still had that excellent health insurance when I needed it. My wonderful husband waited on me hand & foot during my first few weeks out of the hospital, and ferried me to work and doctors' appointments for a few weeks after that while I still couldn't drive. And he's been here for me and taking great care of me to this day. My dear friends have been here for me too, with lots of encouragement and lots of laughs.

I'm very happy to say I'm pretty much all recovered!

I still have the funny bump on my back from the T7 vertebrae compression fracture, but it's not hindering my activities. My new motto (w. thanx to Tall Sarah) is "What hump?"

Heh, perhaps I should rename my blog Call Me Igor...

The only real difference I notice is that my back & shoulders are stiff and achey in the mornings (they didn't used to be), but stretching and early morning bike rides help that a lot. I've taken up Iyengar yoga which is really great.

And I'm biking again and enjoying it immensely.

So, all is well with my world. :D

Earning one's keep in the world, part 2: Join the Be The Match Registry

My friend Vernon, who was one of my teammates on the Team in Training cycling team I was on before my untimely bailout this spring, posted this to Facebook the other day:

"12 years ago today I received bone marrow, which saved my life from Leukemia. I encourage you to sign up for the National Bone Marrow Registry. It is painless procedure and you could save a life, like mine."

Veron is one of those studly people who rides double centuries, and this year he completed all five passes of the Markleeville Death Ride while helping other friends accomplish this mighty feat. But my guess is, 12 years ago he was just hoping to survive another year and couldn't dare dream of doing what he's doing today.

Like Vern said, signing up for the National Bone Marrow Registry -- now known as the Be The Match Registry -- is painless and easy. And you could even save a life. It's all spelled out here on their website. Jobob sez check it out.

Come to find out, I might not be able to join the registry right now on account of my vertebrae fracture, but at least I'll be able to register in April of 2011, 2 years after my accident (but I'm checking to see if I might still qualify for certain types of donations -- thanks Jim!). Oh well, in the meantime I can at least spread the word ... :)

Crater Lake was wonderful! (vol. 2)

Lee and I and a bunch of friends rode the Crater Lake Century this past weekend. Unlike the godawful heat last year, the weather this year was fabulous.

I only rode from the start in Fort Klamath up to the Rim Village and back, which worked out to about 48 miles and roughly 3,000 feet of climbing. So you can call my ride the Crater Lake Half Century.

To put it mildly, I'm thrilled to bits with what I accomplished!

This was an absolutely fabulous weekend.

More later -- I have to unpack and do some laundry. :^)

Earning one's keep in the world

Fatty wrote this in his blog:

"Susan’s part in the battle is over, but she didn’t lose. She led the charge. She showed the rest of us how to fight: with determination, focus, creativity, and outrageous endurance.

Now it’s up to the rest of us to Fight Like Susan."

I like to think of it as earning one's keep in the world. Doing things -- little things, big things -- to help carry on Susan's legacy.

What things?

Well, there are the obvious things (obvious because I can think of them off the top of my head, that is):

Donating money to a cause

Donating time to a cause (there are lots of creative ways to do this but I'm still mulling).

Give blood

I gave blood yesterday. It had nothing to do with Susan, it just happened to be yesterday. It was my first blood donation in many months. I'm occasionally turned down on account of low iron levels, and then I let it slide. I'm not the easiest one to draw from either, I like to joke that I have no veins. I gave this time around because I got a couple of phone calls from the blood center. Okay, okay, I'll go, said I.

I made sure to take my vitamins for a few days beforehand and consequently my drop of blood sunk in the copper solution - they didn't even have to do the centrifugation test, yay! And the nurse found the vein after only a minimum of poking -- it sure helped that I drank lots of water for a couple of days beforehand. I had to squeeze the rubber ball constantly, but they got my pint. And I felt very good afterward. And as an added bonus they had Oreo cookies :D

So, for starters, I'm going to be more conscientious about giving blood, in honor of Susan and to help earn my own keep in the world.

So Sad

Susan Nelson, the wife of Elden "Fat Cyclist" Nelson, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. She put up a good fight.

I'm glad that her ordeal is over, for her at least. I'm sad for Elden and their kids and their family and friends who must go on without her. Wishing them strength to cope and to carry on.

Win Susan.

Back on my bike for real ! :)

Free at last !!

So I went to my neurosurgeon yesterday -- Dr. Desmond Erasmus, a really great guy -- and he told me I could finally Lose My Stupid - !@$#^%$! Back Brace and I was free to resume my normal activities!

Yeee - Freakin - Haw !!!!

To commemorate this auspicious occasion, Lee and I went out for a short ride along the Alameda Creek Trail (~ 10 miles, elevation gain about 20 feet ) out to the bay & back. Hey, it's a start. :)

It felt strange being back out on the road on my bike at first, and my coordination felt a bit off, but it felt better as I went along. Where we enter & exit the trail there are very short stretches of gravel path to ride over, which I used to think nothing of, but today I walked those bits. I figure my coordination & confidence will be back soon enough.

It was mighty windy heading out to the bay, naturally, so I took it really easy. Surprisingly enough, despite that I managed a pretty decent clip into the wind. Nice.

Lee told me that all in all I didn't seem to lose too much fitness over my three month-plus layoff (heh, I didn't climb anything though ...).

And the tailwind back was a bonus. Whee!

Well I am jazzed to bits to be back out on my bike.

Not to worry, I'll be building back reeaallly slowly. But at least I'm back!

Back on the bike (um, sort of ...)

Today was my first ride on the trainer, and my first time on a bike of any sort, since my crash at the end of March. Woo-hoo, I rode it for twelve whole minutes!

It was at a very low intensity, and I maintained a cadence ~70 to 80 rpm. I was able to ride OK in the drops, keeping my back very straight (thanks to the brace).

I figure I'll try to ride on the trainer every day and increase the duration by a few minutes each day. Then when I finally get my stoopid back brace off, my muscles will at least be accustomed to riding again.

I'll still be wearing my brace for perhaps another month, and I don't plan to ride out on the road until I get the brace off. So hopefully I'll be riding for real in late June or early July.

In the meantime, small steps, grasshopper.

I guess this means my training for the 2010 Death Ride has officially begun :)