Monday, April 13, 2009

My bike & I are doing well :)

LeeBob & I took my Lynskey over to wheelgirl in Berkeley yesterday (Sunday) to get it checked out after my crash.

(FWIW, wheelgirl just moved to the corner of San Pablo Ave & Camelia St. in Berkeley, near REI & Gilman St. )

The Lynskey is in remarkably good shape. We were joking over the fact that I took the brunt of the fall to save my bike (heh, yeah, I meant to do that).

The Lynskey R230 frame has replaceable rear derailleur hanger which is a nice feature since mine will need to be replaced - much better than repairing the entire frame, that's for sure! - and a couple of spokes may need to be replaced on the rear wheel, which will need to be re-trued. And the cable cover on the rear der has to be replaced. The Brooks Team Pro saddle is a bit scuffed up on the right back side but that's mainly just cosmetic, and can be fixed w a good leather polish/protectant.

Apart from that though, not much else! The XTR rear derailleur is a bit scuffed up and Kurt (mechanic extraordinaire) will double-check it once the der hanger is replaced, but apart from that everything else (including the frame, the fork and seatpost) have a clean bill of health.

The bike came through this much better than did I. :D

As for me - I'm resting up, not rushing anything. I still have some double vision which is a real PITA, but that is getting better gradually. I'm under an opthamologist's care, no worries. My right shoulder is still a bit achey but it's on the upswing. My back is healing fine, no problems as far as I can tell. I'm off work for another couple of weeks. My return to biking will be sometime after that, I suppose. :p

I'm still wearing my removable vest-like brace most of the time. I hum the "I Am Ironman" tune to myself when I wear it. (If you saw the movie with Robert Downey Jr. you'd know where I'm coming from :D ) I'm halfway tempted to get a plastic facetted bowl to wear on the front to complete the Ironman look, but so far I have resisted the urge...

I'm getting so envious reading about other peoples' rides though! Especially all of the great rides my TNT Death Ride (ex-)teammates are going on. Oh well, them's the breaks.

And it's still sinking in that my Big Plan for the summer -- riding All Five Passes of the Death Ride -- won't be coming to fruition. I hate to admit that I put so much of my psyche into this one ride!

But hey, there are plenty of other rides. I hope to be ready for the Crater Lake Century in Southern OR in mid-Aug, or at least be able to ride a good part of it. The double century the weekend before my 50th birthday (the Solvang Autumn DC in Oct.) is in the big fat "perhaps" column; I was hoping to shoot for that if I managed the DR. My new motto nowadays is "vee shall see". :^)

3 comments:

Ah Pook (Eric S) said...

hi Jo , so glad you are recovering Ok. Warm regards from Jen and I!

Red Rider said...

Hi, Jo, Glad to hear the bike is fine and that you're healing. Also glad you aren't rushing it.

I, too, have real envy reading about other people's rides. I got pretty depressed after my crash, esp. since I needed surgery to repair the broken bone. On the other hand I'm getting better and it's spring and I can focus on what I *can* do, not what I *can't* do.

Keep healing -- feel better soon!

Cheers,
Deborah, aka Red Rider

Ronald Ng said...

Hi Jo,
Great to hear you are making progress. For once, I can say I know what you are going through (even though my fall wasn't nearly as bad as yours). Heal up, and see you on the road.