6.21.2006

Injury and Time

Almost a month already since that last post? Time is going way too fast. Well in some regards it is. When you're counting the days until you can go back to the doc and see if you can ride the bike again each week can SEEM long.

Remember that skill clinic I wrote about? Seems that the last day I mistimed one of the new things I'd learned and ended up leaving the bike. It wasn't until five days later that it was confirmed that I'd broken four ribs.

Of course since I'd made this trip planning to do more riding after the clinic I still headed that way and hooked up with Hunter near Bedford. Knew I didn't want to show up at home hurting this bad and riding often hurts less than the time off the bike. Hunter took me out to ride some of the most incredible trails/routes there. Nice looooong climbs, multi-hour rides, lots of heat and humidity too. It was epic and a blast. Much of the time is a bit of a blur due to pain. But wow! I want to go ride there again when I'm 'whole'. Thanks for the tour Hunter!

Once back in Michigan I got things checked out and finally 12 days post impact got to see my favorite sports med doc. He helped out with better pain management options but ruled out biking until he saw me again. Something about the risk of puncturing a lung if I fell. It's one thing to loose a few weeks of a season, another to take that kind of a risk.

So once again...I was going to miss the Lumberjack 100. Glad to see it taking off, I might finally get to ride it next year!

Back to today: ribs are making good progress and I can ride (only on the road) and have to have company. That is exciting news for me!