So here I recline in the Hampton Inn off exit 31 of Hwy 99 in Altoona PA and what a day it's been. We planted the seed for this trip over a year ago when David was watching his video, "I Love Big Trains". A portion of the video was about the Horseshoe Curve. Horseshoe Curve is an engineering feat whereby the downhill momentum of a train is used to move it into and around a horseshoe shaped mile-and-a-half of railroad track. One day we asked David if he'd like to go see the Horseshoe curve and - guess what he said? So here we are in Altoona, PA. Thanks to much planning by my wife, the day was a smash hit. We started off with a 50 minute train ride around the Horseshoe Curve at 10 AM and then spent about 2 hours in the Altoona Railroader's Memorial Museum. This was followed by a family coma back in the hotel that lasted from 2:30 to 4 PM. All in all a great day that will provide fond recall in years to come.
Overall David is doing pretty well. Karen and I decided that it would be in David's best interest if he went to a transitional Kindergarten. I believe I've mentioned this before, but David is off the top end of the intellect scale, but he struggles with the finer points of some social skills. Ultimately David will have to adhere to all the rules, norms, constraints and cheers as every other person, but right now if we can avoid a rough patch by allowing him a little more time to mature socially, then why not?
Camden walks at his own discretion these days and what a wonderful thing that is. He still reverts to crawling if he's feeling lazy, but as he becomes more proficient in his stride he chooses to walk more and more. To see Camden take his own deliberate steps warms our hearts and encourages us in other ways. On more than one occasion I've been asked - as well as wondered myself รข€“ what am I supposed to do differently for our special needs son? I struggled for many months trying to answer this question, but could never really come up with a crisp answer. You love your kids and you parent them. There's nothing different in the loving or parenting part for a special needs child. Sure there's a TON of different things you might need to do educationally, therapeutically or medically, but there's nothing different in the loving or parenting part; that you just do. And when I figured that out, a lot of the anxiety associated with the newness of our situation simply vanished.
Karen hasn't given up on any of us yet. Those of you with kids either know or probably remember hitting the pause button on one's own life when the kids were young. I believe that pause button has a much greater impact on women who leave the workforce to assume the stay-at-home mother roll. This is hard on Karen and at the same time the kids are our pride and joy. Since Camden is in preschool 2 days a week now Karen actually gets a day - or half a day - here and there with some free time. Of course that free time is spent getting things done that still have to get done, but the thought of my wife getting so much as 20 minutes to drop by a bagel place and drink a cup of coffee with a bagel puts a smile on my face far and wide. Time and progress will yield Karen easier days in the future, but right now we all love her simply because she loves us so much and it shows.
So how's Jim? Frustrated. Discouraged. Angry. Fortunate. And it's that last one I mustn't forget. The PT is painful and fruitful. I am making good progress. The fact of the matter is if I forgo the narcotics I spend a majority of each day in significant pain and discomfort and that encourages discouragement. Some days I choose to fight the pain with non-narcotics and intense focus on work. On those days, after we get the kids in bed I literally do not move for about 2 hours before we go to bed. If I do choose to take the Oxycontin, I can function nearly normally.
I will close with this. Once you gain a certain intimacy with cycling it becomes a metaphor for life. As a cyclist you learn to keep pedaling when you are 50 miles from home and there are some very loud voices telling you to stop. I feel like I'm 1000 miles from home right now and the voices are screaming, but I've no intention to stop pedaling.
Every day above ground is a good one.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Confirming: I'm Not Dead
Hello all. Here's a Jim update. WARNING: This update contains some personal and discrete information that I'm choosing to share because this site is primarily visited by family and friends and when they ask how I'm doing they want the unvarnished truth.
Overall my physical condition has improved slightly. My mobility is good and the pain in my pelvis is mild to moderate at any given moment, but is made worse when I try to sit on or rise from the floor. Essentially if I direct energy into my pelvis the pain increases proportionately. Overall, the pelvis is well on the path to recovery.
The ribs are no longer an issue other than occasional soreness. They are likely 85 - 90% healed.
Then there's the shoulder. With little exception my humerus stays at my left side. The exceptions being small deliberate motions intended to initiate the smallest amount of mobility and recovery. I have taken the pendular exercises to the limit and it's not fun. It feels as if a Matchbox car has been inserted into my shoulder socket. I've accidentally bumped it once or twice and David's given it an inadvertent tug as many times. One or twice I've walked it off and once it was remedied by a couple of Kleenex.
I am scared to death of the looming physical therapy, because it's going to hurt and hurt a lot. I am acutely aware that the percentage of my complete recovery is directly proportional to my courage and effort in PT; that's what scares me. I'm hoping that I can leverage my ability to suffer better as I've gotten older - a direct benefit from cycling - to ultimately get back to 100%. I'm willing to do what that's going to take and that is a big commitment.
Narcotic pain relievers cause constipation and I have not been immune to this. Currently I take 10mg of Percoset every four hours. I've had trouble with constipation since the day after my accident. Without too much detail I've suffered pretty badly on this front. The second and third worst problems associated with the constipation are pulled muscles and the irritation of the shoulder. And bear in mind I'm leaving out detail regarding the most painful part of severe constipation. We have implemented EVERY countermeasure and this morning was the first time I was in and out of the WC in less than 45 minutes and without further injury and pain.
Emotionally, this event continues to be a rollercoaster. Bad days are very bad. They are a mixture of guilt, depression, feelings of inadequacy, uselessness, pain and fear. They are remedied by the soft touch of my wife's hand or her shoulder to cry on and constant reminders that we're going to get through this. What's a good day? Having showered within the last 48 hours. Having made a significant contribution at work, albeit from home. Having helped out around the house. Maybe emptied some of the dishwasher. Having taken care of David after Karen gets him out of the tub. Good hugs and kisses from the boys. Developing strategies for having sex with a broken pelvis.
So as you can see by that last sentence, I've not lost my sense of humor. Let's let that be our barometer for now. If you've read this far I appreciate you taking the time to see how I'm doing. I'm in a challenging place and time in my life at present and how wonderful it is to have some of that challenge mitigated by the kindness of friends. Please keep checking back because I promise this story that had such a terrible beginning will have a triumphant conclusion.
Overall my physical condition has improved slightly. My mobility is good and the pain in my pelvis is mild to moderate at any given moment, but is made worse when I try to sit on or rise from the floor. Essentially if I direct energy into my pelvis the pain increases proportionately. Overall, the pelvis is well on the path to recovery.
The ribs are no longer an issue other than occasional soreness. They are likely 85 - 90% healed.
Then there's the shoulder. With little exception my humerus stays at my left side. The exceptions being small deliberate motions intended to initiate the smallest amount of mobility and recovery. I have taken the pendular exercises to the limit and it's not fun. It feels as if a Matchbox car has been inserted into my shoulder socket. I've accidentally bumped it once or twice and David's given it an inadvertent tug as many times. One or twice I've walked it off and once it was remedied by a couple of Kleenex.
I am scared to death of the looming physical therapy, because it's going to hurt and hurt a lot. I am acutely aware that the percentage of my complete recovery is directly proportional to my courage and effort in PT; that's what scares me. I'm hoping that I can leverage my ability to suffer better as I've gotten older - a direct benefit from cycling - to ultimately get back to 100%. I'm willing to do what that's going to take and that is a big commitment.
Narcotic pain relievers cause constipation and I have not been immune to this. Currently I take 10mg of Percoset every four hours. I've had trouble with constipation since the day after my accident. Without too much detail I've suffered pretty badly on this front. The second and third worst problems associated with the constipation are pulled muscles and the irritation of the shoulder. And bear in mind I'm leaving out detail regarding the most painful part of severe constipation. We have implemented EVERY countermeasure and this morning was the first time I was in and out of the WC in less than 45 minutes and without further injury and pain.
