With lingering pain from getting knocked off my bike by some cracks in the road, I took to the gym and home trainer to take the pressure off. Here’s a little post about the pro’s and con’s of sitting and spinning–literally.
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A really nice guy I know was recently riding to work when was the victim of a hit-and-run crash. The driver was at fault and fled the scene in classic cowardly fashion. No cameras or witnesses and the cops could not care any less. My guy’s clavicle was broken, he had some road rash, not to mention his quality of life is severely reduced for at least a couple of months because the sling his arm is in. After a successful surgery permanently implanting a lot of metal into his shoulder, he’s okay, and never had too much pain. He said he’s not in physical pain but he is bummed because bicycling is his drug of choice, and the doctor said he can’t ride for a couple of months. That sucks, because he can’t get his (endorphin) high. What’s a cyclist (runner, swimmer et al.) to do?
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The body is wise. It will tell you when it needs to eat, sleep, evacuate, and stream the latest cool show. The trouble is we — our brains, minds, egos — often ignore these signals. We’ll skip breakfast, or have second helpings when we’re really just thirsty. Instead of a nap, we’ll drink caffeine to power through the afternoon lull. We stay up late looking at our blue light screens, not go to bed early. The unhealthy, too early start to the school day, working late or the swing shift, fitful sleep nights with a new baby, hospital helicopters, asshole dogs — we’re constantly bombarded by noise during what should be our restful hours. We’ll push through a workout because of the intense societal pressure to be thin and stigma against fat people — even though we’re the majority! No wonder so many people, at least in urban areas, are out of rhythm. The world keeps spinning, as do I with my legs and wheels. Inertia is not a good option, injured or not.
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I’ve been grousing about a body part that’s been plaguing me for a while. It was an issue in the past, but cropped up recently again toward the end of bicycling 500 days in a row (which I’ve pushed past — for now). Also, I’m no spring chicken anymore, although I often think I am. Most of the points I wanted to mention were already included in my post After the Fall: What to Do When You Come Off Your Bicycle, But that was November of 2019, so some updates are worth noting. Let’s dive right in. There’s water in the pool, so it’ll be painless, I promise!
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Crash, wreck, accident – these words all conjure up unpleasant images. That’s because falling off your bike can really, Really, REALLY hurt. A saying in bicycling goes “It’s not a matter of if you’re going to fall, it’s when.” I’ve had one fairly serious incident, and a few minor mishaps. I’m thinking about this topic because I experienced one of the latter the other night. It was a relatively minor scrape (yes, a pun) with a weird, free-standing curb the other night. Here’s what happened and what I did that might be entertaining, educational or both. Yes, definitely both.
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May is the fifth month, the last one until October when we Texans can hope for a few cool, low humidity days. Melinda May – she goes by just May – is the name of kick-butt ABC television show MARVEL’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. played by Ming-Na Wen. I didn’t know it had come back on so I got caught up on the first four episodes. Silly, outlandish, preposterous, and not exactly the height of the performing arts, I enjoy it because of all that — it’s fun. And may also means you might. So I might have kicked butt on the bike-book-blog-walking-yoga this month, or maybe it all kicked mine. Let’s look at the numbers to see. But here at A Dude Abikes, having the dedication to keep on showing up is half the game.
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Today I took an intentional rest day off the bike, the first in 21 days. It rained alot, so I got a ride, took the bus, and got another ride. There was a doctor’s visit that was important to figure out an issue that has been affecting my quality of life. There’s my birthday on Thursday; for the last three years I have ridden my bike around one mile per year of life to get free stuff, so I’ll probably do that again. (Gmail me if you live in Austin and are interested in joining for all or part.) I’m spending time on Strava, giving kudos, making comments, letting people on flybys know that I write this blog. I spend a lot of time fundraising for the Mamma Jamma breast cancer ride, which led to another $150 in donations today. I did my yoga and walking as usual, to keep me limber for my riding. I’ve been thinking about the blog advice I got this weekend from a fellow cyclist. There were conversations with people about what’s going on with Bike Austin. (Short answer: transition. Again.) Writing this blog. And book. Etc.
So yeah, there’s a whole lotta biking stuff going on.
Back on February 27, 2017, I had the good fortune to collect a fantastic prize, The Fairdale Weekender Archer: A Review of My New Bicycle I Won in a Raffle! After a year, I decided to not ride the Fairdale until I Just Passed 10,000 Miles Riding My Fuji Bicycle in 2.5 Years. That’s Awesome! about a month ago. On June 25, I had An Imagined Chat With My Fairdale Weekender Archer Bicycle. And as of September 1, I’m happy to announce that I have begun riding Sophie the Sea Foam Fairdale again. So here is a post about that.
It has been five days since I got on my Fuji Silhouette bicycle and rode it. So this evening as I finally worked up the guts to do just that and was mulling over a title for this blog, I thought of the words, “Shut Up, Legs!” This is the catchphrase of Jens Voigt, who rode the Tour de France 17 times, a record only beaten this year by Sylvain Chavanel. He retired in 2014 the day after his 43rd birthday and setting a new one-hour bike record — the farthest anyone had ridden a bike in one hour. You can see my ride today on Strava here.
Ten days off the bike is the longest break I’ve had since I can remember. It’s possibly the longest stretch sans bici since I began doing long distances back in January of 2015, pre-Strava. It has been hard, sad, relaxing, and other things — just a weird time. And I’m not out of the woods in terms of the medical situation that put me there. Of course, I’m not the only person who’s had to stop activity for a health challenge, of course, and it could be far worse. Some people have crashes (Tour de France, on parle de toi!), surgery, or life-altering issues. I hope I’m not one of them. Physically, there are changes, and there are also psychological ones. That’s what this post is about, so click on through and check it out, already! Continue reading
A Dude Abikes 