No Surgery!

New shots of the collar bone. I was left along for 20 minutes to stare at these. My palms were sweaty and I was literally sweating through my shirt in anticipation/fear. Thankfully, I have my friend Wade (who's going into Orthopedics) to share the xrays with before the Dr. walked in. He was reassuring me I would not need surgery but, I was still a little freaked. I love you in a non-homosexual, brotherly way Wade.

The xrays look worse than Sunday don't they? However, As bad as it looks, the Orthopedic Surgeon's words were...

"We treat these non-surgically."
"It looks like it's already healing."
"You are going to have one heck of a bump due to the angle it's at."
"You should feel 100% in 1-2 weeks but, it could take up to 12 weeks to fully heal."
"You can't screw it up from healing as long as you are not causing yourself pain." ---Which includes running and bike riding!

Not the month I was dreaming of but, good news just the same!

Observations with a Broken Collar Bone

Things that suck or are surprisingly difficult or annoying with a broken collar bone

• Peeing standing up without your pants dropping to the floor. Makes for good bathroom convo.
• Surprise attacks from a 9 year in Karate who you typically spar with
• Dropping something and instinctively reaching to catch it
• Eating a Jimmy Johns sub sandwich
• Being dependent on voice dialing when in the car (I f***ing said call Mom, not voice message Dad! WTF?)
• Having to put your wallet, two cell phones and car keys only in your right hand pockets
• Socks
• Roll down car windows
• Key card security doors
• Pouring milk
• Washing your hands
• People asking my why am at work
• People telling me it’s not that bad because I don’t appear to be in any pain
• Unsolicited medical advice from IT professionals
• Having to sit up to hit the snooze button on my alarm in the morning

I rode on the trainer for an hour last night. Managed to get the cx bike in the trainer without help. Zero pain as long as I kept things reasonable. Days off are for p*ssies. One hour on the trainer still sucks. Even with a post-mohican warped sense of time. Was happy to get something in.

Also tried out some new chain lube after borrowing some from Bryan at Mohican. Pro Gold. It seemed to loosen all of the White Lightening chain lube I had on on cx bike chain which had become a sticky, black, gunky mess. Resulting in it flinging off into pretty large spots on the floor and all over the rear rim. Drive train was certainly quiter though and the chain looks clean after just a quick one handed wipe down.

See the ortho today. A bit terrified at the moment

Life is not without challenges

So, I take an embarrassingly slow and light fall on my son's bmx bike yesterday and hear a pop in my left shoulder. Stand up to shake it off and realize, Sh*t! I just broke collar bone. How is that possible? I cart wheel and endo off my bike pretty much every ride. I didn't put my arm down as I hear is typically the cause for such an injury. It didn’t even hurt. WTF? Do I have some sort of bone depleting illness? Am I 90 years old? I am typically a pretty hard MF. Guess not any more. Happy F***ing Father’s Day! Oh well. I have to deal with it now. So, I announced to the family and rest of the folks at the party we were at what I had done. Get a few shocked faces when I share what apparently is a deformity hiding under my shirt and we set out to the urgent care.

Spent the excruciatingly long wait at the urgent care between constant asks if I need something for the pain (Apparently I look like a junkie or was supposed to be in more pain) texting all the people I knew that had broken their collar bone and the surprising number of Physician Assistant friends I have. Hoping to hear something along the lines of “Oh you’ll be running in two weeks with no pain. Lay off the MTB for about 4 and you’ll be hitting weights by 6.” The responses vary but, average out to be about 6 weeks. An eternity.... I talk to the doctor who pretty much tells me that given the fact I am in so little pain and can force my arm up so high, that he doubts it’s broken but, he better get some xrays to be sure. Ya think? After more inquiries about whether I need something for the pain (apparently I am supposed to be leering from it) I finally get some xrays. I bounce off the table when I realize the tech has them up on the computer screen. She tries her best to run through the prompts but, I catch a glimpse and ask her “That’s broke all the way through isn’t it?” Her response “Yeah. Completely but, I didn’t tell you that and you didn’t see it until the doctor shows it to you.” After a redundant confirmation with the doctor and some more reassurances that pain med are for pu**ies on my part, I am out the door with my gift copy of my xray and parting words "partially fused in 3 weeks. 100% in 6." It sounded like 2 years when he said 6 weeks.

Kids were still up when we get home and I get to open my Father’s Day gifts one handed after removing my son’s bike and bike rack from the van. Much easier said than done with one gimpy arm. Apparently, the kids had some time while I was in the urgent care and made me cards. My daughter’s had the best quotes “Why did you throw your sunglasses out the window?” and “Sorry you broke your bone.” Obviously, evidence I was less than thrilled about my situation on the way to urgent care.

Trying to find some positives through all the negatives. So, far I’ve enjoyed telling my wife I need help wiping my butt. She’s less than thrilled with the jokes and the whole situation.

Need to go get a second opinion from an ortho shortly. The Dr. at the urgent care advised against a sling. His claim was the bone was aligned well, it wouldn't help if heal much faster and I'd be in physical therapy for weeks if he gave me one. Plus, I didn't seem to be in enough pain to warrant one.

BTT Super Epic - 6/18

Gotta keep it brief. I am supposed to be working on a presentation for work.