Emotionally, this event continues to be a rollercoaster. Bad days are very bad. They are a mixture of guilt, depression, feelings of inadequacy, uselessness, pain and fear. They are remedied by the soft touch of my wife's hand or her shoulder to cry on and constant reminders that we're going to get through this. What's a good day? Having showered within the last 48 hours. Having made a significant contribution at work, albeit from home. Having helped out around the house. Maybe emptied some of the dishwasher. Having taken care of David after Karen gets him out of the tub. Good hugs and kisses from the boys. Developing strategies for having sex with a broken pelvis.
So as you can see by that last sentence, I've not lost my sense of humor. Let's let that be our barometer for now. If you've read this far I appreciate you taking the time to see how I'm doing. I'm in a challenging place and time in my life at present and how wonderful it is to have some of that challenge mitigated by the kindness of friends. Please keep checking back because I promise this story that had such a terrible beginning will have a triumphant conclusion.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Here's How I'm Doin'
Greetings family, friends. About ten times a day I get a sincere query, 'How ya doing?', so I'm gonna stick an update out here to answer just that and more. And before I go any further how sweet it is to be asked by so many folks that really care about the answer.
Karen put my leash and collar of love on me on Tuesday and took me over to see Dr. Wyker at Raleigh Ortho. I am down to two areas of concern for which we'll track progress; the shoulder and the pelvis. Regarding the shoulder, we took x-rays on Tuesday and my new stainless steel parts are doing their job and all the pieces of Humpty Dumpty's scapula are pretty much where they're supposed to be. There is one fragment whose position isn't precisely optimal, but precisely optimal would be where it was originally had I never had the accident. The implication of this is that there may be some hot spots that we're going to have to push through once physical therapy (PT) is under way. PT will start next week. Everything I've heard, from Dr. Wyker, anecdotally, from others with similar injuries indicates it's going to be a year, in round numbers, before my shoulder gets to feel as good as it's going to feel in the future. A long road yes, but I'm expecting to regain nearly all function so this ain't a bad deal.
The hip's going to be a challenge on multiple fronts. At the top of one of my femurs there's a looped part of the pelvic bone. I have two fractures in this loop that are just going to have to heal over time. Try not using your hips for two minutes; not real practical. And no one has instructed me not to use the hips, just to be aware that it's going to be sore for several months. I'm imagining that even after the general soreness abates, certain activities will remind me that trauma was in the house not long ago. I can imagine sitting on a bike is going to take many attempts before I'm comfortable for long periods of time. So that's the manifest concern regarding my pelvis/hips. I don't think I've shared this en masse until now but all of the films of my hip indicate significant arthritis in the hip joint. For many years I have had issues with my hips with respect to biomechanical function, pain during specific motions, and a popping of my hip that once popped felt fine, although getting the pop to happen took some courage against pain for a brief second. I've no doubt that the genesis of all of this noise germane to my hip is the arthritis. I'm only 40 years old and I have many, many active years left in me. This isn't news anyone wants to hear, but again, it's treatable. We'll come up with treatment plans for the arthritis after the fractures heal. Again, this could be far worse and with the knowledge I now have I can fight back and make a fragile situation a tenable one.
I will return to work on 14 April. I will be working from home for the first week and then transitioning back into the office full time incrementally over the next couple of weeks.
I've saved the important people for last. Karen is doing much better and the thing that got her to this point with all her marbles is first her personal strength and then the support of our family and friends. Yes, she was a little bit overwhelmed at first, but we all were and at the end of the day, the greatest burden of responsibility and care fell on her shoulders. I love her so much for the grace and strength with which she is handling this. I can sum up how I feel about my wife in four words, I want for nothing.
David now understands the nature of Daddy's hurt arm a little better and he has once again found safe harbor snuggled up on my right side. I can now help out at the end of David's day with story reading, a lullaby and prayers. It might not sound like a lot, but it means the world to me to be able to spend time with him again and it helps Karen get through the crescendo end of her day. I can also empty the top of the dishwasher :-)
Camden loves his Daddy and just wants to play, read and dance. He has not been cleared for lap time yet, but as my shoulder gets stronger we'll get him back up there ASAP. I miss his hugs so; when he hugs you it feels like someone turned your heart into a Cinnabon.
These last two entries were typed entirely with my right hand so please excuse the abrupt closure to this entry. Thanks to everyone that has expressed their love and caring in whatever way they could.
Karen put my leash and collar of love on me on Tuesday and took me over to see Dr. Wyker at Raleigh Ortho. I am down to two areas of concern for which we'll track progress; the shoulder and the pelvis. Regarding the shoulder, we took x-rays on Tuesday and my new stainless steel parts are doing their job and all the pieces of Humpty Dumpty's scapula are pretty much where they're supposed to be. There is one fragment whose position isn't precisely optimal, but precisely optimal would be where it was originally had I never had the accident. The implication of this is that there may be some hot spots that we're going to have to push through once physical therapy (PT) is under way. PT will start next week. Everything I've heard, from Dr. Wyker, anecdotally, from others with similar injuries indicates it's going to be a year, in round numbers, before my shoulder gets to feel as good as it's going to feel in the future. A long road yes, but I'm expecting to regain nearly all function so this ain't a bad deal.
The hip's going to be a challenge on multiple fronts. At the top of one of my femurs there's a looped part of the pelvic bone. I have two fractures in this loop that are just going to have to heal over time. Try not using your hips for two minutes; not real practical. And no one has instructed me not to use the hips, just to be aware that it's going to be sore for several months. I'm imagining that even after the general soreness abates, certain activities will remind me that trauma was in the house not long ago. I can imagine sitting on a bike is going to take many attempts before I'm comfortable for long periods of time. So that's the manifest concern regarding my pelvis/hips. I don't think I've shared this en masse until now but all of the films of my hip indicate significant arthritis in the hip joint. For many years I have had issues with my hips with respect to biomechanical function, pain during specific motions, and a popping of my hip that once popped felt fine, although getting the pop to happen took some courage against pain for a brief second. I've no doubt that the genesis of all of this noise germane to my hip is the arthritis. I'm only 40 years old and I have many, many active years left in me. This isn't news anyone wants to hear, but again, it's treatable. We'll come up with treatment plans for the arthritis after the fractures heal. Again, this could be far worse and with the knowledge I now have I can fight back and make a fragile situation a tenable one.
I will return to work on 14 April. I will be working from home for the first week and then transitioning back into the office full time incrementally over the next couple of weeks.
I've saved the important people for last. Karen is doing much better and the thing that got her to this point with all her marbles is first her personal strength and then the support of our family and friends. Yes, she was a little bit overwhelmed at first, but we all were and at the end of the day, the greatest burden of responsibility and care fell on her shoulders. I love her so much for the grace and strength with which she is handling this. I can sum up how I feel about my wife in four words, I want for nothing.
David now understands the nature of Daddy's hurt arm a little better and he has once again found safe harbor snuggled up on my right side. I can now help out at the end of David's day with story reading, a lullaby and prayers. It might not sound like a lot, but it means the world to me to be able to spend time with him again and it helps Karen get through the crescendo end of her day. I can also empty the top of the dishwasher :-)
Camden loves his Daddy and just wants to play, read and dance. He has not been cleared for lap time yet, but as my shoulder gets stronger we'll get him back up there ASAP. I miss his hugs so; when he hugs you it feels like someone turned your heart into a Cinnabon.
These last two entries were typed entirely with my right hand so please excuse the abrupt closure to this entry. Thanks to everyone that has expressed their love and caring in whatever way they could.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Story of My Cycling Accident
This will be the last time I recount the events of my bicycling accident on 22 March, 2009.
I had scheduled a Trip to Hanging Rock State Park (HRSP), the point of departure for a ride known as the Triple Hump, about six weeks ago. The purpose of this trip was to get some real mountain miles in my legs; while we have some nice hills here with some temporarily annoying gradients, you simply can't get steep climb duration in Raleigh or Cary.
The morning of March 22 had descended and at or slightly before 8 AM, I was on the road. The trip was about 113 miles and at about 9:40 I was making the transition from car driver to bike rider in the parking lot of HRSP. It was a little cooler than I had expected at ride start, about 40 degrees, but it was a warm 40. I added knee warmers, another upper body base layer and a pair of thin cotton under gloves. I left HRSP with enough nutrition for about 50 miles and planned to stop at a convenience store on the way back to top off as needed.
The first two miles out of HRSP are a downhill hoot. Giddy fun I say there boy. Despite the giddy fun, I was not strong on this day. I never felt strong. Always felt like I was surviving. I had not done anything inconsistent leading up to this day, but a thin molasses thought of picking a bad day to have a bad day was finding its way in between the muscle fibers of my legs.
The first climb I encountered, Sauratown Mountain punished me beyond my crime. I stopped two or three times up that climb and could not believe the voice in my head, 'You're not this good. You shouldn't be here. You can't even breathe. Ride back to the car and go home, if you can.' As I got closer to the top I started focusing on recovering from the effort. If I had to pick the most improved part of my riding over the last year, it would be my ability to recover from significant efforts. Refocusing got me up. Descending refueled me. Commitment kept me going.
Twenty hilly, rolling miles later I found myself at the base of Pilot Mountain. I had inadvertently disrespected this climb earlier by considering it might be easier than Sauratown. It was not. A half-dozen stops were needed to get me to the top. I'll never know why I rode so poorly on this day, but I can tell you that this will not be my last Triple Hump. I can also tell you I'm going to ride it until I can, with repeatability, do it confidently and quickly.
And so there I was. 30 miles from finishing. The clock started to crawl and the road seemed to stretch as I rode it. I was tired, but I once again found the silver lining. In a group or when alone and simply trying to achieve an average speed, there is the unrelenting pressure of having to 'put out'. I now had the luxury of jettisoning this unnecessary requirement. From here on in it would be a simple matter getting back to the car, recovering nutritionally and analyzing the ride for lessons learned.
At an intersection with NC 268 and another road, whose name escapes me, there was supposed to be a convenience store, but alas it had long since closed. Some kind folks that lived near the intersection filled my bottles with water and away I pedaled. Soon I made my turn onto NC66. I was tired and only capable of about 85% attention. I probably would have seen the dog earlier had I been more alert, but doubt it would have made any difference. I saw the dog emerge from the background of trees and brush standing in the road perhaps 50 meters ahead of me. I could only categorize it as a medium sized, short-haired dog and in the first few seconds, the dog posed no threat. Then two things changed in an instant; I could now ID the breed as a pit bull and it attacked. I tried evasive maneuvering unsuccessfully. I then tried a tactic of actually slowing down to see if I could get him to simply chase next to me, but his aggression increased. Every time he would dash in front of me, I considered how bad it would be if I hit him, knowing I would go down and go down hard. His aggression increased to the point where he was now taking bites at my feet and lower legs. I decided to sprint for it. I stood up and now had no concerns about him biting me as my legs were too powerful and moving too fast for him to get a good grip. It gets a little foggy here. I recall the dog was on my left and he made an attempt to cross my line of travel. He likely went between the front and rear wheel at a time when I was standing and putting as much power into the pedals as I could. There was no time between that moment and realizing I had hit the road and was now grinding to a stop from about 30 miles per hour. I started out with a very poor level of consciousness, but I was conscious enough to know I was lying in the middle of a paved, traveled road. I struggled to sit up and immediately recognized that the left side of my body was injured too badly to use. This next point is quick but important. In the minute or so it took me to get upright, I clearly recall the dog scampering off into the woods. Had he come back for more I would have been unable to defend myself. I began a primary survey on myself; airway, breathing and circulation and all were 'good'. As I moved on to the secondary survey and a level of consciousness battery, I did not fair so well. I could not recall day or date or home phone numbers. This fog lasted about 10 minutes and then my LOC gradually returned back to 10/10. There were two cars that passed me in the next five minutes. The first did not stop despite traveling only 30 or so miles per hour, with both of the windows on my side of the car down, my waves of desperation made clear and an unabashed cry for help. The next vehicle to pass was a pickup truck containing a father and younger son, the latter being perhaps 10 years old or so. They stopped and then went quickly to the house where the dog came from to summon an ambulance. For about 40 minutes I had the care and support of the father son duo and the gentleman from the house. Thank you God for those three people and the care and fellowship they provided to me. I will not entertain any further discussion about fault, negligence or ill-will beyond this statement. The gentleman that was feeding this dog as a stray put the dog down out of fear for his children's safety. I do not believe that there was any intent to harm me and I never detected a sense from this gentleman that I was in any way culpable for what had just transpired. He offered his apology on the scene for any way in which he may have contributed and I accepted that apology. The forty minutes of waiting was followed up by a forty minute ambulance ride to Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.
The medical care I received at BMC was first aide for the abrasions about my body, l-ankle, r-inner knee, l-outer knee, 1 major patch left arm, 1 focused grind spot left elbow, top back of left shoulder, light abrasions about my head. I always wear a helmet and had I not been wearing one that day, I would without question be dead.
I won't list every film or scan I got, but I can tell you what the initial consensus was: a 40/60 broken scapula that would need surgery. Since the surgery was not going to be possible forthwith that night, the Dr's decided to pump me full of morphine and let Karen Taylo drive me home from Winston-Salem so that all further medical attention could be delivered much closer to home.
The next morning I was in excruciating pain and rather than try and get me in the car and risk further damage beyond the known unknown, we called the ambulance. I found myself back in the ER but upon my exit on this particular day we'd leave with three important things. One a referral to see THE preeminent shoulder guy, two, a scan of my pelvis that revealed a fracture and three, more pain meds.
On Tuesday 24 March we saw Dr. Wyker w/Raleigh Orthopedics. What we got there was an excellent Dr., outstanding diagnostics, a complete care plan that included a reconstructive surgery date of Friday 27 March. It was only at this point that we finally got a complete inventory of everything I had broken: One pelvic fracture, two to three broken ribs and a shattered scapula, with partucular concern for the area where the humerus sat in the scapula having been destroyed. The nature of the destruction was two-fold because the receptor part of the scapula was in many pieces and the pieces were not where they were supposed to be. Dr. Wyker admitted that the surgery would be difficult, but he left us with the sense that he could develop a surgical plan and approach that would allow him tackle one of his harder reconstructive challenges of late.
Karen delivered me to Big Wake at around 1PM on Friday 27 March for the surgery. I went into surgery at around 8 o'clock and emerged about two and a half hours later with Dr. Wyker and team claiming complete success. Unfortunately no sooner than we were enjoying the good news than my left lung collapsed unexpectedly. A chest tube was inserted to re-inflate the pneumothorax and now my joyously painful shoulder recovery would be accompanied by some damn tube stuck straight in through my side into my lungs.
I was discharged, sans catheter, chest tube, IV and myriad other OEM equipment on Monday 30 April after four days in the good hands of the great people associated with Dr. Wyker's practice and Wake Med. There were many medical professionals involved with helping me get back to where I am today and while they rendered a service for a price, a lot of them do it for much deeper reasons. To those of you contributed to my care, please accept my thanks for the business part, but more so for the compassion and care that you demonstrated in the delivery of your care.