Turned out to be an awesome morning. Up at 4:15, out the door at 4:47 and met up with Tom Sterling @ 5:15 for the ride into D-town. Turns out it's 30 miles to Fort Wayne and the start of BTT versus the 20ish I had thought. So, I knew once we arrived at the Fort I'd by putting on some serious miles on the bike today. Even if all of them weren't going to be blazing. So, it ends up being about 90 miles to ride to and from my place and to the ride the ride itself. Throw in some loops on the hills in downtown Northville (Why am I doing hill repeats after 90 miles of riding? I must have a screw loose.) and that equals 100. That's my first 100 miles on a bike in a day outside a race. The ride in and out was definitely some good training 18-21mph all the way on the MTB. I think I averaged about 16mph if I recall what my computer stated. Yeah, BTT is a pretty chill ride and pulled the average down quiet a bit. Great to see Andy E., Andy S. & Jason from the team. Enjoyed the ride back with them. Plus good seeing the some of the BTT regulars. BTT Super Epic completed. Nice turn out for the ride as well. I believe the count was 40. Still can't beileve that Andy can remember everyone's name so quickly.

Tried something new and dumped the pics I snapped from my picasa album versus a link. Hope they don't swamp your browser. The pictures don't do the ride justice. Riding in the D is a riot. So much to see and so much character. Still debating commuting in on Mon. & Fri. Even after discovering it's going to be over 30 miles one way. Need to get the Motobecane cobbled back together first. And I am a pretty ugly dude. Even uglier at 6am in the morning. Evidence below.

Beat The Train Super Epic in the am - I Hope

Weather is actually looking promising in the am tomorrow. Gonna have to be up and on the bike at about 4:45am but, it's going to be awesome. First shot at the BTT ride from Plymouth in the morning. Hoping for about 85 miles just riding into and back from downtown Detroit and the ride itself. Hoping I have the legs to add on and make it a century. Going to be my first ride attempt with a camelback as well. I hope my light still holds a charge. The battery is pretty old and I only used it once last year. Damn that is a lot of "hopes." I am probably destined for trouble.



The Redline is going to get it's second non tag a long pulling ride ever in the am. It's coming together nicely. Put my new seat, computer on and cut down the bars tonight. Still rocking an anchor of a cassette. That and a switch to a small block on the front and she's race ready. Betting I'll be messing with the seat position all day. Didn't even sit on it. Oh well. Rock n' Roll!

Random Friday Thoughts

• Woke up at 4:15ish when the wife woke to feed the baby. Couldn't fall back asleep.
• Laid in bed making an attempt at sleep until ~5am. No dice.
• Near 60 degrees this morning. Did someone say bike ride?
• My wife looks pretty when she sleeps. I much prefer it over when she walks through the house frowning and slouching.
• My new blinky light fits two of my bike saddles. Maybe because they are the same.
• My cx bike looks funny with 700X32, smoothy tires. Like an old Schwinn or something.
• Apple Cytomax tastes good before 6am.
• I love my cx bike. It seems to fit me perfectly. I love not having to avoid anything and still go fast with big but, smooth tires. I need to order some wider bars for it. Sometimes I wish it had 175mm cranks. It'd make mashing up hills more painful and fun.
• Why do I like wide bars on road bikes but, narrow on my MTB's?
• Hines Drive is amazing on a summer morning. It's no Blue Ridge Parkway but, still beautiful. Saw a motorcyclist stop and take a picture of the sun rise. Certainly a beautiful morning.
• I barely rode last year and even less this year. My shoes are squeaking like crazy and clearly are not as rigid as before. I hate creaks and squeaks. Need to go into Trails Edge and look into some carbon shoes.
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is still an unbelievable song. Came on when I was in the car yesterday. I about blew the speakers out of the doors. Still raging in my head.
• Can you taste air? Spring/Summer air is so much different than Winter air. I swear I can taste it.
• Time is still flying by when I run or ride. 9 hours on a bike has done strange things to my internal clock. I wonder if 9 hours on a bike would seem long now? Oops, I've been riding for 40 min. Time to flip and head back.
• Lumberjack is tomorrow. I am hoping to get some real time updates from the folks supporting the team during the race. I need to send of some form of insulting but, motivating text messages tonight.
• I want to ride a century this weekend. I have never done one outside of a race. Tomorrow's probably my only window. More rain forecasted. Sh*tty. Most importantly, I wanted to make part of it the BTT ride. Miss those.
• Why does my knee hurt when I ride my bike but, not when I am running lately? Totally opposite of usual.
• I need to put a computer on my cx bike. I should have been more careful with my Garmin last year. How fast am I going?
• I rode up and down 5 mile hill for 30 minutes on Tues. Why is it so steep today?
• Why do I sweat so much? This is why I can't seem to finish a race with my sun glasses on. I fill them with sweat and they become a foggy, blurry mess.
• I think I could commute to work 2-3 days a week if I didn't have to carry a laptop. Even it it's 70+ miles a day. Maybe I'll try it in July if I get the Motobecane built back up.
• GLR is going to be great. I think I am going to take my car this year. Even if someone will have to lay down in the back seat to fit. I need to bite the bullet and get a new car. Mine stinking like sweaty feet may be just be the motivation.
• I think I will take the kids for ice cream tonight if the weather is good. Maybe to the Dairy Go Round since it's a little farther. Evan will get a kick out of measuring the distance if I can get the computer I ordered for him on his bike before hand.
• Friday is "no shave" day! My head at least.

8 days streak

8 days. 1 day of cycling and 7 of running. At least three runs over an hour. What is the significance of that? It's the most training/exercise I've strung together in a row since 2009.  I know, pretty pathetic. But, a win none the less. After a week of running in worn out shoes my knees are saying "loose some weight, get some new shoes or ride some of the $6k in bikes you have rotting in the basement." My mind and body seems to say " I want more." I am amazed at what 9 hours on a bike ending in near exhaustion results in. Besides some sort of a spark in motivation, it's made a 45min run fly by in what feels like 15. Now that "fingers crossed" the weather seems to have broken, I think I'll plan to get up in the am and climbs some hills on the cx bike. Maybe get in a couple of loops on Maybury this week as well. Hoping to make it out to Poto or somewhere fun this weekend.