Today is Friday 3 April. My days consist of feeling a little bit better and gaining nominal amounts of independence. We use the pain medications as directed. When we're late, I feel it rather crisply. I'm guessing that the Oxycontin will get discontinued over the next week and then we'll whittle down the Percocet as well over the next several weeks. I can walk, albeit rather Fred Sandford-ishly and slowly. I have yet to mobilize the left shoulder at all, but that will change next week as well when PT is likely to start. I still need some assistance with basic movements, standing, sitting, to potty, from potty but that's only when the pain is bad or I've been in the recliner for a long stretch. Today was my first shower since March 21st and obviously this would not have been possible without Karen's help.
I'll close this account with a couple of observations.
I'm fortunate that I was able to get help quickly from strangers. And strangers in this case were simply fellow human beings I had yet to have fellowship with. I was fortunate enough to have a close family friend just happen to be near and care about my family enough to drop everything she was doing and assume complete responsibility for all of my care for nearly six hours. I learned that I will always be my mother and father's son and when I need them they'll be here for me and my family for as long as God sees fit. I'm fortunate to work for a company like BlueCross and BlueShield of NC that cares more about me and my family getting back on our feet than the inconvenience and impact of my absence. I am fortunate to have surrounded myself with a talented team at work that picked up the Hidex Project ball and kept running with it as I was escorted to the sidelines. Facebook gets a nod as well for enabling access to a network of friends who walked the talk through prayers, support, laughter and physical assistance to me and my family; we cannot thank you enough friends. Second only to the God that gave me life is my appreciation for my wife. The love that Karen and I share is rare. She is the home that my love and soul come home to every night whether we're spooning tight together before we sleep or if I'm 1,000 miles away. Wife, lover, partner, mentor, confessor capture nothing as a percentage of what it means to me when I call her my wife; it is so much more than that. Without her I would be Jim and that ain't such a bad gig. But with her and because of her I am a loved husband and father.
I have no idea what I ever did to be deserving of so much love from so many people.
I had scheduled a Trip to Hanging Rock State Park (HRSP), the point of departure for a ride known as the Triple Hump, about six weeks ago. The purpose of this trip was to get some real mountain miles in my legs; while we have some nice hills here with some temporarily annoying gradients, you simply can't get steep climb duration in Raleigh or Cary.
The morning of March 22 had descended and at or slightly before 8 AM, I was on the road. The trip was about 113 miles and at about 9:40 I was making the transition from car driver to bike rider in the parking lot of HRSP. It was a little cooler than I had expected at ride start, about 40 degrees, but it was a warm 40. I added knee warmers, another upper body base layer and a pair of thin cotton under gloves. I left HRSP with enough nutrition for about 50 miles and planned to stop at a convenience store on the way back to top off as needed.
The first two miles out of HRSP are a downhill hoot. Giddy fun I say there boy. Despite the giddy fun, I was not strong on this day. I never felt strong. Always felt like I was surviving. I had not done anything inconsistent leading up to this day, but a thin molasses thought of picking a bad day to have a bad day was finding its way in between the muscle fibers of my legs.
The first climb I encountered, Sauratown Mountain punished me beyond my crime. I stopped two or three times up that climb and could not believe the voice in my head, 'You're not this good. You shouldn't be here. You can't even breathe. Ride back to the car and go home, if you can.' As I got closer to the top I started focusing on recovering from the effort. If I had to pick the most improved part of my riding over the last year, it would be my ability to recover from significant efforts. Refocusing got me up. Descending refueled me. Commitment kept me going.
Twenty hilly, rolling miles later I found myself at the base of Pilot Mountain. I had inadvertently disrespected this climb earlier by considering it might be easier than Sauratown. It was not. A half-dozen stops were needed to get me to the top. I'll never know why I rode so poorly on this day, but I can tell you that this will not be my last Triple Hump. I can also tell you I'm going to ride it until I can, with repeatability, do it confidently and quickly.
And so there I was. 30 miles from finishing. The clock started to crawl and the road seemed to stretch as I rode it. I was tired, but I once again found the silver lining. In a group or when alone and simply trying to achieve an average speed, there is the unrelenting pressure of having to 'put out'. I now had the luxury of jettisoning this unnecessary requirement. From here on in it would be a simple matter getting back to the car, recovering nutritionally and analyzing the ride for lessons learned.
At an intersection with NC 268 and another road, whose name escapes me, there was supposed to be a convenience store, but alas it had long since closed. Some kind folks that lived near the intersection filled my bottles with water and away I pedaled. Soon I made my turn onto NC66. I was tired and only capable of about 85% attention. I probably would have seen the dog earlier had I been more alert, but doubt it would have made any difference. I saw the dog emerge from the background of trees and brush standing in the road perhaps 50 meters ahead of me. I could only categorize it as a medium sized, short-haired dog and in the first few seconds, the dog posed no threat. Then two things changed in an instant; I could now ID the breed as a pit bull and it attacked. I tried evasive maneuvering unsuccessfully. I then tried a tactic of actually slowing down to see if I could get him to simply chase next to me, but his aggression increased. Every time he would dash in front of me, I considered how bad it would be if I hit him, knowing I would go down and go down hard. His aggression increased to the point where he was now taking bites at my feet and lower legs. I decided to sprint for it. I stood up and now had no concerns about him biting me as my legs were too powerful and moving too fast for him to get a good grip. It gets a little foggy here. I recall the dog was on my left and he made an attempt to cross my line of travel. He likely went between the front and rear wheel at a time when I was standing and putting as much power into the pedals as I could. There was no time between that moment and realizing I had hit the road and was now grinding to a stop from about 30 miles per hour. I started out with a very poor level of consciousness, but I was conscious enough to know I was lying in the middle of a paved, traveled road. I struggled to sit up and immediately recognized that the left side of my body was injured too badly to use. This next point is quick but important. In the minute or so it took me to get upright, I clearly recall the dog scampering off into the woods. Had he come back for more I would have been unable to defend myself. I began a primary survey on myself; airway, breathing and circulation and all were 'good'. As I moved on to the secondary survey and a level of consciousness battery, I did not fair so well. I could not recall day or date or home phone numbers. This fog lasted about 10 minutes and then my LOC gradually returned back to 10/10. There were two cars that passed me in the next five minutes. The first did not stop despite traveling only 30 or so miles per hour, with both of the windows on my side of the car down, my waves of desperation made clear and an unabashed cry for help. The next vehicle to pass was a pickup truck containing a father and younger son, the latter being perhaps 10 years old or so. They stopped and then went quickly to the house where the dog came from to summon an ambulance. For about 40 minutes I had the care and support of the father son duo and the gentleman from the house. Thank you God for those three people and the care and fellowship they provided to me. I will not entertain any further discussion about fault, negligence or ill-will beyond this statement. The gentleman that was feeding this dog as a stray put the dog down out of fear for his children's safety. I do not believe that there was any intent to harm me and I never detected a sense from this gentleman that I was in any way culpable for what had just transpired. He offered his apology on the scene for any way in which he may have contributed and I accepted that apology. The forty minutes of waiting was followed up by a forty minute ambulance ride to Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC.
The medical care I received at BMC was first aide for the abrasions about my body, l-ankle, r-inner knee, l-outer knee, 1 major patch left arm, 1 focused grind spot left elbow, top back of left shoulder, light abrasions about my head. I always wear a helmet and had I not been wearing one that day, I would without question be dead.
I won't list every film or scan I got, but I can tell you what the initial consensus was: a 40/60 broken scapula that would need surgery. Since the surgery was not going to be possible forthwith that night, the Dr's decided to pump me full of morphine and let Karen Taylo drive me home from Winston-Salem so that all further medical attention could be delivered much closer to home.
The next morning I was in excruciating pain and rather than try and get me in the car and risk further damage beyond the known unknown, we called the ambulance. I found myself back in the ER but upon my exit on this particular day we'd leave with three important things. One a referral to see THE preeminent shoulder guy, two, a scan of my pelvis that revealed a fracture and three, more pain meds.
On Tuesday 24 March we saw Dr. Wyker w/Raleigh Orthopedics. What we got there was an excellent Dr., outstanding diagnostics, a complete care plan that included a reconstructive surgery date of Friday 27 March. It was only at this point that we finally got a complete inventory of everything I had broken: One pelvic fracture, two to three broken ribs and a shattered scapula, with partucular concern for the area where the humerus sat in the scapula having been destroyed. The nature of the destruction was two-fold because the receptor part of the scapula was in many pieces and the pieces were not where they were supposed to be. Dr. Wyker admitted that the surgery would be difficult, but he left us with the sense that he could develop a surgical plan and approach that would allow him tackle one of his harder reconstructive challenges of late.
Karen delivered me to Big Wake at around 1PM on Friday 27 March for the surgery. I went into surgery at around 8 o'clock and emerged about two and a half hours later with Dr. Wyker and team claiming complete success. Unfortunately no sooner than we were enjoying the good news than my left lung collapsed unexpectedly. A chest tube was inserted to re-inflate the pneumothorax and now my joyously painful shoulder recovery would be accompanied by some damn tube stuck straight in through my side into my lungs.
I was discharged, sans catheter, chest tube, IV and myriad other OEM equipment on Monday 30 April after four days in the good hands of the great people associated with Dr. Wyker's practice and Wake Med. There were many medical professionals involved with helping me get back to where I am today and while they rendered a service for a price, a lot of them do it for much deeper reasons. To those of you contributed to my care, please accept my thanks for the business part, but more so for the compassion and care that you demonstrated in the delivery of your care.
Today is Friday 3 April. My days consist of feeling a little bit better and gaining nominal amounts of independence. We use the pain medications as directed. When we're late, I feel it rather crisply. I'm guessing that the Oxycontin will get discontinued over the next week and then we'll whittle down the Percocet as well over the next several weeks. I can walk, albeit rather Fred Sandford-ishly and slowly. I have yet to mobilize the left shoulder at all, but that will change next week as well when PT is likely to start. I still need some assistance with basic movements, standing, sitting, to potty, from potty but that's only when the pain is bad or I've been in the recliner for a long stretch. Today was my first shower since March 21st and obviously this would not have been possible without Karen's help.
I'll close this account with a couple of observations.
I'm fortunate that I was able to get help quickly from strangers. And strangers in this case were simply fellow human beings I had yet to have fellowship with. I was fortunate enough to have a close family friend just happen to be near and care about my family enough to drop everything she was doing and assume complete responsibility for all of my care for nearly six hours. I learned that I will always be my mother and father's son and when I need them they'll be here for me and my family for as long as God sees fit. I'm fortunate to work for a company like BlueCross and BlueShield of NC that cares more about me and my family getting back on our feet than the inconvenience and impact of my absence. I am fortunate to have surrounded myself with a talented team at work that picked up the Hidex Project ball and kept running with it as I was escorted to the sidelines. Facebook gets a nod as well for enabling access to a network of friends who walked the talk through prayers, support, laughter and physical assistance to me and my family; we cannot thank you enough friends. Second only to the God that gave me life is my appreciation for my wife. The love that Karen and I share is rare. She is the home that my love and soul come home to every night whether we're spooning tight together before we sleep or if I'm 1,000 miles away. Wife, lover, partner, mentor, confessor capture nothing as a percentage of what it means to me when I call her my wife; it is so much more than that. Without her I would be Jim and that ain't such a bad gig. But with her and because of her I am a loved husband and father.
I have no idea what I ever did to be deserving of so much love from so many people.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
About that race in May? It's not looking so good.
Hello from Wake Med hospital! I think most of you know by now that I was involved in a cycling accident on the 22nd of March. I was attacked by a pit bull toward the end of a 100 km training ride for the assault on Mt. Mitchell. I received a fractured pelvis, several fractured ribs, a shattered scapula and a post-op collapsed lung. I am now recovering as quickly as I can and expect to go home Monday or Tuesday. I have been blessed by the support of my wife and kids, my extended family and friends, a generous employer and God himself.
I am very much looking forward to getting back on the bike, but realistically it will be several months before my recovery allows me to do so. I'm really tired now and need to get some rest, so today's entry will be a short one.
I am very much looking forward to getting back on the bike, but realistically it will be several months before my recovery allows me to do so. I'm really tired now and need to get some rest, so today's entry will be a short one.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I think I can. I think I can.
I was telling Karen last night that I wish my only goal for cycling in '09 was to be a strong A group rider 'cause I'd be done. But since I have to climb the mountain, I've work left to do. Here's a tale of two rides.
Last Thursday I went out with the A group from Apex. I knew what to expect; it was going to be fast, but I should be able to hang in. The first 27 miles were awesome. It's hard to explain, but in some respects it gets easier to ride the faster you go. For one you learn to stay up front. Also, the faster riders are MUCH more disciplined. Rotations are more strict, and smoother. Big stuff gets pointed out and little stuff gets ignored. I did my share up front in the rotation for the better part of 70 minutes. And then I did something stupid. As we came back up Lewter Shop road the rotations had stopped and riders hung out on the front as they pleased. When my turn came, I kinda stayed out front a little too long and we were going, oh, about, 25 miles per hour. Then bad goes to worse. I saw another group traveling about the same speed as we were traveling perhaps 200 yards ahead of us. What should I have done? Easy. Pulled over, gone to the back, hung on, rested. What did I do? I bridged a group of 40 riders up by maxing out and as soon as I caught the group ahead... I blew up. I watched in self-disappoointment as now 50 riders went by me at 25 miles an hour as I faded to 20, then 19 on down to 18.
Now, the lesson learned was that I didn't ride within my limits. Last night was faster and easier. I rode 41 miles at about a 21 MPH average. Did my fair share up front. Stayed in, rested. Rode smart. Finished with the group. The only criticism I'll give in to is that I spent too much time in the very back of the group where you do get the benefit of draft, but you also pay the price of rarefraction. (Think stretched out part of a spring racing to catch up to the compressed part of the spring.)
All in all I'm feeling modestly confident about my preparation for the Assault on Mount Mitchell. I'm not going to get cocky, but I will gaurantee you that I will prepare to do well in the last 25 miles where the race is either won or lost on a personal level. It's going to be a long day in the saddle. It's going to hurt at times for long periods. But, God willing, I'm going to get to the top of that mountain.
Last Thursday I went out with the A group from Apex. I knew what to expect; it was going to be fast, but I should be able to hang in. The first 27 miles were awesome. It's hard to explain, but in some respects it gets easier to ride the faster you go. For one you learn to stay up front. Also, the faster riders are MUCH more disciplined. Rotations are more strict, and smoother. Big stuff gets pointed out and little stuff gets ignored. I did my share up front in the rotation for the better part of 70 minutes. And then I did something stupid. As we came back up Lewter Shop road the rotations had stopped and riders hung out on the front as they pleased. When my turn came, I kinda stayed out front a little too long and we were going, oh, about, 25 miles per hour. Then bad goes to worse. I saw another group traveling about the same speed as we were traveling perhaps 200 yards ahead of us. What should I have done? Easy. Pulled over, gone to the back, hung on, rested. What did I do? I bridged a group of 40 riders up by maxing out and as soon as I caught the group ahead... I blew up. I watched in self-disappoointment as now 50 riders went by me at 25 miles an hour as I faded to 20, then 19 on down to 18.
Now, the lesson learned was that I didn't ride within my limits. Last night was faster and easier. I rode 41 miles at about a 21 MPH average. Did my fair share up front. Stayed in, rested. Rode smart. Finished with the group. The only criticism I'll give in to is that I spent too much time in the very back of the group where you do get the benefit of draft, but you also pay the price of rarefraction. (Think stretched out part of a spring racing to catch up to the compressed part of the spring.)
All in all I'm feeling modestly confident about my preparation for the Assault on Mount Mitchell. I'm not going to get cocky, but I will gaurantee you that I will prepare to do well in the last 25 miles where the race is either won or lost on a personal level. It's going to be a long day in the saddle. It's going to hurt at times for long periods. But, God willing, I'm going to get to the top of that mountain.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Vonage Sucks
Our experience with Vonage for phone service was terrible. The quality of the service was flat-out unacceptable. Every conversation was peppered by moments of vacuum where you didn't know if 1) you were still connected 2) what you had said was transmitted 3) you had just missed something that was said coming your way. Using Vonage made a the passive experience of simply talking a very active, difficult task. Additionally, on several occasions calls to our house were greeted with, "This number has been disconnected or is no longer in service." WTF? When I called to report this, they asked, 'What service was the incoming caller using?' Like I know this!?!?! It was as if Vonage also thought I signed up to be a tech support case study. I told them clearly that I was paying for a dial tone and that's all I wanted. Ultimately, we could not continue with the lousy quality of the service and the issue of having people calling us hearing that our line had been disconnected. I politely requested Vonage waive the disconnect fee as they had not lived up to their end of the service agreement. They refused. Ironically I've had three people ask me about my phone service in the last week and I did my best to steer them clear of the terrible product Vonage is.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Neet
Today is March 1st and it is indeed here like a lion. We're expecting anywhere between two and six inches of snow to fall over the night and into the morning and as such I'll go no freakin' where near the roads tomorrow. Too many idiots.
Perhaps this is already clear to you, but it's therapeutic for me to type this in regards to all that is going on with the economy. I'm mad because not only is there no penalty for the behaviors that got us into this mess, to the contrary there is reward. My madness boils over when I consider that we - you and me Mr. citizen - are the ones being forced to dole out the rewards with our money.
And while I'm in the bully pulpit it's time to thank some people: Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, Evangelical RepubChristians. You'd think that these people would be humbled by the results that eight years of their ideals in place created. To the contrary, the Republicans now ironically call foul on the stimulus package put forth by the Dems calling it wasteful spending. Do they/you not see the irony in this? And as the conservative right continues to allow people like Coulter and Limbaugh to be their de facto mouth pieces, it only serves to isolate and diminish their narrow views pushing them further from mainstream America and further from majority. Are the Republicans so disorganized that they choose Coulter and a radio show host as their leaders by proxy? Look I'm all for small government, fiscal conservatism, liberty, freedom and family values. But the Republican party should be concerned by the distance between it's core values and the values of a majority of conservative Americans. And don't think I'm completely one-sided on this either. Should the Republicans fail to get their party back on its feet after a slow stumble to the ground over the last eight years, the loss wouldn't be just the party, the loss would be the counterbalance and that would truly be a disaster.
Training for the Assault on Mount Mitchell is going well. I've reached the point where once again it is necessary to shave the legs to facilitate massaging lactic acid out after longer rides that are more and more common these days. It's one level of awkwardness shopping for a razor handle extender in a catalog for the elderly. But when they deliver it and it's not the industrial grey as pictured, but rather Richard Simmons pink; the Gods must be trying to send me a message.
Perhaps this is already clear to you, but it's therapeutic for me to type this in regards to all that is going on with the economy. I'm mad because not only is there no penalty for the behaviors that got us into this mess, to the contrary there is reward. My madness boils over when I consider that we - you and me Mr. citizen - are the ones being forced to dole out the rewards with our money.
And while I'm in the bully pulpit it's time to thank some people: Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, Evangelical RepubChristians. You'd think that these people would be humbled by the results that eight years of their ideals in place created. To the contrary, the Republicans now ironically call foul on the stimulus package put forth by the Dems calling it wasteful spending. Do they/you not see the irony in this? And as the conservative right continues to allow people like Coulter and Limbaugh to be their de facto mouth pieces, it only serves to isolate and diminish their narrow views pushing them further from mainstream America and further from majority. Are the Republicans so disorganized that they choose Coulter and a radio show host as their leaders by proxy? Look I'm all for small government, fiscal conservatism, liberty, freedom and family values. But the Republican party should be concerned by the distance between it's core values and the values of a majority of conservative Americans. And don't think I'm completely one-sided on this either. Should the Republicans fail to get their party back on its feet after a slow stumble to the ground over the last eight years, the loss wouldn't be just the party, the loss would be the counterbalance and that would truly be a disaster.
Training for the Assault on Mount Mitchell is going well. I've reached the point where once again it is necessary to shave the legs to facilitate massaging lactic acid out after longer rides that are more and more common these days. It's one level of awkwardness shopping for a razor handle extender in a catalog for the elderly. But when they deliver it and it's not the industrial grey as pictured, but rather Richard Simmons pink; the Gods must be trying to send me a message.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
72 Miles
This is why I left Facebook. Thank you Angela Kalo for this link!!!
Yesterday's ride was a monster. 72 miles of hills and wind. My plan was to try and simulate a Triple Hump-like ride in the triangle and I pretty much succeeded. I conquered Lystra, Pea Ridge and the Superman Hill all in one - long ass - ride. Lystra was as easy as it's ever been (half a mile at an average of 14 per cent) but once I came down Jack Bennett and hung a right on Big Woods, the wind really tried to keep me from reaching US64E. I used the inherent slower pace to eat a meal I had stuffed into my back pocket, but after the joy of the meal had passed I still had 5 rolly miles of Big Woods with the wind right in my face to get past. After I topped off my drinks in Wilsonville I headed down to Pea Ridge on my way to old US1. Then it was up US1N and then a right to go past Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Finally I enjoyed a tailwind up the Superman Hill, but was so tired from having fought just to get there I was relatively slow. Slow or not it's what I needed and I'm proud of the effort. I'll do some 100k's and a century or two in prep for Mount Mitchell as time and work allow. I think Mount Mitchell is going to be tough mentally and physically.
Yesterday's ride was a monster. 72 miles of hills and wind. My plan was to try and simulate a Triple Hump-like ride in the triangle and I pretty much succeeded. I conquered Lystra, Pea Ridge and the Superman Hill all in one - long ass - ride. Lystra was as easy as it's ever been (half a mile at an average of 14 per cent) but once I came down Jack Bennett and hung a right on Big Woods, the wind really tried to keep me from reaching US64E. I used the inherent slower pace to eat a meal I had stuffed into my back pocket, but after the joy of the meal had passed I still had 5 rolly miles of Big Woods with the wind right in my face to get past. After I topped off my drinks in Wilsonville I headed down to Pea Ridge on my way to old US1. Then it was up US1N and then a right to go past Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. Finally I enjoyed a tailwind up the Superman Hill, but was so tired from having fought just to get there I was relatively slow. Slow or not it's what I needed and I'm proud of the effort. I'll do some 100k's and a century or two in prep for Mount Mitchell as time and work allow. I think Mount Mitchell is going to be tough mentally and physically.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cycling, Living, Loving
Hello to all once again. As I sit here in the recliner enjoying some very rare discretionary time, I thought I'd give you a Jim update.
Over a period of about three weeks a stomach virus took no prisoners at 608 Gravel Brook Court. For the kids and Karen it was some vomiting and some lower GI irritation. For the genius that's writing this he thought he could kiss everyone's ills away. He was wrong. Jim enjoyed about 6 straight hours of vomiting and the shits. It has literally taken a week plus for all to get back to be able to say with a straight face, we're OK. The truth is I still had some nausea this morning, but I'm not less than 93% as it were.
As you may recall from the last entry, I had to order new wheels as my old Mavics had a bad spoke that was pulling out of the rear hub. Normally one doesn't buy new wheels for one bad spoke, but these wheels have about 20k miles on them and other spokes are starting to exhibit similar issues. I bought some wheels from William's Cycling and after a sample size of one ride, so far so good. They're pretty fast for not being ultra light, they came true, they're quiet and I couldn't feel any windup. The thing that is nice about these is they came to my front door for $500. While that ain't monopoly money, it isn't what you'd pay for brand name a la Mavic, Fulcrum etc.. So, again, so far so good. Stay tuned..
Today' ride was tough. It was my first ride back in the group since about January 14th. I'd done an evening or two worth of workouts in the garage, but being in the pack is sooo much different. I suffered. I might have been top 5ish. I finished third in the last sprint, but honestly, the guy that took the win did it at about 36MPH and I struggled to get to 33.5. I'll need to work on my go. I had even teamed up with Jen (super-nice, super-strong cycling chick) for a strategy on the last sprint, but we waited too late and had to catch; we should have spent our energy winding up into the low 30's and then sprinting. There's always next week. :-)
OK if you've made it this far, I'll throw you a bone. About a month ago, David and I went to our favorite train watching spot; a switching yard. Our family are regulars at this particular yard. We take nylon chairs and just go and sit and watch the freight cars come into the yard, couple, uncouple, buffer and shunt and cheer the whole while. What happened on this day was nothing short of amazing. As two engines entered the yard pushing a consist of about four tankers, we waved at the kind woman on the front tanker that was navigating back to the engineer in the engine via radio. She waved back with a kind and gentle smile of familiarity. David was like a piece of popcorn in a pot on the stove; he simply could not sit still as we watched as they brought the train in and seemed to park it. After having disappeared around the end of a train between us and the one we were watching for a moment, suddenly the woman popped her head around the end of the train and signaled for David (and I) to come over. We dropped everything in our hands (I actually dropped the car keys and David's bottle ON THE TRACKS) and went as summoned. When we got to the lady, we were at the end of the train, but that is where the engines were. She picked up David and put him up on the stairs which he ascended and I was close in tow. Once at the top of the stairs, we made our way to the engineers compartment where we were greeted by the engineer who opened the door and let us in. The engineer introduced himself - let's just call him God - and asked David if he'd like to sit in the engineer's seat. David's ass found that seat like iron filings to a rare earth magnet. God then asked David if he'd like to blow the horn and once again David executed like Lightnin' Hopkins. God looked down at David and asked if he'd also like to ring the bell and after showing David how to depress the brass button, David was all over it. Then God made all of David's dreams come true when he asked, "David, would you like to move these two tanker cars into position?" David said with an unusual confidence, 'Yes, sir'. God showed David how to slide the handle forward which spun up the engine and then drove the motors which in turn propelled us forward with an authority of power I've never experienced before. As David calmly and confidently slid the handle forward, the train moved forward and shunted the two tankers into position. David got a commendation for a job well done from God and we talked briefly for a few minutes about David's now certain future career as an engineer and then as quickly as it had started, it was over. I hope I didn't offend anyone by calling the engineer God, but right, wrong or indifferent it was in fact God that made that day happen. So I ask for a little tolerance as the reference is meant as an indirect metaphor. David recalls this day weekly and it always brings a smile to our faces. It always will. I can remember clearly about 20 days of my forty years and this one's in the top ten; maybe top five. Thanks God.
Over a period of about three weeks a stomach virus took no prisoners at 608 Gravel Brook Court. For the kids and Karen it was some vomiting and some lower GI irritation. For the genius that's writing this he thought he could kiss everyone's ills away. He was wrong. Jim enjoyed about 6 straight hours of vomiting and the shits. It has literally taken a week plus for all to get back to be able to say with a straight face, we're OK. The truth is I still had some nausea this morning, but I'm not less than 93% as it were.
As you may recall from the last entry, I had to order new wheels as my old Mavics had a bad spoke that was pulling out of the rear hub. Normally one doesn't buy new wheels for one bad spoke, but these wheels have about 20k miles on them and other spokes are starting to exhibit similar issues. I bought some wheels from William's Cycling and after a sample size of one ride, so far so good. They're pretty fast for not being ultra light, they came true, they're quiet and I couldn't feel any windup. The thing that is nice about these is they came to my front door for $500. While that ain't monopoly money, it isn't what you'd pay for brand name a la Mavic, Fulcrum etc.. So, again, so far so good. Stay tuned..
Today' ride was tough. It was my first ride back in the group since about January 14th. I'd done an evening or two worth of workouts in the garage, but being in the pack is sooo much different. I suffered. I might have been top 5ish. I finished third in the last sprint, but honestly, the guy that took the win did it at about 36MPH and I struggled to get to 33.5. I'll need to work on my go. I had even teamed up with Jen (super-nice, super-strong cycling chick) for a strategy on the last sprint, but we waited too late and had to catch; we should have spent our energy winding up into the low 30's and then sprinting. There's always next week. :-)
OK if you've made it this far, I'll throw you a bone. About a month ago, David and I went to our favorite train watching spot; a switching yard. Our family are regulars at this particular yard. We take nylon chairs and just go and sit and watch the freight cars come into the yard, couple, uncouple, buffer and shunt and cheer the whole while. What happened on this day was nothing short of amazing. As two engines entered the yard pushing a consist of about four tankers, we waved at the kind woman on the front tanker that was navigating back to the engineer in the engine via radio. She waved back with a kind and gentle smile of familiarity. David was like a piece of popcorn in a pot on the stove; he simply could not sit still as we watched as they brought the train in and seemed to park it. After having disappeared around the end of a train between us and the one we were watching for a moment, suddenly the woman popped her head around the end of the train and signaled for David (and I) to come over. We dropped everything in our hands (I actually dropped the car keys and David's bottle ON THE TRACKS) and went as summoned. When we got to the lady, we were at the end of the train, but that is where the engines were. She picked up David and put him up on the stairs which he ascended and I was close in tow. Once at the top of the stairs, we made our way to the engineers compartment where we were greeted by the engineer who opened the door and let us in. The engineer introduced himself - let's just call him God - and asked David if he'd like to sit in the engineer's seat. David's ass found that seat like iron filings to a rare earth magnet. God then asked David if he'd like to blow the horn and once again David executed like Lightnin' Hopkins. God looked down at David and asked if he'd also like to ring the bell and after showing David how to depress the brass button, David was all over it. Then God made all of David's dreams come true when he asked, "David, would you like to move these two tanker cars into position?" David said with an unusual confidence, 'Yes, sir'. God showed David how to slide the handle forward which spun up the engine and then drove the motors which in turn propelled us forward with an authority of power I've never experienced before. As David calmly and confidently slid the handle forward, the train moved forward and shunted the two tankers into position. David got a commendation for a job well done from God and we talked briefly for a few minutes about David's now certain future career as an engineer and then as quickly as it had started, it was over. I hope I didn't offend anyone by calling the engineer God, but right, wrong or indifferent it was in fact God that made that day happen. So I ask for a little tolerance as the reference is meant as an indirect metaphor. David recalls this day weekly and it always brings a smile to our faces. It always will. I can remember clearly about 20 days of my forty years and this one's in the top ten; maybe top five. Thanks God.
Friday, January 16, 2009
New Years '09 and Normal Update Stuff
Good morning Veitnam!
I hope everyone had as good a New Year as we did. While what Karen and I did won't end up on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (as we're neither) we really enjoyed our evening. I concocted a pitcher of margaritas using, as always, the fine fine Cabo Wabo tequila and we sat down and watched Sex and The City the movie. Then we had really hot... tea.
I know, I know, shut up loser and tell us about the kids...
Mr. Camden is progressing in leaps and bounds. His vocabulary continues to improve and he's developing a much more robust correlation between the words he is speaking and discrete things in the material world. Example: He can articulate which symbol he wants to hear when the Speak and Spell is activated (remember Speak and Spell? Big dial with arm in the middle activated by pulling a lever which subsequently makes a sound or spells the word that the arm was pointing at.) He's also putting words together a la "Good cookie" and his alphabet is coming along nicely. Physically he's becoming much more adventurous and confident. He's standing by himself for brief seconds and he clearly understands walking and can walk when supported and encouraged from behind. Whereas I thought he would step 1 stand and then step 2 walk I now believe he will start doing both activities independently at or near the same time. I feel confident we'll have our second walker by spring. All in all he continues to amaze us with his progress. Two other nice pieces of trivia: Teething is effectively complete and, oh yeah, he can say the words "love" and "mama" now. Never have there been two words that belonged closer together.
David is now for sale on eBay. I'm just kidding. It's not really a sale it's an auction. David continues to grow physically, intellectually and emotionally. In the not too distant past David struggled with impulse control to the point where it was problematic. Not a crisis, not a tragedy, but definitely a challenge for David and one more challenge for Mom and Dad (Mom and Dad listed in descending order of who was challenged more). Then Karen started investigating dietary modifications as a possible means to correcting the undesired behaviors. In a word, wow. With a little patience, a clear mission to help our son help himself and a HUGE implementation effort on the part of my wife, we (she) has eliminated dairy from David's diet along with a modest number of some other things and the change has been significant. He's now more like Bugs Bunny than Tasmanian Devil. Said differently, his inventory of challenges is much closer in scope now to that of any other typical four year old. This experience has been like a boat ride and we feel like we're on to smoother waters for the time being. We know there will be rough waters ahead in the future, but each challenge we navigate successfully feels like we're putting tools in our parenting tool belt on our journey to be the Norm & Norma Abrams (sp?) of parenting.
Karen never ceases to amaze me. My criteria for a successful day with the kids is not losing my mind and making sure the kids can't find the number for child protective services. But Karen, she thrives. She turns the challenges of feeding, teaching, scheduling, loving, disciplining, therapies, transporting and nurturing into a craft. I can tell you the other luxuries we have in this house pale in comparison to the luxury of having my wife here providing for our kids and taking care of this household and everybody in it. My wife is a blessing in so many ways and she is the source of so much of the love that fills this house that I don't know if she'll ever know how much we all appreciate her. I know today I'll find some small way to express that.
So what is Jim up to? We'll start with Facebook as it's proven to be a quality time waster. I've been on Facebook (FB) for a little over two months now and it is absolutely great for getting in touch with people from yesterday and yesteryear. I've had a lot of fun, some good cordial discussions, and one nominal disappointment. Here's the rub: I'm now back in touch with about 120 friends and there's simply not time to have quality conversation with so many folks. And while that expectation may be wrong it is the essence of the dichotomy of FB. Interestingly enough, this website is the remedy. I can communicate en masse to everyone that truly cares enough to drop in and see what is up with those wacky Preises in non-historic Cary, NC.
My cycling has been going VERY well. I have not missed a regular ride until this week and that was due to a catastrophic mechanical failure of my rear wheel. New wheels have been ordered and I expect them in on Wednesday. I also had a professional fitting done this week and the number of changes we made were significant... saddle rise, saddle height, saddle pitch, cleat positioning on all three axises (sp?), stem heigh, stem length. The net result will likely be a 5% increase in power delivered to the pedals over time. I'm hoping to gradually move up from back of the A group this season. Now onto what in the hell was I thinking... I have registered for and expect to complete the Assault on Mount Mitchell on May the 18th. My projected finish time is 7 hours with a realistic tolerance of + 1.5 hours and minus 20 minutes.
That's all for now. Keep checking back for updates!!!
I hope everyone had as good a New Year as we did. While what Karen and I did won't end up on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (as we're neither) we really enjoyed our evening. I concocted a pitcher of margaritas using, as always, the fine fine Cabo Wabo tequila and we sat down and watched Sex and The City the movie. Then we had really hot... tea.
I know, I know, shut up loser and tell us about the kids...
Mr. Camden is progressing in leaps and bounds. His vocabulary continues to improve and he's developing a much more robust correlation between the words he is speaking and discrete things in the material world. Example: He can articulate which symbol he wants to hear when the Speak and Spell is activated (remember Speak and Spell? Big dial with arm in the middle activated by pulling a lever which subsequently makes a sound or spells the word that the arm was pointing at.) He's also putting words together a la "Good cookie" and his alphabet is coming along nicely. Physically he's becoming much more adventurous and confident. He's standing by himself for brief seconds and he clearly understands walking and can walk when supported and encouraged from behind. Whereas I thought he would step 1 stand and then step 2 walk I now believe he will start doing both activities independently at or near the same time. I feel confident we'll have our second walker by spring. All in all he continues to amaze us with his progress. Two other nice pieces of trivia: Teething is effectively complete and, oh yeah, he can say the words "love" and "mama" now. Never have there been two words that belonged closer together.
David is now for sale on eBay. I'm just kidding. It's not really a sale it's an auction. David continues to grow physically, intellectually and emotionally. In the not too distant past David struggled with impulse control to the point where it was problematic. Not a crisis, not a tragedy, but definitely a challenge for David and one more challenge for Mom and Dad (Mom and Dad listed in descending order of who was challenged more). Then Karen started investigating dietary modifications as a possible means to correcting the undesired behaviors. In a word, wow. With a little patience, a clear mission to help our son help himself and a HUGE implementation effort on the part of my wife, we (she) has eliminated dairy from David's diet along with a modest number of some other things and the change has been significant. He's now more like Bugs Bunny than Tasmanian Devil. Said differently, his inventory of challenges is much closer in scope now to that of any other typical four year old. This experience has been like a boat ride and we feel like we're on to smoother waters for the time being. We know there will be rough waters ahead in the future, but each challenge we navigate successfully feels like we're putting tools in our parenting tool belt on our journey to be the Norm & Norma Abrams (sp?) of parenting.
Karen never ceases to amaze me. My criteria for a successful day with the kids is not losing my mind and making sure the kids can't find the number for child protective services. But Karen, she thrives. She turns the challenges of feeding, teaching, scheduling, loving, disciplining, therapies, transporting and nurturing into a craft. I can tell you the other luxuries we have in this house pale in comparison to the luxury of having my wife here providing for our kids and taking care of this household and everybody in it. My wife is a blessing in so many ways and she is the source of so much of the love that fills this house that I don't know if she'll ever know how much we all appreciate her. I know today I'll find some small way to express that.
So what is Jim up to? We'll start with Facebook as it's proven to be a quality time waster. I've been on Facebook (FB) for a little over two months now and it is absolutely great for getting in touch with people from yesterday and yesteryear. I've had a lot of fun, some good cordial discussions, and one nominal disappointment. Here's the rub: I'm now back in touch with about 120 friends and there's simply not time to have quality conversation with so many folks. And while that expectation may be wrong it is the essence of the dichotomy of FB. Interestingly enough, this website is the remedy. I can communicate en masse to everyone that truly cares enough to drop in and see what is up with those wacky Preises in non-historic Cary, NC.
My cycling has been going VERY well. I have not missed a regular ride until this week and that was due to a catastrophic mechanical failure of my rear wheel. New wheels have been ordered and I expect them in on Wednesday. I also had a professional fitting done this week and the number of changes we made were significant... saddle rise, saddle height, saddle pitch, cleat positioning on all three axises (sp?), stem heigh, stem length. The net result will likely be a 5% increase in power delivered to the pedals over time. I'm hoping to gradually move up from back of the A group this season. Now onto what in the hell was I thinking... I have registered for and expect to complete the Assault on Mount Mitchell on May the 18th. My projected finish time is 7 hours with a realistic tolerance of + 1.5 hours and minus 20 minutes.
That's all for now. Keep checking back for updates!!!
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